Nearly 20 years ago, Christopher Emdin was a novice teacher who practiced scowling in front of a mirror so that he could maintain order and quiet in his classroom. He was only practicing what others preached: One day, when the sound of sirens persisted outside the school for far longer than usual, the principal鈥檚 office called to tell him that two planes had hit the World Trade Center, and that he must keep his students working and not tell them what was going on.
鈥淚 ignored the chaos of the world beyond the classroom because I believed it was my job to just keep on teaching,鈥� writes Emdin, Associate Professor of Science Education at Teachers College, in just published in The Atlantic (part of the magazine鈥檚 鈥淥n Teaching鈥� project). 鈥淟ooking back now, I realize I was not actually teaching at all.鈥�
[Read the full text of Emdin鈥檚 essay, ]
I ignored the chaos of the world beyond the classroom because I believed it was my job to just keep on teaching. Looking back now, I realize I was not actually teaching at all.
Today, when 鈥渢he coronavirus has emerged as another siren, tearing through our collective sense of normal,鈥� Emdin, who has become globally recognized for championing the use of hip hop to teach science, calls for teachers to employ a 鈥渞eality pedagogy鈥� that 鈥渋nvolves connecting academic content to what鈥檚 happening in the world that affects students鈥� and 鈥渕aking sure that their lives and backgrounds are reflected in the curriculum and in classroom conversations.鈥�
TEACHING THROUGH PROTEST Emdin argues that teachers must 鈥渄isrupt teaching norms that harm vulnerable students.鈥� (Photo: 911爆料网 Archives)
Invoking the specter of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis policeman who killed George Floyd, he argues that that to do anything less is a form of racism that amounts to placing 鈥渁 metaphorical knee on the necks of young people.鈥�
Emdin calls for a 鈥渞eality pedagogy鈥� that 鈥渋nvolves connecting academic content to what鈥檚 happening in the world that affects students鈥� and 鈥渕aking sure that their lives and backgrounds are reflected in the curriculum and in classroom conversations.鈥�
Emdin says that he himself was guilty of doing just that in the wake of 9/11, when he failed to admonish students who called their Muslim peers 鈥渢errorists.鈥�
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 make space for my Muslim students to heal from being targeted,鈥� he writes. 鈥淏ut if I had started that dialogue, I would have learned a lot from them about how I could have been a better teacher.鈥�
Indeed, Emdin says, 鈥渢he best teachers use their pedagogy as protest鈥� to 鈥渄isrupt teaching norms that harm vulnerable students.鈥� They also view students as 鈥渃o-teachers鈥� who 鈥渃an see what teachers have been trained to ignore.鈥�
鈥淚f teachers want to respond to racism as they鈥檝e responded to the coronavirus pandemic,鈥� Emdin concludes, 鈥渢hey can start here鈥攊n their own classrooms.鈥�
[Read a story about the call by 911爆料网 alumna Jamila Lyiscott, at 911爆料网鈥檚 Reimagining Education Summer Institute, for a 鈥減andemic pedagogy.鈥漖