Black Ants and Buddhists by Mary Cowhey

This reading made me reflect on what teaching really is for most teachers.  Becoming a teacher has its great rewards but it is not always easy.  Teaching a lesson is not the only thing that a teacher does in the classroom.  If a teacher believes that 'just teaching' will make a successful classroom than they are setting themselves up for failure.  A teacher must build a relationship with their students, once the students are able to trust their teacher, they will then be able to learn from her/him.  Many students struggle to concentrate at school because they are going through some hardships at home.  A lot of times they might feel the safest when they are in the classroom and as a teacher, it is our responsibility to build a safe learning environment so students feel safe and are able to learn.  Cowhey states that she strives to teach critically in a social justice classroom, meaning that she aims to teach education to all students using multicultural education  (2005, p. 6).  It teaches students to learn about different cultures, religions, and economic backgrounds to help reject discrimination.  This way students learn to be more accepting of people that are 'different' from them which can lead to creating a safe learning environment. 

I am aiming to become a bilingual teacher and this reminded me of some of the struggles that bilingual children face.  Depending on where they live it may be difficult to have support from the schools if they don't have some time of bilingual education.  During these last few years of my college experience, I have learned that it is important to teach students to embrace their culture and language.  When they learn that it is accepted and equally important they will be more accepting of other other cultures and languages.