Improving Schools with Student-Centered Teaching

Dr. Eunice Tarver and the Student Success Team at Tulsa Community College invited Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings to speak at a Lunch & Learn on “The Power of Student-Centered Teaching Strategies.” I have been out of the classroom for many years now, but I enjoy keeping up with current educational trends and issues, so I went to hear her presentation.

Dr. Ladson-Billings is a professor and author of “The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children” and “Crossing Over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms.” Her accolades and honors are too numerous to list but include the former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and faculty affiliate in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is a Fellow of the British Academy, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and the Hagler Institute of Texas A&M University. Dr. Ladson-Billings’ research examines the pedagogical practices of teachers who are successful with African American students. She holds numerous honorary degrees, including from Umeå, Sweden, University of Massachusetts-Lowell and the University of Alicante in Spain.

Dr. Ladson-Billings’ presentation was geared toward TCC instructors, but the message was a good one for parents and the public to hear. It was a nice mix of general, guiding principals and nuts-and-bolts classroom examples. One of the over-arching themes was how we think about educating students. Many of us who have watched education over the last 30 years have seen a shift from students being viewed as learners – humans who are becoming creative thinkers, engaged citizens, caring/empathetic individuals, critical thinkers – to products or consumers where education is more transactional, or more about a test score on a single day than the ongoing growth of a human being.

Dr. Ladson-Billings asked us to think about whether we are “managing bodies” or encouraging “academic excellence.” I think most parents can think of classrooms or schools where the former was the mindset. Much like authoritarian parenting, classrooms and schools that insist on one-size-fits-all management that create a prison-like environment and focus on standardized test scores are not conducive to children’s academic and emotional growth.

When I was a high school teacher, I had a student who liked to sit in a beanbag chair to write, sometimes sprawling across the floor. I could have insisted that he sit at a desk, but why? That student went to an ivy league school and is now a professional writer.

My daughter has been substitute teaching at a high school that is part of a large state university. Similar to the “labratory” preschool at Oklahoma State University where students learn the latest in early childhood education, this is a “laboratory” high school connected to the college of education where student teachers can learn teaching strategies for high school. My daughter talked about how engaged the students were, and how much freedom they had. She wondered if this could be transferable to other high schools. I asked her if she felt if the students were respected by the teachers and vice versa. She felt there was mutual respect and trust. I think that can be replicated. Maybe it wouldn’t look the same at every school, but environment of respect could be replicated.

The school is focused on academics, not managing bodies.

Dr. Ladson-Billings says that schools can create an atmosphere that says:

• You belong here
• Everyone can learn
• Community is our middle name
• Quality education is affordable
• Excellence is our culture

She was talking to a room of community college instructors, but these same principles can be applied to any school. Even those of us who are not teachers can work to ensure that schools in our community are operating in this way.

Of course, college is often financially out of reach for many young people these days. States have pulled back on funding, and it looks like the federal government is not interested in investing in colleges and universities. Community colleges such as TCC can make the first two years of college more affordable, or even free, if they take advantage of Tulsa Achieves. With less funding, colleges and universities are forced to raise tuition, creating a system where only those individuals with enough money can attend college. Dr. Ladson-Billings noted that many other countries such as Sweden offer free college to all students. She also pointed out that teachers are respected and paid very well. An educated population is valued because of what it gives back to the community.

A Word About Culture

Dr. Ladson-Billings talked about culturally relevant pedagogy. She noticed that her college freshman students, especially those of color, didn’t know how to “do college.” If white students needed help, they would come to her. Some would even send a draft of a paper for her to look over. Black students tended to think that going to the professor meant they were in trouble. To remedy this, she built an office visit into her syllabus. Every student had to come see her at least once during the semester. This gave her an opportunity to help those students “learn college behavior,” thus making them more successful and less likely to drop out.

She said that students should be grounded in their own culture, including whatever white culture they grew up in, but should also learn at least one more culture while in school.

Using multiple classroom group activities, giving students responsibility for evaluating each other’s work, helped create community and learning across cultures.

She also allowed each class to create a music playlist, and she included some of her favorite music in the list as well. As students entered her room, the music would be playing, making them eager to come to class. They also felt respected that she played their music (with caveats of no misogyny, homophobia, extreme language, etc.) Sometimes creating an engaging classroom is as simple as a playlist, but it requires that teachers listen to and understand their students.

New Challenges

Getting new teachers into the pipeline has become more difficult for colleges of education. Dr. Ladson-Billings admits that students are hesitant to become teachers knowing that their pay will be so low that it will be a struggle to survive, much less pay back loans. Post-COVID, Dr. Ladson-Billings showed statistics that a quarter of teachers are looking to leave the profession and that 75 percent of teachers report stress as opposed to 40 percent in other professions.

I believe that is another opportunity for parents. We can insist that our state invest in teachers. We can support creative ways to recruit and retain teachers such as providing scholarships for teachers who remain in Oklahoma to teach.  We can support that more money be invested in our kids to reduce class sizes, provide support personal for teachers and provide site-based services.

Dr. Ladson-Billings pointed out that teachers at all levels are dealing with more students with mental health challenges.

Right now, in Oklahoma, mental health services are not a priority. While this is a separate issue, it impacts the students and families that are in our schools. Trauma, poverty, health challenges, food insecurity and more are all coming into our classrooms from kindergarten through college. Dr. Ladson-Billings noted that students are less optimistic about their futures than they have been in the past.

All of these challenges can be met and overcome if we have the will to do it. We must look at the vision that Dr. Ladson-Billings lays out – everyone can learn, quality education is affordable, everyone belongs, excellence is our culture. Keeping that in mind as we build a future for our children requires recognizing that we can have quality schools, but it requires investment of vision and dollars.