Interviews

I interviewed two teachers. here are the questions i asked:

What promt your decision to be a teacher?
What was your journey like when you decided to become an educator?
What steps did you take?
Were there moments when you felt discouraged/unsupported on your journey to become a teacher? If so how did you overcome the discouragement?

Pauline Lampkin's response:
I honestly became a teacher because the opportunity presented itself and because I needed more time at home to spend with me kids.
It was rough because :1. I had to teach class while I pursued my creditials to become a teacher. 2. My income was substantial reduced. 3. I ddn't have the opportunity to student teacher. 4. I taught in what was considered a bad inner city school. However, this prepared me to handled rough kids and appreciate finally teaching at a better school like Brooks. I went through a progam called Teachers for Chicago which recruited mature individuals in other career fields. There were many times that I was discouraged because I felt that students really did not want to learn. It was like pulling teeth to get students to buy in to their own education. When I first started teaching, students did not come to class. The school was rough and many times I was on my own. I had a white advisor that came to my school to observe me. He told me to look out the window at the unemployed men drinking and hanging out in the streets. He told me that the things that I was seeing was the real world and if I couldn't help my people then who would. That's why many times I am tough with my students and don't accept excuses because the real world does not care about your excuses. And sometimes its discouraging because I see that many African American students still have a plantation mentality. Dr. Dyson also said this when she was at Brooks. Overall despite the ups and downs, teaching can be rewarding as you see yourself reaching some students. And it's very refreshing when you see the young adults later on in the streets after they have graduated. And its good when you a student tell you how well they did in college because of your influence. I hope I answered your questions.


David Cohn's Response:
1. My decision to become a teacher was motivated by the profound impact music education had on my life during my high school years. Beyond the musical benefits of the experience, I found myself part of a meaningful community that supported me in challenging myself. In setting out to become a teacher, I wanted to provide a similar experience to new generations of young musicians.
2. I trained to become a band director a the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and completed my student teaching at Evanston Township High School. Being a part of the music program at such a major music school provided me with incredibly memorable experiences, including marching band performances for thousands of people and a performance at Orchestra Hall. Any music program is challenging by nature, and competitive between the many fine performers there, but I generally felt healthily nurtured by my instructors. The only time I really felt discouraged was when one of my performances was critiqued in a very negative way by one of my professors. He asked me to "think about what I was doing." While I viewed that experience very negatively at the time, in the end it only caused me to reflect and confirm my resolve to move forward.


ClaireLacey♥