In a nutshell, highly effective teachers genuinely connect with their students and the community.
According to Dr. Andrade, who has a background as an urban high school teacher himself in east Oakland, all the educational acronyms--BSI, SLO, etc. included--don't hit the target because they fail to address the issue of educational equity.
Dr. Andrade portrays our school system as a balance scale that is being kept level by the following three kinds of teachers.
On the far right are "Gangsta" teachers, who are generally unhappy, are very vocal, and tend to get all the attention for their demands for more rules and regulations against the students and the community. Fortunately, these teachers are few and far between.
On the opposite side of the scale sits another "far and few between" group of teachers called "Ridas," who will "ride or die" with the community. These are the ones who would say to their students, "I'd rather die than see you fail."
The vast majority of teachers are "Wankstas," who are talkers, not doers, when it comes to creating an environment where every student really learns. As fence straddlers, these teachers could tip the scale to the left by improving themselves if strong support were available to them.
Thus, the balance of failing urban schools continues.
Dr. Andrade then extols the four "Ridas" and five characteristics these four exceptional educators exhibit.
1. Critically conscious purpose
When asked "Why do you teach?" these "Ridas" responded that they teach because they believe that their students from urban schools can be the agents of change.
These "Ridas" allow risk-taking by their students in the class. They understand the lives and the community of their students. They adopt a "take the best and leave the rest" approach to following the curriculum because they want to motivate their students by responding to their needs in their daily teaching. For example, a 5th grade "Rida" in Watts changed a prescribed prompt for a persuasive letter writing assignment from "Write a letter to convince the reader that students should be allowed to pick their own teams at recess" to "Write a letter to your principal persuading him to change something."
2. Duty
The "Ridas" believe that teachers are not defined by what they do, but by who they are. They see themselves as responsible for serving the community. They know students want them to talk about stuff that really concerns them. They find ways to hear from and to genuinely connect with their students.
3. Preparation
The "Ridas" own what they are teaching but deliver it differently each time they re-teach it. They are always preparing for their lessons and units even though they are already master teachers. Not only do they customize detailed "Before You Read," "As You Read," and "After You Read" questions and prompts, they also choose vocabulary words based on students' life. For example, a list of words to study is no longer called a "Vocabulary List." It is titled:
Social Criticism
- race _________
- class _________
- ...
4. Socratic sensibility
"The unexamined life is not worth living." "What is worth while is always difficult." The "Ridas" all have such Socratic sensibility by being engaged in the pain of examining their own practices.
5. Trust
The "Ridas" have trust in their students, and they have trust from their students. They accept their students as who they are, but they expect more out of the students. They see their students as smart persons, first and foremost. They have moved from empathy for their students to solidarity with them.
A 23-page report by Dr. Andrade can be downloaded here.
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