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Home > The View from Here: Part III
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The View from Here: Part III
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by Debra Ambush, Ph.D.
Watkins Mill High School
Maryland
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| | The following article completes a series of articles devoted to the need for professional development for minority teachers and the state of education in the United States for minority school children. The first two articles can be found below in "More."
Growing My School's AP Program
I teach AP Studio Art at Watkins Mill High in Montgomery County, Maryland. I have taught at this school for eight years and have served as chairperson of the department for six years. I owe the opportunity to do so to Shirley Ancell, the department chair who interviewed and hired me. Until her retirement, she unselfishly made a consistent commitment to train me for leadership. She encouraged me to become involved with the instructional leadership council, and as a result I became the first African-American teacher to serve in this capacity at my school in its 10-year existence.
When I began my leadership of the Visual Art Department, there was only one studio art class, with two students working independently in what we called Advanced Studio Art. From this one class, we have developed a comprehensive program. We now offer two regular studio art classes and one advanced class, and for the past three years we have had at least nine students in the advanced class working toward their AP Studio Art portfolio. I was able to make positive changes in the way the visual art program was perceived by offering drawing and design classes as invitational "pathways" for eighth graders who showed a consistent work ethic and promise in the visual arts. At one point this program boasted three drawing and design classes, which translated into an annual assurance that minority children would pass through the program into the upper-level classes.
We also began visiting middle schools to recruit students. I talked openly with teachers about the need to identify students of color as potential participants in these gateway courses. Over the last six years, this has had a tremendous impact on our ability to expand our course offerings and engage a larger percentage of the student population. In 2001-02, our combined advanced studio and AP class had the largest number of African-Americans enrolled in one AP class in the school.
During my tenure as department chair, we have had three Maryland Distinguished Scholars and one semifinalist. African-American students have faired well, winning congressional art awards, becoming finalists in Act-So competitions, and winning scholarship awards from a national Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. This past year, students also placed nationally in the Coca-Cola competition.
I am most proud of the first African-American student I taught to earn a perfect score of 5 on the AP Exam. Labeled a special education student, this young man currently studies art education at a four-year college. I often spoke to him about living and acting outside of imposed labels. An infusion of African-American content into the AP curriculum played a tremendous role in his passion for the arts. Another African-American student calls often with questions as she, too, pursues art education. I recently involved her in an AP conference that I organized on behalf of my school at the Walters Art Gallery.
The Importance of Mentoring
As a student-teacher advisor to two teachers who went on to be employed by the county and as the career coach to my own students who seek advice after graduation, I understand the importance of mentoring and take it seriously. Mark Lewis, in his report "Supply and Demand of Teachers of Color," contends "teachers of color bring with them an inherent understanding of the backgrounds, attitudes, and experiences of students from certain groups and therefore can help inform majority teachers on effective ways and means to communicate with students of color."
Mentorship permeates this discussion of equity and access for both the teacher and student of color. Mentorship is the critical difference in engaging more minority teachers and students to become serious stakeholders in progressive education movements. Both face unique challenges that require dismantling old belief systems both within and outside of one's own thinking.
Advanced Placement Program training offers an empowering professional development network of educators. My progression from teacher trainee to trainer was smooth and attainable, but it was clear that the standards were high for teacher trainers. The mentorship model is an intrinsic part of developing one's expertise in teaching AP classes. I attended my first Summer Institute at LaSalle University, and it was a wonderful introduction to the program. The week was filled with information and the exchange of ideas with my peers. I left with support materials, sample lesson plans, an awareness of Internet resources, and many contacts. The instructor included information about teacher training and AP Exam-reading opportunities during his presentation, planting the seed that one day I could participate at such a level.
Debra Ambush has taught art for 22 years and AP Studio Art for six years. This summer she participated in her first AP Studio Art Reading. She has received many awards, including the Montgomery County Education Association Jaworkski Civil Rights Grant, the Maryland Art Association Educator of the Year Award, the Montgomery County Public Schools Women in the Arts Award, and the Getty Fellowship in Art Education. She has published several articles about teaching art, including "African American Aesthetics" in the National Art Education Association published proceedings of the 1998 USSEA conference, "Art Education in Ghana" in the Committee on Multiethnic Concerns' National Art Education Association Newsletter in 1995, and "Points of Intersection: The Convergence of Aesthetics and Race as a Phenomenon of Experience in the Lives of African-American Children" in the 1993 Visual Arts Research Journal.
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