Teachers are the Victim of the Socioeconomic Background of their Students
Ben Vitale
I would like to establish that my family indoctrination
played the leading role in how I connected with education, and life itself. I
am sure that all of my teachers were not able to deal effectively with me
because of my family background. Academia must realize that a student’s parents
are indeed his first and most trusted teachers!
I come from an Italian immigrant family. My parents were not
able to help me with geometry, algebra, trigonometry or English; we all spoke mostly
Italian! This situation still exists today but only the nationality has
changed.
My father and mother had an 8th grade education;
they lived by a completely different set of values. In my case the values
instilled in me by my parents were a stumbling block for my teachers! “I was
told that a man was expected to work like a Horse, and bring home the pay
check!” A college education was not on my parents radar screen; not one person
in my entire family went to college at that time.
My actions were directed by the values instilled in me by my
parents! I rejected almost every subject in high school because it did not fit
in the template that was instilled in me by my parents and everyone else around
me; we were all essentially immigrants and saw absolutely no value in algebra
and trigonometry!
I would like to make an important point about the power of
family indoctrination; that I will explain later in this article! Please be patient
with me; this will appear to be unrelated to the subject of this article! My
Father also told me that Baseball, Football, and Basketball were all stupid!
“In Baseball they hit a ball with a stick, and men run in a circle!” ”In
Football the players slam into each other in order to get a ball!” “In
Basketball the players throw a ball into a hoop!” As you can see, my father did
not like sports! The significance of this paragraph will “come to light,” later
in this article!
My father indoctrinated
me with two things that he believed could help me to succeed in life. My
Dad was a house painter and he taught me how to paint a house when I was 10
years old; painting put food on our table, so he wanted me to have that skill.
My father also had a vision that Electronics was the way of the future; he knew
nothing at all about electronics but he did something amazing that eventually
led to my very successful career in Electronics. During the course of my
father’s job as a house painter, he often had to dispose of abandoned radios
before he could start painting an apartment; he brought those radios home and
gave them to me! OK! I knew “zero” about electronics, but I had a wonderful
time stripping all of the parts from these old radios and electronic equipment!
I got so involved with electronics that I asked Santa Clause for a piece of Electronics
test equipment for Christmas; So... I was the only 12 year old in all of
Brooklyn who owned an Electronics Multimeter. I did not like school but I
studied Electronics at the local Library, with a passion.
The point that I am trying to make is that a person’s
parents have the most profound effect on the way a student deals with education,
not his teachers. I walked into Jr High School with the “Memory Stick” of my
mind already programmed! My teachers had the best intensions but my mental programming
took precedence! I can remember saying to myself while in school; “why do I
have to memorize this c**p?” I absolutely could not study a subject unless I
had a practical need for the subject matter. I was indoctrinated to be job
oriented; I believed that Geometry could not help me to make a living, but a paint
brush could! My grandfather was also a
house painter and he paid the bills by using a paint brush!
My father gave me positive reinforcement every time I
disassembled an old radio. I feel so fortunate; and often think of youths that
received absolutely no positive reinforcement from their parents! So… I did my
best to get a C in school, because I thought that I would never need the
subject matter that was covered. As soon as I progressed to my senior year in
High School, I realized that Geometry, Trigonometry, and Algebra were indeed
necessary in order to advance to college level courses in Electronics.
On the positive side… Up until I entered my senior year in
high school,” my father was the only teacher that I listened to! What if my
father did not present me with his vision about the future of Electronics; I
would be a House Painter today. Remember… I was trained to be a painter at age
10! If I had become a painter I would not have experienced the mental and financial
rewards that I got from working in Electronics!
Teachers are as good as the students that are in their
classes; and students are as good as the information that is instilled in them
by their parent, parents, or peers! If a teacher is teaching the children of
academic parents, he should be very successful. If that same teacher is given
the task of teaching the children of immigrant parents, he may not be able to
reach his intended goals. A given teacher should not be judged by the progress
that his students make, without considering their family background. In my case,
all of my teachers must have been considered to be failures, because my mind
was already programmed by the very strong indoctrination of my parents.
In my case I repeatedly settled for a C in many subjects,
including Algebra and Geometry because I was not motivated to spend any time,
on class subject matter, that I was convinced I would never need. If my
teachers were evaluated at that time they would have been considered to be
failures! Why would I want to study English; we all spoke Italian! I absolutely
refused to learn something that was not consistent with the indoctrination that
was firmly implanted in the “Memory Stick,” of my mind!
As you can see, all students cannot be placed into the same
mold! As it turned out I couldn’t be happier with my success in the workplace!
I reached and exceeded my goals in an unconventional way, but most of my teachers
were powerless to help me because my father was the prime mover in my life!
Sports Hummm… To this day I have absolutely no desire to
play or learn about Baseball, Football, and Basketball! Is it possible that my
family indoctrination had something to do with this? I am convinced that in my case, my teachers
were not able to connect with me because of my previous mental programming!
Why should teachers be evaluated by the “Common Core” progress
of their students? Teaching the child of academic parents, is a blessing to a
teacher! Teaching the child of an immigrant family such as mine can be
impossible. Academia must provide extensive orientation sessions for the
Parents, before their children can be expected to respond to their teachers. I
believe that the children of academic parents and the children of immigrant parents
have nothing in common.
It is not fair to penalize
teachers that were assigned the task of teaching the children of non- academic
parents! May I suggest a test! Transfer teachers that are doing a fantastic job
at teaching “college bound students,” to a ghetto school, where most of the
students, come from a non-academic, background! I really do not believe that
the “top notch teachers” would be able to maintain their current high rating!
I did ultimately migrate into a
very successful career in electronics, because of the direction that I received
from my first teacher… My father!
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