Laura Murphy
Poem: Teacher Voice
Teacher Voice
My education is mine alone,
from the start of day, ‘till the time I’m home.
Books are mirrors,
administrators too.
The system was built for me
not you.
Her backpack is filled so full to the brim,
but all that they care about is what comes from him.
She is a history.
No present, no future.
An invisible threat
like some kind of tumor.
They tell xem they accept xem,
Until a box xe doesn’t fit in,
doesn’t meet their expectations
of she/her, he/him or them.
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People love to label,
to try to categorize
what they don’t understand,
what they won’t understand,
what they want to ostracize.
This system keeps on failing us
the “us” you will not see
in history books, in curriculums,
not written inclusively.
But systems can not fail
those they were not created for.
So, what is left
for those of us
who require something more?
More than half emptied backpacks,
more than colonial histories.
More than empty stomachs
they say aren’t their responsibility.
Their poverty was created.
Their skin was segregated.
Their identity was hated
by the system you protect.
The one we fight,
the one you deny
has its foot on their necks.
“But we can’t change the system”
so many try to plead.
But the thing that you don’t realize
is our power when we teach.
The power to make changes
to one mind at a time,
to motivate our students,
to shape society’s minds.
We are the bank tellers,
we don’t create the system.
But we get to choose the value
Of the currencies kids bring with them.
Institutions may oppress them,
but teachers have a choice:
to passively teach curriculums
or use your teacher voice.
Your teacher voice that motivates,
inspires
and inquires.
The voice your students learn to love
that fuels inner fires.
We teach them to ask questions,
not just write between the lines,
to let them know their education
is theirs to choose, not mine.
You’ll teach me too,
I promise you,
I’ll believe you when you disclose:
how you feel,
what happened to you,
and what goes on at home.
I’ll learn from you
when you tell me
what I’ve not heard before.
What I can’t know
until I learn
to listen to you more.
To listen to you when you say
you’ve faced adversity,
to not compare or minimize
or make it about me.
Artist’s Statement [Synthesis of Learning]:
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The first stanza of this poem reflects upon my educational experience as a white, able-bodied, cis-gender person who benefits from cultural capital in their schooling, as this is the type of student who the education system was designed for. However, in the following stanza, I discuss the harm of cultural hegemony, as so many students are not able to unpack the many skills they have since they do not carry enough cultural capital. The lines, “She is a history / No present, no future” represent the ways diverse teaching is often presented in the classroom, by solely focusing on a certain group’s history. This frames them as ancient peoples and fails to acknowledge the modernity and future of their cultures. The “hidden threat” is a reference to the invisibility that many students feel in the classroom. The “threat” represents the assumptions many teachers make toward students who do not abide by the hidden curriculum as dangerous, reactive, or disruptive compared to the expected order of a classroom. These students are too often viewed negatively, rather than valued or understood, by their teachers.
​
Something that has stuck with me throughout the semester is the need for educational reform so that our curricula meet the needs of the students, rather than students meeting the needs of the curriculum (particularly the hidden curriculum). Educational oppression is not one that is visible to everyone as it is often one made up of microaggressions and systemic oppression which are too often ignored and accepted. The harsh imagery of a foot on the neck in stanza nine is meant to represent how these forms of oppression are still just that, and to highlight how alarming it should be to us, rather than brushed off as “the way things are”.
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The eleventh stanza transitions into our duty as educators due to the power that we hold. I have learned about the power we hold as a team of educators to combat systemic and institutional issues at the individual level. As “bank tellers” who have a duty to serve the public, while still serving as representatives of a greater system, we have a responsibility to use the power we hold to motivate and encourage our students. We can do this by listening to their needs, knowledge, and stories so that we can engage in culturally responsive teaching.
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When I entered this course, I thought that I wanted to be the kind of teacher that I needed as a student. While this remains true in some ways, what I have learned to recognize throughout this course is that I want to be the teacher my students need. This means being adaptable, not a static model of who a past student needed because my future students will have entirely different needs to what I had as a student. So many students do not have a teacher who they feel understands them; I want to be that teacher. Although I will not have shared the same experiences as them all, I want to be continually adapting to understand where my students come from and what makes them, them.
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The final stanzas of the poem recognize the progression of my thoughts throughout this course and how they will apply to my teaching practice. Although we began the course by analyzing our own educational journeys, we have built upon this to identify how these journeys vary from person to person. In the final stanza, I am highlighting the importance of learning from our own educational experiences, but ultimately listening to our students’ needs to guide our future practice, not making assumptions based on our personal experiences. My ideas of school were largely intrinsically based, and for a long time, I did not recognize the extent to which other students were left out of the curriculum. So, my vow to not “make it about me”, is a vow to my future students to be a listening ear, and to be open-minded to experiences that differ from my own, so that I can improve my educational practice and cater to their needs.
Artist’s Statement [Anthology]:
“Teacher Voice” is a poem that I wrote as my final synthesis of learning project in EDUC 433.14: Sociology of Education, during my first semester in the Bachelor of Education program. For me, poetry is typically a rawer medium that I reserve for personal pieces. However, in the spirit of recognizing various strengths and ways of allowing students to express them, I felt that the form of a poem was an appropriate way to delve into my reflection. Further explanation of the poem and how it connects to my beliefs surrounding education can be found in the artist’s statement following the poem.
In the first stanza, I reflect on my educational experience as a person who benefits from cultural capital in their schooling (Bourdieu, 2000). As the poem progresses, I go on to explore and explain the harm of enforcing cultural capital as well as the hidden curriculum in our school systems, and the disservice that this does to so many of our students (Jackson, 1968). Reflecting on my own schooling experiences has been valuable in shaping my personal pedagogy, however, what I have found equally, if not more valuable, is learning about the experiences of others. As I enter into my own teaching practice, giving my students the space to share their stories, interests, and skills is something that I value and aim to integrate into my classroom. I recognize that too often, not every student is given the chance to do so, even though oftentimes we as educators have much to learn from our students.
References Bourdieu, P. (2000). Pascalian meditations. (R. Nice, Trans.). Cambridge: Polity Press. Jackson, P.W. (1968) Life in Classrooms. New York: Holt, Rhinehart and Winston.