TIMOTHY HATCHER (he/him)
The American School of Kinshasa • Kinshasa, DR Congo • Fifth Grade
How did you get into teaching?
When I realized that continuing my studies of biological sciences in grad school was not going to make me happy, I decided to join AmeriCorps as a VISTA volunteer. I spent a year providing technical support to teachers in Florida who were developing and enhancing service-learning programs in their schools. Following that, I served as an education volunteer in Uganda as part of the Peace Corps. These experiences provided me opportunities to meet and work with amazing educators who made differences in their students’ loves. I saw the changes in students’ as they learned to ask questions, find solutions to problems and develop skills to communicate and advocate for themselves. The dozens of teachers I collaborated with inspired me with their dedication to their students. I wanted to be like them. After I finished my Peace Corps service, a small private school in American Samoa took a risk and gave me the chance to cut my teeth in the classroom. It was there that I began my formal studies of education and began to figure out who I was as an educator.
Who was the teacher who made the most positive impact on your life?
Rachel Rice is a head teacher I worked with for several years in Uganda. I learned the value of listening from her. She was always open to hearing new ideas. She listened to criticism. She listened to everyone from the youngest students to the challenging teachers and parents. Not only did Rachel listen, she thought about what she heard and took action. Rachel worked tirelessly to ensure that every member of the school community knew that they had a voice that would be heard and taken seriously. She also encouraged me to have a big imagination as a teacher and take risks.
What is a professional inquiry you are currently pursuing?
How can I become an anti-racist teacher?
I have been working through Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad. Over the past few months, there have been several teacher summits and workshops for teachers addressing this topic. I recommend:
PBS Tools for Anti-racist teaching
Teach, Hustle, Inspire podcast by Dr. Shawn Woodly
o Deepening your understanding of race and racism
o Using media to know better, teach better
What is a personal inquiry you are currently pursuing?
How can I use the arts to improve my wellbeing?
This is a new one for me, and I only began just over a month ago. So far, I completed an online course facilitated by Mary Rockwood Lane.
What three best ideas you have to improve the teaching profession?
1) Get to know your community. Connections are needed for learning to take place. The more we know about our community, the better we can understand our students. We can identify their interests and challenges. As we learn more about the community’s history, we can understand its traditions and values. Spend time engaging with community members beyond the school campus. Gain their trust. Sometimes it might be difficult to define what exactly is the community of your school (especially with international schools). Finding this out could be an important inquiry to undertake.
2) (This applies if you are a white teacher.) Check your white privilege. As we become more aware of what white privilege is and how it affects the opportunities we receive, our biases and behaviors, we also recognize how it has an impact on the opportunities and lives of others. I think that it important to regularly reflect on this privilege as teachers. How does your white privilege affect the way you are able to connect with, understand and empathize with your BIPOC students? How does your white privilege affect the way you are able to connect with, understand and empathize with your BIPOC colleagues? How have you applied (intentionally or unintentionally) your white privilege in a way that harmed, humiliated, intimidated, silenced a BIPOC?
3) Make mental health a priority. More than ever, I think we need to prioritize this in schools. For our students. For our teachers. For our leaders. Change causes stress. Uncertainty causes stress. There is a tremendous amount of both of these surrounding us today. Like many other skills, I believe that it is important to teach students how to handle stress is a healthy way. (I guess that would fall under the self-management skills ATL.) Finding out about and practicing strategies for mental well-being together with our students could be beneficial to us all.
You gotta see this!
Watching Drew Barrymore interview her younger self to promote her new talk show at first made me smile, then it made me laugh out loud.
Wouldn’t it be great to interview the childhood you? What would you ask yourself? Would you give any advice? What would it be? What would you like your younger self to remind you about?