tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post160169768356385724..comments2023-12-19T16:54:31.953-05:00Comments on SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: A Few Good Male Role Models Are NeededPete Zuckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16708676684946013529noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-20474313954591453792012-07-06T13:39:43.211-04:002012-07-06T13:39:43.211-04:00yes, I agree young men need more male role models....yes, I agree young men need more male role models. I wish more men would step up to the plate. Wish we did not live in a society that marginalized black men. wish we did not have a system that provides incentives for single parent households. But this is the reality. Therefore, I do not agree that we should attack single parent mothers or the people (white/black/ brown/ women - or other) who choose to work in these communities. Also, don't agree that all young white people are ECONONICALLY privileged - this is a tired white stereotype perpetrated by the media, and others, who clearly have a limited understanding about the majority of white people who live in this country. the real world is filled with all types of people -- the kids of the south bronx need to interact with all types. I work in the South Bronx and there are few places in the world that mimic that reality - and all its greatness and weakness, respectively. So, the fact that the writer is male & jewish and a teacher in the South Bronx is a good -- the fact that the writer would write such nonsense is not good - but interesting, nonetheless.bronx northeast throgg native https://www.blogger.com/profile/07102392984583501938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-75502654712992567872012-07-01T19:15:13.052-04:002012-07-01T19:15:13.052-04:00What I have learned in my 8+ years of inner city t...What I have learned in my 8+ years of inner city teaching is that most kids do not care what color, age, or gender I am. Most kids are not so shallow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-48158494409384552982012-07-01T15:01:00.153-04:002012-07-01T15:01:00.153-04:00I usually agree with what you post, but I have to ...I usually agree with what you post, but I have to take exception to this. While your observation about the lack of male role models in the inner-city is spot-on, I find your attack on young teachers offensive and poorly conceived. First of all, not all TFA / new teachers are white, privileged, and / or middle-upper class. In fact, programs like TFA purposefully recruit a diverse corps, and young teachers just entering the profession (being certified alternatively or traditionally) are a more diverse group than ever before. This is not to say that TFA and alternative certification programs are not without their own problems, but your assumption that all young teachers are somehow removed from the reality of the inner-city or too arrogant to appreciate the problems isn't fair.<br /><br />Secondly, as someone who works in urban education, I can say that students benefit from having a DIVERSE set of educators. Boys need strong male role models, yes, but students in the inner-city -- especially in NYC, where such areas are socioeconomically and racially segregated -- benefit from having teachers from all backgrounds, whether black, white, latino Jewish, Christian, Muslim, etc. teach them, provided these teachers are QUALIFIED and well-trained. South Bronx teacher is a Jew, after all....does that mean YOU are removed from the realities of the South Bronx? Of course not, because you have the training and experience to appreciate the issues, so please extend the same courtesy to those just entering the profession, regardless of race and / or ethnicity, who wish to do the same.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-88460440296902431312012-07-01T10:31:17.223-04:002012-07-01T10:31:17.223-04:00Boys do need male role models. They also need to b...Boys do need male role models. They also need to be taught differently. There is a huge amount of evidence on this. <br /><br />Given this, the teacher who had the biggest effect on me when I was a poor kid growing up in the Bronx was a young female teacher who knew how to reach me as that poor boy with no dad at home. <br /><br />Whether male or female, young or "less young", the key is cultural pedagogy and the ability to teach code switching. <br /><br />And for further good reads, try Elijah Anderson's Code of the Street and Peg Tyre's The Problem with Boys.... to start.David Greenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09667231702023030531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-42072425792754481592012-07-01T10:08:22.139-04:002012-07-01T10:08:22.139-04:00They found a simple way to bring in male teachers ...They found a simple way to bring in male teachers in the 60s-- have a big unpopular war, a draft and offer a deferment if you teach in the inner city. That's how I got here. But me as a role model? God forbid. We can't come up with policy based on our own narrow anecdotal experiences. <br /><br />So we had lots of men coming in in the late 60s. Some were awful teachers as newbies. Actually most were initially too and I was one too. There was little difference in we 6 week wonders and the TFAs today. I met guys from IVY League and all over the nation who flocked here. Most left when they could. <br /><br />I taught 6th grade for years and I remember one girl -- the brightest in the class and the star of the school for 5 years reacted badly to me it seemed and later I figured out that she may have been reacting to me as a male due to her bad experience with an alcoholic dad. (We became friends and I went to her wedding many years later.)ed notes onlinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-80146065647275807162012-06-30T23:59:20.323-04:002012-06-30T23:59:20.323-04:00Sahlia, notice, I am talking about the inner city,...Sahlia, notice, I am talking about the inner city, in particular my experience in the South Bronx?Pete Zuckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16708676684946013529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-57266676173209946112012-06-30T23:05:16.310-04:002012-06-30T23:05:16.310-04:00wow , Peter....
with respect, what a load of cods...wow , Peter....<br /><br />with respect, what a load of codswallop, AND you do yourself an additional disservice with your atrocious grammar and lack of proof-reading...<br /><br />bad for kids to live in a matriarchy? huh??? and just what has the patriarchy done for this planet in the last several thousands of years, then?<br /><br />You need to read "Real Boys - Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood", by William Pollack, Ph.DSahilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610179287237833742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-16841633330955544022012-06-30T22:55:39.710-04:002012-06-30T22:55:39.710-04:00Courtenaye (spelled exactly that way) is the new G...Courtenaye (spelled exactly that way) is the new General Counsel of DOE.<br /><br />Lance is a guidance counselor in Queens.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com