Our Students Have Many Stories

As humans, we are wired to form general notions from a few, or even a single impression. As teachers, this tendency can be dangerous, especially if we use these limited (and often one-sided) impressions to guide our interactions with students from backgrounds that we are unfamiliar with. I was assigned to view the TED talk below, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, as part of Dr. Anne Homza’s Bilingual Education class at Boston College, and believe that it is especially relevant to teachers in the U.S. Adichie points out a way for us to view our students as human beings with a rich and complex life that presents an opportunity for us all to learn from – which is a vital skills for us a time of growing diversity in the school-age population.