Mr. Salaam: Educators of Excellence
Danaayaal Salaam is an English teacher at West Orange High School, who has been working at the school since last school year. Prior to West Orange, he worked at Rosa Public School district in a small area of Union County.
Mr. Salaam grew up in Newark, New Jersey, with his mom who was a single parent. He said the community was very “disenfranchised” and “poor and working class”. He stated that he has always been interested in English, and that this passion started at a very young age.
“My mother was a writer, and she used to read to [him and his siblings] at the dinner table, and that’s where I picked up the skill and craft…” he said. This molded him into being a person that’s always wanted to teach English.
He cites his mother as the person who really morphed him into who he is today. “My mother helped fine tune my purpose…She helped me understand my purpose and gave me my purpose…” he said.
Salaam likes to work with young people, as they keep him “alive, full of life, and vigor”. They give him a pulse on where society is going and keep him at a “growth mindset”. He claims that “I learn more about myself, by working with young people”.
“Teaching taught me patience” he says in response to what he took away from teaching. “I wasn’t necessarily always a patient person growing up, but you have to be patient when working with the public.”
“My teaching philosophy is social reconstructionism.” Salaam professes. He believes the only way we can change society is through education and based on the curriculum. He also mentioned “…you use the students as a vehicle to change tomorrow.”
According to Salaam, the students always keep him “sharp and prepared” and “engaged”.
He believes that the hardships that many teachers have is managing the classroom and engaging the students. His struggle is to constantly keep students engaged because there’s so many distractions they have. “In the classroom, [a student] could have a laptop, Apple Watch, an IPod all in one sitting…” he stated. “So I have to do the necessary work to find the material that’s not only engaging, but a material that’s aligned with the curriculum…”
Salaam loves teaching in West Orange. He believes that the administration “afford[s] a high degree of autonomy” to their teachers. They don’t micromanage their teachers every step of the way, and they have trust in the teacher so they do not have to micromanage you.
Salaam also enjoys the atmosphere of West Orange. He stated, “I love the diversity, it’s very diverse here, and I loved it ever since I came here”. His family moved here during the dawn of the pandemic, and they were looking at towns to choose from, and they saw West Orange. They realized they were very diverse, it’s a very safe town, and he also said that “the people of West Orange are very hospitable.”
“[The teachers] were very accommodating” to him when he first got to the high school. “Very friendly” and “welcoming”, he also said that “…they feel like an extension to the town.”
One misconception about teaching that Salaam believes is that “teachers are lazy” and that “teachers are not working that hard, and the school system is a failure…” But he has said that “educators have worked extremely hard…” to debunk that misconception.
“[Teachers] love their students, and they have a good rapport with them” he mentioned. “The myth is debunked day in and day out by teachers who work extremely hard…to not only teach the student the curriculum but to create and help promote a well-rounded human being.”
Salaam believes that propaganda may cause this misconception. He thinks that teachers everyday “debunk that myth” and engage the students to their lesson. “We’re not working with cars, we’re not working in cubicles…our direct client is the young person” he said.
In the short time Mr. Salaam has lived in West Orange, he said one his fondest memories was “taking my kids to Eagle Rock.” He says he took his kids there to exercise due to everything being closed during the pandemic, but he said that was one of his favorite memories here in West Orange.
He gave one final piece of advice to students in West Orange, which was “Growth and change are inevitable, welcome it, accept it, and keep moving forward.”
