tHe misunderstood StUdEnT fRoM hElL

"Students are marginalized people in our society.
The silence that we face in the classroom is the
silence that has always been adopted by people
on the margin - people who have reason to fear
those in power and have learned that there is safety
in not speaking." (Palmer, 2007, p. 45)

A lot of assignments in class are hard for me to accomplish/relate to because, at the moment, I don't teach. I'm a debate coach, so I have the privilege of dealing with students that generally want to be there (although, not always the case). But when I do start to teach, what do I do with the student from hell? You know, the student that's passive, bored, inactive, and seemingly cares about nothing but getting out of the classroom as soon as possible? More specifically how do we engage with students of color who have been told their voices are not as important as their peers because of hegemonic systems of oppression like whiteness? Or the female student who's been told over and over again that she's just not good at math because she's a girl?



"For years, African Americans were silent in the presence of whites - silent, that is, about their true thoughts and feelings. For years, women were similarly silent in the presence of men." (Palmer, 2007, p. 46)



Palmer explains that for decades, young people are told they have no experience worth having and no voice worth speaking. This has been particularly true for students of color, who have a distrust of institutions that is fueled by decades of policy failure and whiteness. Palmer says we need to keep renewing our insight into our students true condition in spite of misleading appearances. As educators, especially in the study of comm, our jobs should be to help students find their voice, so they too can speak with truth and confidence.



Palmer says this requires us to "listen to a voice before it is spoken". He explains that we must make space for the other, be aware of the other, pay attention to the other, and honor the other. We can't coerce the silent student into speaking, but rather place yourself into the student's situation. Freire would argue to achieve true solidarity with the student, we must commit ourselves to entering the position the student is in and fight at their side to transform their objective reality. Encouraging students to speak for themselves can help in this transformation, but for both the student and educator to be creators of knowledge, the student must be an active participant that believes they have something worthy of contribution. They must also believe they are capable of contributing to whatever discipline they are studying or they will continue to deny themselves a truly transformative learning experience.



It is natural that we run straight to blaming the victim and ignore our shortcomings as teachers. But we can't let the fear within ourselves or the fear within our students erode our confidence and our ability. Overarching structures of violence like patriarchy and racism will continue to exist, so we can't hope to reach every student as deeply as we'd like, but going the extra mile with those that seem shut off and passive in the classroom could do wonders long term for not only students, but also ourselves.