First-Year NJ Alternate Route Teachers Collaborate for Interdisciplinary Impact

Cherry Hill High School West teachers, Gay Brown and Frank Gambino, are new to teaching but clearly have experience in the area professional collaboration, as the pair worked together to complete their Learner Development Project for a course I teach. Gay teaches English, and Frank teaches Art. Due to the size of their high school, it is a distinct possibility they may have never met without being colleagues in the Rutgers Alternate Route program. Their collaboration has now extended to becoming day-to-day working colleagues - sharing stories about students they have in common, creating interdisciplinary course threads, and supporting each other as they navigate teaching.

Candidates in my course study educational theory and then use acquired knowledge of development and learning theory to improve management of their students, classroom environments, and content. They demonstrate their understanding and application of the theory through their Learner Development projects which require candidates to select one educational theorist to guide their decision making in the areas of planning, instruction and assessment.  Gay and Frank used the ideas of the late public intellectual educational theorist bell hooks as their centerpiece. Their work demonstrated their scholarship and how the themes of hooks' book, Teaching to Transgress - Education as Freedom, Teaching in Multicultural Classrooms, and Engaging Critical Thinkers - are relevant to our K-12 classroom practice. The link to their presentation is at the end of this note.

Their presentation was a response to their experiences, such as noticing the disengagement of Black and Brown students in their high school, feeling the anxiety of the current waves of censorship in this country, students' struggles to reflect on their lives, students' feelings of vulnerability and fear, and their desire to create learning spaces for students that are joyful communities. Their realization that success looks different for every student and comes at different speeds is powerful. Their presentation calls on all of us, as educators, to learn each student's unique story for the purpose of helping them thrive academically and personally.

I was not the only one delighted by their presentation.  Their course peers, most of whom are also first-year teachers in New Jersey, also found their work compelling as evidenced by their favorable responses to the collaboration.  

I appreciated their point about "education is the practice of freedom" and the importance of acknowledging everyone's presence so they feel valued in the classroom setting. It's true that everyone in the class contributes to the classroom dynamic and influences each other's learning. One must be open to hearing others' experiences and respecting ideas in order to help each other grow.  

-Paula B.- Visual Arts Teacher- Grades 9-12

…They also talk about how when it comes to teaching in multicultural classrooms, we the teachers, need to "acknowledge that our styles of teaching may need to change." This is definitely important, and it applies to a lot of situations even if those situations don't involve cultural aspects. Gay and Frank also pointed out the importance of, as they say, "Recognizing our privilege (they present this thing called the wheel of power, which I thought was really cool) and figuring out how we can use our privilege to empower our peers and community. I think all of these things are really good takeaways and I appreciate Gay and Frank for addressing them.

-Adrian S. - World History Teacher – Grade 9

They spoke on bell hooks and they both read her book. They seemed very engaged and influenced by the reading, so I would love to read it for myself. The collaboration between them is inspiring me to collaborate more with my coworkers. Additionally, Gay had a great point of treating students as subjects not objects, and that statement was very powerful.

Alea Q.- Art Teacher – Grades 9-12  

Wow! I loved this presentation; it really opened my mind to a ton of new ideas. The best thing I got from their project was a brand-new research resource. I already have the book, "Teaching to Transgress" by bell hooks, in my Amazon shopping cart. Francesco and Gay used a ton of useful information from this book to acknowledge the differences in their students. This book teaches students to transgress against racial, sexual, and class boundaries in order to achieve a quality education. I have a very diverse population of students so I think reading this book will benefit me as an educator.  

Anna M. – World History Teacher – Grade 6

A tip that I picked up is that oppression in education is real. Their presentation was filled with great research to help me understand why it is so important to continue to push against social norms and traditional boundaries in education.  

Shakeema G. -Middle School English Teacher

They discussed the book Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks, which sounds like a really great resource for information about student learning and building relationships. Gay also introduced me to the concept of a "Toss and Talk" which is a great game to get kids engaged.

Katie C. – Science Teacher - 8th Grade

A tip that stood out to me was where Gay and Francesco discuss how teachers must be willing to change in the classroom and create opportunities for students to develop their identities. I want to be a teacher who is always willing to try something new, and someone who creates lessons that students can relate to you.  

Kiersten C. – English Teacher - 10th Grade Special Education 

If you’re considering following your dream of teaching, Rutgers Alternate Route can offer you the support and training you need to succeed. Be sure to follow Rutgers Alternate Route on Twitter or sign up for Alternate Route’s monthly newsletter for more information and stories from the field of education.