INTERVIEW WITH TEACHER
Participant D: I am here
Sent at 9:30 PM on Wednesday
me: Perfect! Thank you
for participating.
Participant D: My
pleasure
me: We'll start with
some general information.. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself- How
long you've been teaching?
Sent at 9:33 PM on Wednesday
Participant D: I started
teaching in September 1999 - business writing at first, then added world
literature a few years later. My educational background is in literature.
Sent at 9:35 PM on Wednesday
me: Wonderful. So you
have lots of experience! Can you tell me a little bit about the students you
have had in your classes throughout the years?
How would you describe the diversity
of students in your class?
Participant D: I teach
Saturday mornings and at least one night during the week, so I get a mix of
young people and older adults already in the work force. Racially the Kean
community is extremely diverse, and my class tends to reflect that.
Sent at 9:38 PM on Wednesday
me: Great! Can you tell
me a little bit about how the students interact with each other? Do you feel as
though they engage with classmates of their culture, sit next to them, and so
on?
Sent at 9:39 PM on Wednesday
Participant D: I'd say
students tend to interact quite a bit - sharing personal and professional
experiences that cross racial boundaries. If possible, I like to get older
students talking about the day-to-day realities of being in the workforce,
which can help to illustrate my points to the larger class.
Sent at 9:43 PM on Wednesday
me: Sounds wonderful.
How do you feel you interact with students of all different backgrounds?
Sent at 9:44 PM on Wednesday
Participant D: I like
having a diverse class. I'm the teacher, but that doesn't mean I can't learn
from my students as well - and I often do.
Sent at 9:48 PM on Wednesday
me: Have you ever
noticed any bias going on amongst the students in your class?
Participant D: Bias
against me or other students? Can you give an example?
me: Bias against each
other
Do you think any students have been
bias against you?
Sent at 9:51 PM on Wednesday
Participant D: I'm not
sure to be honest. I'm still somewhat young so (I hope) the generation gap
doesn't come into play. There must be endless reasons why students ignore the
class material, but I'm pretty certain it's not due to race.
Sent at 9:54 PM on Wednesday
me: I would certainly
hope not! You mentioned earlier that you have a pretty diverse classroom. Is
there a large group of any particular race?
Sent at 9:55 PM on Wednesday
me: More male or female
students? And who do you feel you interact better with?
Participant D: Not
really - it's pretty evenly distributed between white/black/hispanic/indian
Sent at 9:56 PM on Wednesday
Participant D: More
females for sure. The dynamic with women is of course slightly different.
Sent at 9:58 PM on Wednesday
me: Can you recall any
particular stories or experiences you've had with any students over the years?
Participant D: I sure
can. Any particular type of story you're looking for?
me: Nope! More than one
story is welcome if your okay with sharing.
Sent at 10:01 PM on Wednesday
Participant D: One
female student was so taken with me that she offered to drop the class
immediately so I could go on a date with her. That was interesting. Another
student (a male) had a fake leg and attacked me with it in the parking lot
because he failed the class. So love and hate, I guess.
Sent at 10:05 PM on Wednesday
me: Sounds interesting..
I'm sorry about that attack!
Sent at 10:06 PM on Wednesday
me: Do you feel in the
years you've been teaching that you either noticed or caught yourself being
unconsciously bias against anyone?
Sent at 10:08 PM on Wednesday
Participant D: Well, I'm
only human, so yes - bias (positive and negative) can creep in, and a teacher
must constantly guard against that. And I do.
Sent at 10:10 PM on Wednesday
me: When you say guard
against that- do you believe it to be a huge problem in terms of ever clouding
your judgement when it comes to teaching, grading, etc.
Sent at 10:13 PM on Wednesday
Participant D: Not a
huge problem - just something to be cognizant of when dealing with the myriad
personalities in the class.
Sent at 10:15 PM on Wednesday
me: Great- You've been
extremely helpful. Thank you again for participating and sharing information
with me. Enjoy the rest of your evening!
Participant D: My
pleasure.
Sent at 10:18 PM on Wednesday
