Volume 20, Number 5
September/October 2004
The “N-word” and the Racial Dynamics of Teaching
By WENDY LUTTRELL and JANIE WARD
The “N-word” and the Racial Dynamics of Teaching, continued
The “N-word” and the Racial Dynamics of Teaching
The “N-word” and the Racial Dynamics of Teaching
It is the first day back at school and students greet each other after the long summer break. Racial, gender, and sexual slurs-all spoken without apparent malice-punctuate students' dialogue as they hail each other. One teacher bristles every time she hears the n-word. A guidance counselor calls out, "Hey, watch your mouth." Two teachers exchange glances, and one says to the other, "You have to pick your battles." A new high school year has begun.
How do high school teachers contend with students' use of offensive racial and sexual language? What wells of emotions are tapped as teachers wrestle with their decisions about what "battles to pick" in their everyday interactions with youth?
This is an excerpt from the Harvard Education Letter.
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It is the first day back at school and students greet each other after the long summer break. Racial, gender, and sexual slurs-all spoken without apparent malice-punctuate students' dialogue as they hail each other. One teacher bristles every time she hears the n-word. A guidance counselor calls out, "Hey, watch your mouth." Two teachers exchange glances, and one says to the other, "You have to pick your battles." A new high school year has begun.
How do high school teachers contend with students' use of offensive racial and sexual language? What wells of emotions are tapped as teachers wrestle with their decisions about what "battles to pick" in their everyday interactions with youth?
