Par Ma Fenetre

From my window...I see green sports fields, freshly painted for the Varsity girl's lacrosse game. I see the Otter Creek that founded this mill town, green fields and trees beyond.  Farther, I see the buildings of Middlebury College.  I see wealth, and privilege, and academia.

That college on the hill is working its way into my classroom in new ways lately. Sure, I've always taught professor's kids and attended interesting events up there.  But you see, I teach French and Spanish to high school students. I teach world languages in the shadow of one of the most renowned language learning schools in my country.  Recently, Middlebury college secured a rather large grant to work with high school language teachers here at my school, but without consulting with any high school teachers before applying for the grant.  It is just a given that high school teachers would want to learn from these experts, right? Even though their context and experience is very different from mine, they are good at what they do, so I must have something to learn from them.

And yet, when I look up at that college on the hill, I am reminded of myself. I recently started working with a small non-profit in Haiti. We are a handful of educators working with a tuition free school in Port-au-Prince, primarily providing professional development to teachers, but also helping with school supplies, furniture, infrastructure, and most recently a kitchen and school lunch program.  As I work in Haiti, I hear story after story of people with the best of intentions who end up hurting, not helping. This idea haunts me.  Am I really doing any good? Is my work empowering and sustainable or parasitic and fleeting?  How can my work as a teacher impact real development? Am I any different from the Middlebury professors who assume I need their expertise without even asking what my needs are?

For the record, I am really excited about the grant and really excited to collaborate with my colleagues up on the hill.  But as I look out my window at the college, I struggle to stake my claim and find my voice as an expert in my field.  I am reminded to proceed in a spirit of collaboration with all my students and colleagues.

#JHUglobaled