Diversity at Torch

[Anonymous]

The Torch classroom where I am observing is demographically very different from the rest of Northfield High School. There is about a 1 minute walk from the front door of the school to the Torch classroom, and I arrive during a passing period so I pass many students on my way to the classroom every week. During this short 60 second walk, almost every face I pass is white. The (very) few that aren’t are usually walking alone, separate from their white peers. However as I turn the final corner and enter the Torch classroom, this narrative flips. The students in the Torch classroom are pretty much all POC, about 85 percent Latine and 15 percent Black. None of these students are sitting alone; they are all socializing or working together. One student told me that Torch is the only place she sees any of her friends during school, saying that “the kids in my classes don’t look like me and don’t talk to me.” While I am glad that these students have a place like Torch where they feel comfortable, it makes me sad that they do not have that same level of comfort in their other classes. I think Torch is a really good program for these kids, because it gives them at least one space in school where they feel like they belong and like their culture is acknowledged (for example, there is a “Hate Has No Home Here poster in multiple languages). As we have read and discussed in class, this acknowledgment allows students to thrive more in the classroom as they feel seen and understood.

I also think that because Torch is specifically designed to help POC students apply to post secondary education options, this program also helps with the “expectation gap” that was mentioned in some of our readings. Torch students have the opportunity to take college classes while still in high school, and are expected to work with the Torch teacher to make post graduation plans. In this environment, expectations are high for students who might otherwise be given lower expectations in different situations. As a result, many of the Torch students are thriving academically.

One thing that I’ve noticed about the Torch classroom is that although the students are almost all POC, most of the teachers are white. Five different teachers cycle through Torch helping students with their work, and only one of those five is a person of color. We have discussed in class the importance of students having role models who look like them and who they can relate to culturally. The one teacher of color in the Torch classroom has a very different dynamic with the students than the other teachers do. The students get along with all five of the teachers pretty well and go to all of them for help. However the one Latine teacher is the only one who talks to the students about things outside of academics, sometimes just socializing and connecting with them. She speaks fluent Spanish, and can engage in social conversations with the students when they choose to speak Spanish instead of English, which is often. Perhaps it would be helpful if the white teachers made more of an effort to connect with the students on that more informal, social level as well.

Other Observations

This week when I went to tutor was “Senior Ditch Day,” which means that there were many fewer students than usual in the Torch classroom as many seniors chose not to come to school. I found it really interesting how the dynamics changed in the classroom when the seniors were gone. Students who had always been quiet and reserved when I had visited before where much louder and more sociable. It got me thinking about the multi-age dynamic of the classroom, and how the older students tend to take up more space as they have been around longer and are more comfortable there. I have seen  many advantages to the multi-aged classroom through my time observing at Torch. For instance, the older students often help the younger students with homework and set an example for how the culture of the classroom is. However this week made me wonder about the potential downsides to multi-aged classrooms, as some of the younger kids seem to be quieted by the presence of older kids around them.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Tonja Clay.

[Author]

Posts