Never Laugh at the Teacher's Jokes

Never Laugh at the Teacher's Jokes

Never Laugh at the Teacher's Jokes

by Srikala Ashok

Editor's Note: Srikala Ashok, a teacher of

blind children, was asked to do a presentation to the 1996 National Federation of the

Blind of Illinois Convention Parents' Seminar on the topic of socialization of blind

children. The presentation was so well done and so well received that Debbie Stein, a long

leader of the NFB of Illinois, encouraged her to submit her remarks to Future Reflections

for publication. She did, and here, preceded by an introducation by Debbie Stein, is what

she submitted:

Introductory Remarks by

Debbie Stein

Kala Ashok is a teacher of blind children with

the SEDOM Co-op program based in Woodstock, Illinois. She grew up in Madras, India, where

she taught children with cerebral palsy for several years before coming to the United

States. At Western Michigan University she earned a master's degree in teaching blind

children. She has taught multiply-handicapped blind children in Louisiana, and since 1993

has been at SEDOM working with children from infancy through junior high level.

Kala got in touch with us about a year ago

because she was looking for blind adults who could talk to some of her students about

their careers. I said to her, "In the ten years that I've been involved with the

Federation, this is the first time a teacher of blind kids has ever come to us and said,

`I'd like my kids to get to know some blind adults.'" She was amazed. She said,

"How come people aren't doing it more?" and I said, "That's a really good

question." That began an ongoing dialogue about this and many other topics. I think

she has some very important and interesting thoughts to share. Here is Kala:

KALA ASHOK—When I was asked to come and

speak to you I gave many reasons why I would be a bad choice. I was excited, but I felt

unsure about my professional expertise. I was unsure whether I was the right person to do

this, whether I know enough. I don't think I do know enough. I'm constantly learning. I

don't have all the answers—so if I say something off the wall you'll know who to

throw your eggs at. (Laughter)

When we hear a child's behavior being addressed

in school, it's usually because that behavior is negative in some way. It's mouthing

behavior, acting-out behavior—something that has a negative impact on other kids. If

it's not an obviously negative behavior it's less a cause for alarm. But what alarms me

about my students who are blind is not so much negative behavior, as a need for positive

social behaviors. Because this is not something that has a negative impact on other

people, it fails to get the attention it deserves. Actually it is having a very strong

negative impact on someone, and that person is my blind student.

When blind kids are placed in a regular school

setting, you might think that they are constantly in a situation where they can pick up

the social skills they need. That's a logical assumption to make, but it doesn't always

happen. Just putting a kid into a situation does not assure that socialization will occur.

It works well for some kids; they can make the system work for them. I'm more concerned

with the kids who may be shy, who may not have the ability to initiate social interaction.

For those kids we really need to intervene. We need to plan ways to assist them.

As an itinerant teacher I know there is very real

academic pressure in school, especially in the middle and upper grades. All of

us—classroom teachers, itinerants, parents, and students—are concerned about

assignments, tests, and making sure that all the necessary materials are in Braille.

Everyone's caught up in this effort to make certain that the student's grades don't suffer

for any reason. We're right to be concerned. But in the whole process something else gets

bumped down on the priorities list, and that's social skills. That's why we all need to

come together as a team sometimes. We have to provide these kids with experiences that

will help them get the social skills they need.

It's very important for us to be tuned into the

world of the sighted peers of our blind children. We need to know what makes them laugh,

what interests them, what makes them angry, what kinds of things they jeer at. We need to

know everything about their world. Only then can I, as a teacher, give appropriate

feedback to my students about social skills.

I rely a great deal on classroom teachers. They

see a lot of behaviors which, as an itinerant teacher, I may not pick up on. One junior

high classroom teacher told me this: it's not considered cool to laugh at a teacher's

jokes. After she pointed this out I observed and found it was really true. The kids would

look at each other, or look away, or appear completely uninterested, but they would never

laugh at the teacher's joke, no matter how funny it was!

My student, a charming young lady with impeccable

manners, would laugh out loud. She thought that it was perfectly appropriate to laugh. But

in the world of that classroom, she was setting herself further apart than she already

was. It's not that she did anything wrong. But by laughing when the others did not, she

heightened the difference that already existed between her and the rest of the class.

That's why I think it's so important for us to be aware of the world of the sighted peers

of our kids.

Sometimes simple arrangements in the classroom

will seriously hamper a blind child's interactions. It amazes me how conditioned a lot of

us are to think that the best seat for a student who is blind is right near the door.

After all, she has her big heavy Brailler, and all these large books to pick out and put

back, and she has to get in and out of the classroom quickly because there's only so much

time for passing between periods. The other place which is considered appropriate for kids

who are blind is near the shelves in the back of the room, where all those fifteen million

volumes of every textbook can be stored. That way she has easy access to them and a way to

store all her other equipment.

These are all very legitimate reasons which can't

be disputed. But if you think about it, those are the worst places for social interaction.

When you're seated near the door or in the far back, you tend to be away from the group.

You're more easily left out of what's going on. When there are fewer people talking around

you, there is less chance for you to be drawn into conversation.

I like to see my students right in the middle, in

the thick of everything. There they have more people around them and have more

opportunities to engage in conversations. There's more of a chance for teachers and other

kids to call on them. Yes, those issues of time and storage are important. But if social

skills are a priority, they need to be given status as such. We need to make socialization

a priority and work around these other issues. It calls for additional time management and

planning, but it can still be done within that context. Maybe you don't have to do it in

every classroom. It may not work with every teacher. But if there are situations where it

can work, it needs to be stressed as an important priority for the student.

I find social workers to be very helpful within

the school. They come up with some great ideas on how to encourage social interaction in

the classroom. Besides the inevitable group projects and work with partners, they have

other suggestions too. One thing we have tried is the "circle of friends." A

student identifies other kids in the building with whom he or she has had positive

interaction. These kids can form a little club, a circle within the school where they do

things for each other and look out for one another. They can do things outside of school

too. It's so important to carry over the interaction from school to the outside.

Let me explain why I think this is so important.

If you think about the pace of the school schedule—and this is especially true in the

higher grades—there is very little time for chit-chat with friends. Classroom

teachers have told me directly that they're not there to encourage kids to talk to each

other. They want them to come in, do their work, get out, and go to the next class. In

fact, where you see most of the interaction is out in the hallways during passing periods.

The hallway is noisy and bustling. It's where the latest gossip is all being shared. The

kids are shouting over people's heads or from one end of the hallway to the other. They

may just exchange a smile, they may thump somebody on the back, but that's where the

interaction is taking place—during that three- or four-minute passing time.

At that time, my student is busy gathering her

stuff. She's putting her books into her bag, getting her Brailler, and maneuvering through

those very crowded hallways to the next classroom, which could be way down at the other

end. She's getting there, taking out her Brailler, and rolling in a piece of paper to be

ready for the next teacher. Kids have a very rigorous schedule, and sometimes I think they

don't even realize they're missing out on those friendship moments.

One of my students had never told me that she

missed having friends, that she missed having someone to share things with. After a lot of

prodding she finally said one day, "Mrs. Ashok, nobody talks to me on the school

bus." The bus would be the perfect place for making friends. You're not worried about

getting somewhere on time, you're not thinking about the teacher's directions—you're

sitting on the bus going home. What could be more relaxing? It's the kind of pressure-free

time that we want to provide for our kids, where they can have a chance to get to know

their sighted peers better. It's an opportunity for them to get to know their interests

and to share their own interests too. But my student didn't know how to make use of this

opportunity that she had every day.

You know your kids best. Some are less inhibited,

are able to take risks and initiate social interaction. But other kids are not, and those

are the ones that I'm really concerned about.

I want to digress a little bit and talk about

something that makes this whole discussion so personal for me. I think perhaps it helps me

understand the needs of my students a little better. In many ways I perceive people with

visual disabilities as expressing a different kind of culture. There is a difference in

the manner in which they do some things, and the unique perspective because of that

difference represents another culture.

I grew up in a culture that is vastly different

from the one I find myself in every day. There's one thing I've learned after many, many

years. I've fought it, I have resented it, and finally learned to accept it. If I want to

integrate socially in this dominant culture, the responsibility for doing so lies entirely

with me and with nobody else. I have to push myself into this dominant world. I cannot

wait to be pulled in. That for me is always the hardest challenge. I see it paralleled in

the lives of my students. They need to push themselves into this dominant sighted world.

They cannot wait to be drawn in. It will not happen unless they make it happen themselves.

They have to initiate.

To initiate means participating in a discussion

without being called on to do so. It means asking a question and not merely providing

answers to questions that you are asked. It means offering opinions or suggestions. It

means asking for assistance and offering assistance. All of that is social initiative.

It's so important for us to provide opportunities for kids to take these steps when

they're young. We can't wait until they're thirty-something and can start to figure it out

on their own. We must facilitate experiences with their sighted peers at a very early age,

and continue to do so as they grow up. By doing so you are in a sense creating and

recreating the real world. That world is made up of both sighted and blind people.

Learning to interact within that world must become a very normal process.

At my age, I constantly have to give myself

reasons for pushing myself into the world. My job is on the line. I need to be perceived

as competent. A big part of my job is consulting—talk about social skills there!

Because my job is on the line, I must take the initiative. I push myself to do it.

When you make interaction a priority for your

children at an early age, it becomes a natural way of dealing with the world. You don't

have to list reasons for them as to why they should do it. It's just part of life.

Right along with this is the idea of networking

with kids and adults who are blind. Our experiences as we go through childhood and

adolescence will ultimately determine our self-image as adults. The fact that my blind

student is considered atypical by this "typical" world is going to be a large

part of her experience. Connecting to and maintaining connections with other people who

are blind will strengthen her self-image in two ways. First, it will help her understand

that being different, atypical, is an integral part of who she is. Secondly, it will allow

her to see this difference not as a bad thing, but as something fruitful, productive,

socially rewarding, and empowering. We need to give our kids the chance to develop a

positive self-image.

I want to thank the Federation for giving me this

opportunity to share my thoughts. They are my thoughts, they're not anything else. I learn

a lot from my students. They're my best teachers. (Applause)

Question From Cathy Randall—Has your student

found ways to interact between classes? Has she made friends on the bus? Kala—It

would be easy for me to say yes, she has. But I think it's really an ongoing process. It's

not going to happen in a month or even a year. I would like to think I started that

process with her, that I've made her aware of what she needs and how much she could enjoy

it. She's in high school now, and I'm hoping to continue the circle of friends we started.

It opened up a world for her. It's too soon to say she took complete advantage of that

opportunity. She needs more time. I think she needs input from all of us, from teachers

and parents continuously. Has she found it? No, not yet, but I think she's working and

trying, and her parents are still trying, too.