Thursdays at Five Thirty-five

Abstract

I recently completed my first year as an adjunct instructor at a university with an historic mission to educate African-Americans. I am a Caucasian woman with a healthy southern accent and an obvious difference between my skin color and that of the majority of my students. As I began my journey at one of the nation’s most recognized historically Black universities, I had no idea that this would be the most professionally rewarding experience of my life. I was nervous about serving mostly students of color, particularly since most of my students during my 13 years of teaching, were Caucasian females from middle-class backgrounds. I had a strong desire to create an educational experience that would be culturally significant to students. In order to do this, I had to reflect on my own experiences and identify how these experiences shaped my own perceptions about the cultures represented in my classroom. I began by creating a warm, welcoming classroom environment where students could share their cultural beliefs, customs, and traditions regardless of their ethnicity. Throughout the year I demonstrated care, concern, and respect for my students, emphasizing cooperation and shared responsibility. What I realized along the way was that even though my ethnicity was different from the majority of my students, we shared many common values, characteristics, and behaviours, shaping our own identity as members of the educational community.

Citation

Underwood, P.S. (2018), "Thursdays at Five Thirty-five", Underserved Populations at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 21), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 121-127. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-364420180000021008