Arthur+Ashe,+Citizen+of+the+World+-+by+Matthew+Morris

Matthew Morris

** __EN3051 – Texts for Teaching Assignment (Part B)__ ** Choosing which texts you teach in the classroom is equally as important as the way you teach the text. In class, many students have voiced their complaints about teaching // Shakespeare //and // To Kill a Mockingbird //;// but // I feel it is the way you create themes and deliver context that truly make the ultimate impact. We could have introduced // Twilight //as a text in the English classroom two years ago, but by now students would be just as disinterested in that book as they would be in // To Kill a Mockingbird //. It all depends // how //a text is taught, not // what //the text is. For the second “text for teaching” assignment I examined the possibility of using a documentary as a teaching tool in the classroom. The documentary I selected was titled // Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World //and I used it for my ENG1P class in my current block. The documentary was used as a resource in the mythology unit; more specifically, we used the documentary to examine aspects of the hero and the heroic quest (and how these historical characteristics can relate to modern day icons). I had // many //reasons for choosing this documentary to supplement my Greek mythology unit. Firstly, one of the most fundamental issues in regards to our educational system is the issue underrepresentation or misrepresentation of Blacks. In my current placement, Cedarbrae C.I., a highly racialized school in Scarborough, this tendency to teach without a racialized narrative fundamentally affects the disconnect between the students and the curriculum. One of my pedagogical staples will be to push the Black voice into the classroom so that those students (who statistically need it the most) have a foundation to draw from, figures to aspire towards, and a voice to connect with in the educational environment. In teaching the elements of a heroic myth, I consciously chose several Black heroes for the class to consider. The documentary regarding Arthur Ashe was another instance of looking at a figure that is racialized; subsequently offering minority students another minority for them to reflect upon and consider. Secondly, the Arthur Ashe story is about a Black male athlete who did other things than just play sports. Over the last few decades, Blacks males have inherited the idea that sports can play a salvation role in their lives. Many of these Black students are bright, articulate, and socially adept; but they themselves and the educational system are simultaneously neglecting each other. Thus sports are not being used correctly in the school system. The educational system should stress the importance of Black people in the classroom first and on the playing field second. This is another teaching point that I emphasized while teaching. In another activity where we looked at heroes, we discussed how and why Martin Luther King Jr.’s impact is more influential than Kobe Bryant’s. This discussion highlighted the idea that there are other avenues for Blacks to aspire to other than professional athletics. Even though Arthur Ashe was an accomplished tennis star, he is immortalized and remembered for his civil actions. Moreover, the Arthur Ashe documentary established another dynamic that must be addressed by society and the school system. The presence of large numbers of black athletes in major sports appears to have persuaded almost everyone to believe that the process of integration has been a success. This sense of closure is an illusion driven by black apathy and white public relations efforts. There is a point in the documentary that shows Arthur Ashe being denied entry into South Africa. I used this scene as a “teachable moment” to stress the fact that integration has not yet been successful and sports alone does nothing to impact it. I chose to introduce this text in my grade ten applied English classroom. However, I feel that this text along with some major themes that accompany it can be valuable in several other classes. Using this text in a grade 12 university prep English class may provide a teacher with the opportunity to engage in a discourse pertaining to race relations, the black male stereotype, and activism among other curricular requirements. Additionally, similar themes and this text could be utilized in Civics, History, Law, and Philosophy courses. For the 1P class, we created a great classroom discourse and I got some excellent answers to the question sheet I provided proving that there is no so-called “intellectual limit” to how this type of text can be used. The main issue I encountered while teaching this text was that some students went into auto-pilot as soon as I turned the lights off and the movie on. This may be a product of habits they have formed over the years from other classes. I wanted to make sure they were engaged in the film; so after a few minutes I stopped the film and took up the first few questions on the sheet. After this brief pause, I could see that the students were taking notes on the film and fully engaged. This resulted in terrific conversation once the film was over. On the surface, this film was meant to highlight a modern day example of the traditional elements of the Greek mythological hero and the characteristics of the heroic quest. The documentary reflected the Hero’s characteristics perfectly. Underneath, I wanted to stress the importance of the Black voice, the misplaced importance on sports in the black community, and the detrimental race relations that still exists today. This text allowed me to accomplish both goals smoothly and effectively. I gave the students a question sheet to fill out during the movie that reflected on the characteristics of the heroic quest (early life innocence, call to action, initiation, breakthrough, allies, etc.). Many of my questions targeted these characteristics while others emphasized the secondary issues I wanted to address. The assignment stressed curricular expectations; in specific, the text assessed the students’ ability to “demonstrate an understanding of variety of informational, literary, and graphic texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning.” The documentary also developed the students’ ability to “listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes.” Both connected to the curriculum overall expectations for ENG1P. Arthur Ashe was a great black male role model that embodied the characteristics of perseverance, dignity, and self-esteem – all characteristics that I tried to teach in the lesson and all characteristics that I will try to instill in my future students. Arthur Ashe - Citizen of the World by Matt Morris