Mount Tamalpais College held their first “Students Teaching Teachers” event this May, providing both new and returning teachers an opportunity to learn from San Quentin residents.
The forum encouraged MTC teachers to engage in open dialogue with students, and ask questions to better understand the lives of students and state of education in SQ.
“The purpose is to give them information about our experiences outside of the classroom, and how that informs their teaching and our ability to learn,” event co-organizer Miguel Sifuentes shared.
Resident Carl Raybon, also a co-organizer, noted that the event began as a conversation between himself and Sifuentes. “When we started talking with Nandita Dinesh [MTC Dean of Academic Administration], we wanted to know what could be done to produce a better student.”
“This event is about collaborating on how we prepare MTC teachers to be more effective in the classroom,” said Dean Dinesh. She added that many of the instructors at the event had never taught in an incarcerated setting before.
Sifuentes shared that he wanted to take on the role of a teacher by sharing his prison experiences to break down stereotypes of incarcerated people. He wanted to emulate the pedagogical model of education in which a teacher can be the student, and a student can also be the teacher.
Five residents sat on a panel and fielded questions about various parts of their lives. Dinesh asked about aspects of their lives that would be helpful to illuminate for the new teachers.
Answers varied from limited access to the outside world, to time-heavy commitments such as jobs and self-help groups.
“We have other commitments such as jobs and Prison Industry Authority but there’s school and self-help groups. When do I fit in my time to study, or the chapters of reading that you assign me?” lamented one MTC student.
Dinesh further inquired about harmful assumptions past teachers may have held that impacted the students negatively.
“I wish I had had access to this workshop three years ago when I began volunteering at MTC,” said Gabriella Licata, MTC linguist and researcher. “Much of what we learned on this day, I learned through conversations throughout the years. But, it would have been really useful from day one.”
MTC students played a slideshow to demonstrate their living quarters and other parts of the institution to their teachers; this allowed them to gain a glimpse into what life looks like in San Quentin. MTC resident facilitators displayed photographs of the Upper Yard walkway, North Block entrance and cell, H-Unit, the chapel, and the canteen.
“The Students Teaching Teachers event helped me, as a teacher, understand the academic goals of my students and the limitations of their personal lives. Which is incredibly important as I design my course,” said Fiona Callahan, first-time teacher in an incarcerated setting.
Several teachers and students expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to share with one another. Dinesh added that there would be two more opportunities for the group to reconvene in the middle and end of the summer semester.
“Evoking these questions about our roles as students and teachers extends beyond today. Examining our positions as people that are a part of this system is important if we are to truly transform it,” Sifuentes concluded.
― Cesar Martinez, Journalism Guild Writer, contributed to this story
