Teacher
Subtitle: Two Years in the Mississippi Delta
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 220
ISBN-13: 9781496805850
Subjects: Education, elementary; Education, rural; Children with social disabilities, education; Education, united states; Elementary school teachers; United states, race relations; Mississippi, social conditions
Description: When Michael Copperman left Stanford University for the Mississippi Delta in 2002, he imagined he would lift underprivileged children from the narrow horizons of rural poverty. Well-meaning but naïve, the Asian American from the West Coast soon lost his bearings in a world divided between black and white. He had no idea how to manage a classroom or help children navigate the considerable challenges they faced. Copperman's memoir vividly captures his disorientation in the divided world of the Delta, even as the author marvels at the wit and resilience of the children in his classroom. To them, he is at once an authority figure and a stranger minority than even they are--a lone Asian, an outsider among outsiders. His journey is of great relevance to teachers, administrators, and parents longing for quality education in America. His frank story shows that the solutions for impoverished schools are far from simple.