Portrait of a Learner Eddie1 was the first youth leader that I met at Bike Works.

The first day that I arrived at the headquarterslocated in the basement of a church at the end of Locust WalkI knew that I would be working with youth leaders who were employed by Bike Works (through the program Work Ready) to host a summer camp for elementary and middle school children. However, I was quite unsure of my exact role and responsibilities. The first day that I arrived, the campers

had not yet returned from their bike ride. Eddie was in the shop with a few other workers. As we heard the clatter of campers arrive upstairs, Eddie ran up to assist the campers carry their bikes. He introduced himself to me and we formed an assembly line, passing bikes down the steps so that campers could safely wheel them to their designated spots (see Appendix X). For the first week at Bike Works, I simply observed and tried to be helpful when I could. I noticed that Eddie made jokes often with the other youth leaders, creating a loud presence. Often, the jokes are well received by his peers; however, there were several instances in which a few of his peers expressed their frustration with Eddie, telling him to calm down or leave them alone. In these moments, Eddie would become angry and upset and either storm out of the office or argue with the other youth leader. For instance, on July 11, 2013, Eddie got into a verbal argument with Mark, which began trending closer towards a physical altercation as tensions rose. Eddie expressed to Mark that no one ever listens to him and that he is tired of it, whereas Mark fought back that Eddie does not listen to anyone himself (see Appendix X). I tried to step in and tell the two to calm down, but as they towered over me, my voice was ignored. Finally, a senior employee at Bike Works stopped the argument and held a meeting for the youth leaders in which he expressed the need for youth leaders to work cooperatively and to model good behavior for the campers who watch their every moves and look up to them.

Eddies name and all other names referenced have been changed for privacy.

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During my next session at Bike Works after the fight, I had the opportunity to speak with Eddie for most of the afternoon, helping him to keep the campers who were not fixing their bikes occupied. I learned from Eddie that he and Mark are brothers. I had no idea and expressed my surprise to which Eddie quipped, Everybody says the same thing. Everybodys always sayin Mark is better (see Appendix X). I worried I had hurt his feelings, so I took this moment to relate to him my own struggles following after and being compared to an older sibling. From this moment forward, Eddie took an interest in me and I in him; thus, I focused my observations on Eddie as a learner. Once Eddie feels comfortable with someone, he talks a lot about himself. Often, I did not even need to prime him with questions, but he would share with me about the new phone that he was saving his money for or asked me a question about how to interpret a Facebook message from one of his female friends. Eddie was always punctual and did every task that was required of him at the camp; his main job was to supervise campers while they were not learning about bike mechanics. Several times, Eddie grew frustrated with the older youth leadersMark and Wayne, the main bike mechanics and teachersbecause he said that they bossed him around without listening to what he had to say. In these moments, Eddie would remove himself from the situation by either holing up in the office or walking outside. The head of the summer campKathyspoke to him (two times while I was there) about the importance of working cooperatively with others (see Appendix July 16). Moreover, she would highlight the fact that in any job or classroom, there will be people that Eddie will not like and he needs to learn how to negotiate those moments without storming away. Each time that Kathy would speak to him, he would grow quiet, listen to her lecture, nod, and get back to work. Later, when I would ask him how he felt about what had transpired, he would repeatedly

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express his frustration that he is simply trying to get his work done and do what is right, but has a hard time when his brother and others pester him because they are not the boss of him. It is difficult enough to get along with a sibling, but I can only imagine how hard it must have been for Eddie to negotiate that familial relationship in a working environment in which his brother was his pseudo-superior in that he had worked there longer so had more experience with the bikes. After asking about Eddies feelings several times, he became more and more open and knew that he could rely upon and speak to me about any frustrations that he was experiencing without expecting a lecture from me, just listening and understanding. Beyond observing Eddie and helping to monitor the campers with him, I worked extensively on a portfolio project that he was required to do with Work Ready in order for him to complete the program and get paid. The project required such workers to complete a cover letter, resume, thank you letter, statement of goals, and personal statement. The coordinators at Bike Works asked that other GSE mentors and I work with the youth leaders to assist them in completing these tasks. Those were the only instructions that I received. Moreover, Eddie and others completing this portfolio project did not appear to have or at least to know the guidelines and objectives for the assignments. Perhaps Eddie was given a rubric and it was lost. Nevertheless, I never saw instructions for the project, so it then became my task to explain what each component was and how to write it. Eddie did not know what any of the assignments were other than the resume. When we began working together, I started with an explanation of what a cover letter was and why it was important, followed by a visual, handwritten breakdown of what it should entail (see Appendix X). After my explanation, he began working independently on the cover letter (see Appendix X). He worked fairly efficiently on this exercise; however, I had to continue to tell him to stay

Portrait of a Learner focused. It was a difficult balance to strike between being a mentor and a figure of authority because it was not a school environment, yet I still needed to be authoritative at times in order for him to focus and understand the importance of getting the assignment completed.

Working together on Eddies personal and goal statement gave me even more insight into his family life, aspirations, and him as an individual. On these assignments, Eddie required more assistance so we worked collaboratively on organizing and writing his thoughts. Scaffolding Eddies thinking process with guided questions appeared to be the best way in which for us to create together a zone of proximal development for him in which he was pushed beyond what he was doing independently (see Appendix X). Discussing with Eddie his family life, I learned that the mother with whom Eddie and Mark currently live adopted them after Eddie was born. According to Eddie, his mother was on drugs at the time and gave them up for a better life. Shes my mom, Eddie refers to his adoptive mother. Last year, Eddie and Mark met their birth mother and two sisters for the first time. They live in Florida. Eddie is optimistic about beginning to build a relationship with his birth mother. He makes no implication that he is bitter that his birth mother gave Mark and him up as babies; instead, he appears to have wisdom beyond his years in acknowledging and accepting that she gave them up for adoption to have a better life. Eddie has never met his father. He expresses a desire to never be like his father. He wants to have children someday and be a good father. Eddie confides, history makes it sad for you, but it keeps you going. Its an error that should never happen (Appendix X). Further, Eddie explains that his adoptive mother continually reminds him that the past does not dictate his future. His adoptive mother has also inspired his future business aspirations: he wants to open up his own restaurant called the Lunch Box in West Philadelphia. He repeats that he wants to

Portrait of a Learner actually do something with [his] life and is motivated by his difficult past circumstances to be different from his father (Interview, 2013, 24:33). Before I interviewed Eddie, I felt like he had opened up to me a great deal. When I explained the interview, he agreed to participate. The day of the interview, he was dressed in a collared shirt,

nice slacks, and a brand new watch (see Appendix 7/30). Typically, he would wear a t-shirt and basketball shorts. Additionally, he gave me a big hug when I first arrived that day. His enthusiasm to see me as well as his clothing attire suggested to me that he was excited that I was taking an interest in him as an individual and that his voice was being heardsomething he felt he was struggling with all summer with the other youth leaders. During the interview, I learned a great deal about how Eddie regards school and the teachers role in helping a student to succeed. A rising sophomore at West Philadelphia High School, Eddie takes school seriously; however, he is ambivalent about the schools environment. One of the first things that Eddie describes when I ask him about school is his teachers. Some of his best teachers seem to be the ones who visibly care about his success, as he stated: theres a lot of really interestin teachers that you can actually find in there that really will put out their heart to help you learn and everything (Interview, 2013, 1:32). Eddie also described another type of teachers in the schoolthose who do not want to be there and are significantly absent from school: Some just doesnt [sic] even care. They come there to work for the money (Interview, 2013, ___). Luckily, Eddie said that most of his teachers were present and gave him extra help, while one of his friends classes had a different substitute for weeks on end. Thus, it appears that Eddie benefits from an emotional connection with a teacher, one who forms a relationship with him and encourages and supports him to do his best. Eddie seems

Portrait of a Learner to be perceptive in noticing when a teacher is not invested in his work and him as a person. Moreover, that his distinction between good and back teachers is a matter of investment in students implies that Eddie is best encouraged to learn when he knows and feels that a teacher cares about him. When we delved into the specifics of what Eddie had learned in his freshman English course he stated that the course was talkin back Hitler and the whole Hitler topic was

displeasing to him (Interview, 2013, 10:44). He expressed that he does not sees the relevance of continuing to teach about an irrelevant history to the present. In addition, Eddie worried that by teaching about Hitler that another crazy person might take his crazy idea and copy what he had done. (I wish now that Id had the Facing History training to have better responded to his concerns). Instead of learning about the Holocaust, Eddie implores, You should actually be learning the stuff thats really important these dayslike learning about what you wana [sic] do in life (Interview, 2013, 15:26). Eddies feelings about what is taught in school suggest that he requires more of an explanation about why something is taught and its objectives and future implications. Eddie is very inquisitive and often makes comments about schools necessity to get him to where he wants to be in life, so it seems he would care and be more invested in a topic or activity in school if its importance and authenticity were explained in greater depth. When we worked together on his portfolio, there were times that he struggled to focus for a variety of reasons (i.e. he types slowly, it was hot, others in the office were loud, etc.). Nevertheless, once he realized the authenticity of the activities that we were working on in that each document could be used as a template for future job applications, he was invested in the work and was able to complete everything by the deadline. On the last day of work together, he

Portrait of a Learner brought in a plastic organizer and printed out each document so that he had a polished portfolio that he could reference whenever he needed it. Eddie understands the relevance of school, but he feels it is not always productive because often there are many fights and destruction that disrupt the classroom environment. He feels that with school closures and new students entering West Philly that there will be even more fights and destruction, but he is going to try to keep doing what [he] does, which means

(Interview, 2013, 22:49). Eddie hates to waste time and that he is just [trying] to make the best of [his] life (Interview, 2013, 23:11). To prepare for tests in school, Eddie usually studies by himself, but on the day of the test he and his friends meet up before the classeither at breakfast or lunchto discuss and reinforce last minute questions together. Eddie claimed that he did best on the tests for which he and his friends reviewed together, engaging in a socio-cultural mode of learning. Eddie has taught me a great deal about what students his age value in a teacher. The best teachers to Eddie are those who listen to students and care about the students as individuals. Additionally, teachers that can explain the authenticity as well as the practical relevance of subject matter and assignments encourage the most motivation from students because they can become more invested in working hard, knowing why they are engaged in the activity,