Prompt 3
What are some challenges or roadblocks to achieving your professional goals?
— Deborah Bartley-Carter
Resilience and Bravery
While on a tour of the community, my students and I stumbled upon a church right in the heart of Bergen Square in New Jersey. The pastor was so excited about the students research topic that he invited us to the basement of the church to see a tunnel. This picture was taken in one of the oldest churches in the state of New Jersey. Old Bergen Church is 363 years old. This tunnel was used to help enslaved Africans escape chattel slavery in the 1800's in Jersey City. This tunnel represents the resilience and bravery it took for humans who were enslaved to get to a safe place. It has been a popular belief that " People of color have to work twice as hard to get half as far". This structure is physical proof of that. The roadblocks teachers of color faced historically as a community and in our daily lives were brought into focus this day. The silver lining was knowing that their is always a small piece of hope even on our darkest days.
— Deborah Bartley-Carter
In a two block radius, these are the signs and roadblocks that I see on my way to work. I chuckle and think about how to find parking but I also think that these signs are a metaphor for all of the "no's" and comments like "traditionally we have always done it this way..." that prevent younger teachers from making moves. These signs are a symbol of all the things that preventing teachers from making a bigger impact in education outside of the classroom. I think about the laws in Florida where my sister teaches and bans on books and history and it makes me concerned but motivated. Becoming a policy maker seems such a far away goal with all the signs that imply that rules and laws are hard to change.
— Malika Johnson-Willis
the box
The box represents the expectations for educating - a "one size fits all" model. This box creates a roadblock to the many individuals who have hope for change but are constantly reminded that educating humans can only be quantified by a number, label, or even a profile. It is the barrier to reimagining education.
— Myra Bellamy
This clock has always been broken in my room. It represents to me the idea of feeling stuck. In addition, there seems like there is never enough time to get things done.
— Nagla Bedir
There is not an ideal job for me. I absolutely LOVE teaching, and I don’t want to leave the classroom. But I also really do want to get into administration because I have a lot of dreams about things I would want to implement in a school. I wish I could be a principal and teach at least one class a day. In a public school, it doesn’t seem like I would be able to find or create that type of opportunity. I know building relationships with students would be so wildly different as an administrator vs. being a teacher.