Yesterday was the big day. I brought two other teachers and my TFA program director to help me out, and the students were all dropped off on a Saturday morning at the museum. The day went flawlessly. The students were so engrossed in the tour, answering really high-level thinking questions, and asking questions. Their appreciation seeped through the whole museum. For many of the students this was their first trip to an art museum, and for some of them their first trip to a museum in general!
Sometimes teaching is a thankless job, student progress towards objectives and mastery does not happen as fast as I would hope, and many days the comedy show that is my job ensues. Yesterday the students thanked me in so many ways, by being engaged, behaving appropriately, and being appreciative.
I believe that there are many reasons for the achievement gap, but one reason that I frequently come back to is the gap in cultural capital. Yesterday as I watched my students engage in such deep thinking simply motivated by a piece of artwork my conclusions about this factor in the achievement gap came to fruition. My other belief is that the culture of a student's surroundings teaches them how to act. KIPP schools (http://www.kipp.org/) pride themselves on having a culture of achievement and discipline, and the result of this is that students behave and achieve at high levels. At the art museum people were quietly milling around the art work, appreciating its beauty, and respecting the individuals around them, my students did the same.
America's schools have a lot of growth to make, especially our lowest income and lowest performing schools. I think yesterday I found a place to start, simply exposing students to what high income students are exposed to: a culture of discipline and achievement, and different types of cultural capital (art, music, dance, etc.). The students appreciate it.
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