Ellie VanLandschoot

EDUC 300 Cultural Pluralism

Teaching at the Intersections

When I am a future educator, I want to honor and teach my students about their

multiple identities. I want them to know themselves and stick to believe that they are

valuable, worthy and fit in this world no matter what they look like or believe.

I learned in this article that intersectional lens means recognizing that race,

gender, class related circumstances are contributing to achievement issues.

We read about Nicole, a 9th grader who is mature, caring, hard working and gets

along well with others. What her peers and teachers see is how she is always late for

school, frequently misses her first period class and rarely submits homework in any

classes. Her grades are suffering. When one specific teacher took the time to get to

know her, she discovered Nicole is a girl from a low income family who bears the

responsibility of taking care of her two younger siblings. We can’t just see someone on

the outside and put a label on them. Everyone has a story and if I want to be a

successful educator, I must take the time to get to know every one of my students,

where they come from and what their life story is.

When I did a field experience in a first grade classroom last year I was surprised

every time I went in, this one particular boy was tired every morning he came to school.

I just saw him as a African American little boy, dragging his feet while his dad brought

him into school. The teacher had discovered he was getting up every morning at 6 a.m.

with his dad and going to the gym. This was the only way their family functioned and I
needed to do a better job not judging how a family lives because it obviously works for

them. I quickly learned that knowing the families of your students is critical.

I want to challenge students in my future classroom to consider where and how

they fit into their communities and what makes them feel worthwhile there.