teaching, more than a j0b

By Jessica B

Aayesha Nangia is a new biology and physiology teacher at Yerba Buena high school. This is her first year teaching. Ms. Aayesha grew up in San Jose but is originally from South Asia, specifically India. Her parents are both from India and she believes that her culture is a big part of who she is. Some people separate school and their identities but Ms. Ayesha believes that you can't push away your identity.

Aayesha: “I actually think that, that does play a important role in the way that I teach. If you remember the scientist posters that we did, I tried to use that as a way from me to showcase my culture...because I think sometimes school and your identities can be separated but in reality, you can’t just put your identity away. It belongs with you and so I want it to be a bigger part of the class.“

Aayesha's mom and her side of the family are all educators, as she grew up she saw the importance of education. Ever since she was in kindergarten, she has wanted to be a teacher. Ms. Aayesha has a soft spot for middle schoolers because that's where she really started thinking she wanted to go into teaching. Ms. Aayesha’s passion for teaching has to do with social justice and supporting her students.

Aayesha: “…the reason that I want to be a teacher is geared very much in social justice, trying to understand how do you make learning actually relate to the students. How do you support them with what they actually need support with…”

Ms. Aayesha didn’t always want to be a science teacher. Ms. Aayesha actually loved history and was interested in being a history teacher.

Aayesha: “I actually wanted to be a history teacher before... I loved history and I loved history because it's so personal... In high school, I had a chemistry teacher who took the time to actually connect what we were learning in class to what we do outside of class and that's when it hit me that science is also very personal, and so that's why I decided to go into science...”

Ms. Aayesha didn’t like science until she was in high school. She thought she didn’t belong in the science world.

Aayesha: “…I also up until that point hated science completely. I thought that I was not someone who belonged in the world of science. I didn't think that I could be a scientist or I could think in that way but I took that one chem class. I realized that science is life and I have a life so therefore I could be a scientist…”

Ms. Aayesha went to UCLA for undergrad and Stanford for her masters. She majored in molecular cell and developmental biology, which is the developmental process.

Aayesha: “It has to do with how things get to where they are, so how does a plant go from being a seed to a full blown plant. How do babies go from being egg and sperm to full blown organisms? It's the whole developmental process.”

Teaching has impacted Ms. Aayesha the most in the way that she has to stop and ask herself questions to really understand what is going on in class.

Aayesha: “...When things happen sometimes in your class as a teacher, it can be very easy to assume that one thing is going on but a lot of times, it's something else that you don’t know and you have to dig a little deeper to understand what is actually going on inside the minds of you students… Right now, I've just been focusing on trying to make sure that I do take a step back and I try to understand where the students are coming from and what perspective they’re bringing…”

Teachers also learn from their students. During class teachers make students collaborate with others and that has encouraged Ms. Aayesha to go and meet new teachers.

Aayesha: “...I have also learned how to be collaborative. I know we just go new setting charts in our class and I think students teach teachers more than they realize. I have seen groups work together so well and be so open to understanding each other even though it is hard to put yourself out there; and as a teacher, I kind of have to remind myself to do that too because I am still new at this school also and there is so many teachers that I don’t know, and so it's a push for me to go out and meet them as well.”