What do you fight for?

Often times during an interview you may be asked the question, "Why did you get into education?" Or "Why did you become a teacher?"

I want to pose a different question to you.  "What do you fight for?"

There are many ways to answer that question.  When I ask that question, I don't want generalities or platitudes.  I want specifics.  If you were to ask me "What do you fight for?" Here is what I would say:

What do I fight for? Here are a few things on my list.

1. I fight for the student that woke up early because her mom left for work at 5:00 a.m., dad isn't around & she is responsible for getting her siblings ready for school.  She is at the school at 7:00 a.m. because she doesn't want her siblings to miss the shuttle to their school across town.  She is already tired and frustrated because everything that could go wrong did during that two hour gap between when her mom left for work and when she dropped her siblings off at the bus.  Already self conscious about her second hand clothes, another girl ridicules her for what she is wearing.  She has had all she can handle by 8:00 a.m.  By 10:00 a.m. she is waiting outside the principal's office for punching another student that said she smelled bad.  Not knowing her situation, the easy thing to do would be to hand out swift justice, suspend her for fighting and send her on her way.  But is that really what is best for this student?  Doing so would only prove to her that no one cares about her or what she is going through.  She needs more adults that are truly on her side, finding ways to meet her needs and standing in the gap for her.


2. I also fight for the special needs student, that never seems to be able to get ahead.  Things don't come easy for him, he has to work twice as hard as everyone else and still only makes half the progress.  He tries as hard as he can, but never gets the recognition that his classmates do when they put out so little effort to succeed.  He always seems to be in trouble, not because he acts any differently than some of the other students, but because one of his teachers knows he has an IEP he   is too much to handle in a large class.  Instead of recognizing and rewarding his successes, his failures are always brought to his attention.  How can he ever expect to catch up if no one ever sees how well he can do.


3. I fight for the student that knows most of the men in his neighborhood tend to find themselves in jail for whatever reason.  As a result, there are few positive male role models for him.  Most, if not all, of his teachers are female.  The women in his life work very hard to keep him on track and to do everything they can to help him succeed.  He needs a mentor to show him how to be successful and make the decisions that are constructive & not destructive.  He needs to know that education is his best tool for staying out of jail.  He needs someone to fight for him when he makes poor choices instead of kicking him out and thrusting him into the one place he needs to be separated from.


4. I fight for the student that feels like she never gets the recognition she needs.  She works hard, enjoys school, and wants to please her teacher.  But, because she didn't qualify for GT or isn't the top reader in her grade she never gets recognized for her efforts.  It is easy to recognize the top person and treat learning like a competition, but there are very few things in education that are like an athletic event.  Instead the competition should always be about being and achieving your personal best.  Setting goals and surpassing them.  Goal setting does little good when meeting the goal doesn't offer some chance for celebration.

I fight for each of these because it seems as though we often neglect each of these types of students in some form or fashion.  We celebrate the high achievers who in reality are often coasting through school.  We forget about the average student, the low socio-economic student, the minority student, and the special needs student.  We don't often do it on purpose.  It happens because we don't see the need or because it is a challenge to modify the work.  It happens because the behavior might be harder to handle or because there is nothing extra to draw our attention to that student.

You see, everything we do should not be about us.  As educators, we got into this business for the students.  Not because it is easy.  Everyday should be a fight, not a losing fight, but a fight for the success of all students.  A fight to see that they get the recognition they deserve, that they are treated the way they deserve.  Fight the good fight.