Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Hope for the "At Risk (Hope)"
Recently, A classmate of mind said something to me that have raised a interesting question and I will probably remember this the rest of my life. As that person proceeded to talk about the "at risk" students, that same person took it upon herself to say "at hope"students because she decided a long time ago that this was the right terminology for those particualr students. It really made me think about the terminology we use. Why do we call those students "at risk"? Understanding the background of those students and what those students are up against, we should only have hope for those students in the first place. When you really think about it, the word risk has such a negative ring to it, considering how powerful language and words are. When you use the word risk for these students, it is not a surprise that most of these students believe they are a risk to society and conform to other systems and values that causes them to rebell more. The reason I know there is hope for them is because I was once one of those particular students. Considering my economic background growing up and some of the groups I associated with, I could have easily failed. I was once that young male who wore their pants below their waste, used slang, and had a bright smile of shiney gold teeth, but having role models and people in my life who believed in me, I made it out. We must set high expectation for these students and make them believe the same. We can first start by changing the terminology we use to identify these student, thus helping them to believe that there is hope for them by using the powerful word.
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4 comments:
Hi Dre,
I enjoyed reading your posting regarding "at-risk" students vs. "hope" for students. I must admit, I like the term hope better than at-risk. As a teacher for many years at schools where students from poor neighborhoods entered the building daily, I recall that words, "at-risk learners" being used frequently. Many times the terms referred to students whom were "at-risk" of failing their current grade level, "at-risk" of dropping out of school, "at-risk" of being suspended for exhibiting poor or inappropriate behaviors, "at-risk" of truancy, and of course the list of "at-risk" characteristics go on and on. As I think deeper about the term and characteristics of our "at-risk" babies, maybe it's time to change from what they are "at-risk" of doing or becoming and focus on what we hope/desire/expect for them in the future. It would be great if administrators begun the school year by going over the HOPE for ALL students that enter their buildings. The list would be outstanding.
Darlene
Hi There
I certainly understand your concern and I must admit that it is real. Often when the focus is on the negative, the behavior is reinforced and it becomes an expectation. It is almost inconceivable that with all the professionals that we have in the field of education, they will be aware of the impact of labeling students but it is done on a regular basis and the various groups affected always respond as expected. It is in fact time for the leaders of tomorrow to prevent such issues by effectively changing the way we look at education and how we as professionals affect the system and the people that we serve.
Good Call
Greg
Agreed, the term at risk does set a negative tone. Ruby Payne's work is powerful on this topic. Has anyone had a chance to learn from her?
There are many programs out there to serve at-risk youth like ThorpeWood’s. ThorpeWood's mission is to serve at-risk youth and increase the likelihood of their success through long-term, customized academic support and personal development programs in partnership with their schools and youth organizations. We serve students from throughout the region including Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Frederick and Washington Counties (MD).
ThorpeWood is a unique Maryland-based resource that offers our regional school and youth organization partners customized programs addressing the specific needs of each at-risk student group. Our students achieve positive results through our programs that focus on:
·Academic Support – we provide remediation to bring academic skills up to grade level
·Personal Development – we teach personal growth skills such as goal setting, empathy development, and healthy self-reliance
·Life Skills – we guide the correction of destructive survival strategies including those related to problem solving, decision-making, and exercise of power and leadership
·Vocational Training – we help transition students from school to careers by teaching employable skills and allowing them to work under the guidance of experienced craftsmen and potential employers
Our education staff works closely with our partners’ staff to create individually designed programs that incorporate the following criteria:
·Long-term (2-4 year) commitment with the same students
·Customized curricula addressing the partners’ goals for students’ academic, personal, and social growth
·Small student groups (generally 10-12) and small ratios of students to instructors
·Repeated program visits to ThorpeWood’s 155-acre campus and instruction at the students’ school s or youth organizations
Outcome-based program assessment and on-going measurement of student progress. We need more programs such as this one throughout the country.
Reference
ThorpeWood. Retrieved on July 20, 2008 from http://www.thorpewood.org/atriskyouth/index.html
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