“Are You My Dawg?”: Socially and Politically Marginalized Children Desiring to Be Seen and Valued by Their Teachers

Abstract

In a mid-sized city in the American Midwest, a small child walks the halls of his primary school while clutching the hand of a “village” elder, earnestly relating the events leading up to a recent transgression in his kindergarten classroom. Gavin is not being punished. His teacher has recognized the boy’s temporary frustration with a classmate and with her (and her own with him) and has asked one of the school’s elders to take him for a walk. The elder, Baba Imamu Mwenye, is a member of the community’s Council of Elders who serve as volunteers in the school. Gavin’s walk with an elder not only allowed the teacher, the classmate, and Gavin some much-needed space; but also provided Gavin the opportunity to be heard and advised by a respected and caring grandfather figure. In the first few months of school, another elder, Baba Kwadwo Jackson, has introduced the children in Gavin’s class to their African day names—explaining how these names represent each child’s potential gift to the community. In addition, the elders have provided drumming and drum-making lessons, instructed the five-year-old children on how to safely use real tools as they work to build a bookcase for their classroom, accompanied the class on multiple trips to downtown and other areas of the city, and have served daily as sounding board, collaborator, and counsel to the children and their teacher.