One microaggression that I experienced this week was in relationship to racial microaggressions. I am a third grade teacher at an elementary school in Arizona. The school that I teach in is not very diverse. The makeup of the school I teach at is about 50% Hispanic, 40% African American and the last 10% other. When I was reviewing their morning work this morning, I had almost every student raising their hand. I called on one student and one of the other students yelled out, "your racist". This was very upsetting for me because I am far from that. I felt very judged when the student told me that. Even though it was a young student, it was still very upsetting. Every other student in my class disagreed with her and continued to say that I have never acted that way at all. It was nice to have the rest of my class back me up, but it still was very hard to hear one of my students say this. I had a talk with that student one-on-one about why she made that comment. She said that she feels that she never gets called on and that is why she said it.
My observations this week allowed me to step back and really focus on the positive and the negatives in the different situations. I did not realize that there were as many stereotypes on individual people as there are. The stereotypes are also not all visible, there are several that are "hidden messages".
Friday, September 27, 2013
Friday, September 20, 2013
Perspectives on Diversity and Culture
After talking to three people about culture and diversity, I have realized that people see both diversity and culture differently. One of my friends that is a teacher in another school district in Arizona was one of my interviewees. After asking him what his definition of diversity is, he stated: "Culture is a particular behavior or practices that are developed and shared among people. His definition of diversity is: "a variety and wide range of whatever is being mentioned." This friend that I asked is another gender.
The second person that I asked was my friend that also teaches in another school district in Arizona. She is from my home state. When I asked her what her definition of diversity is, she stated: "the difference in things, more popularly in nationality. If something is diverse, it is different than other things." When I asked her what culture meant to her, she stated: "Culture is a way of life that is influenced by family, tradition, religion, and nationality."
The third person that I asked was my college roommate for two years. She now teaches high school business in a city in Michigan. When asking her what her definition of diversity is, she stated: "diversity is different for others." Her definition for culture was: "thoughts and beliefs that are related to one's family."
It was very interesting to see what other individual's definition of culture and diversity was. I asked three teachers the two questions and every definition was different. The aspect of culture and diversity that is focused on in every definition is the relationship to, and beliefs of the different families. For example, different cultures have different beliefs and traditions. The main aspect that has been omitted was in relationship to family diversity. When people think culture, they automatically think grouping individuals into their culture group. It is important for outsiders to know that there is more to culture than grouping people within just their culture group. Being able to hear other individuals definition of culture and diversity, it allowed me to see how deep of a understanding individuals have in regards to culture and diversity.
The second person that I asked was my friend that also teaches in another school district in Arizona. She is from my home state. When I asked her what her definition of diversity is, she stated: "the difference in things, more popularly in nationality. If something is diverse, it is different than other things." When I asked her what culture meant to her, she stated: "Culture is a way of life that is influenced by family, tradition, religion, and nationality."
The third person that I asked was my college roommate for two years. She now teaches high school business in a city in Michigan. When asking her what her definition of diversity is, she stated: "diversity is different for others." Her definition for culture was: "thoughts and beliefs that are related to one's family."
It was very interesting to see what other individual's definition of culture and diversity was. I asked three teachers the two questions and every definition was different. The aspect of culture and diversity that is focused on in every definition is the relationship to, and beliefs of the different families. For example, different cultures have different beliefs and traditions. The main aspect that has been omitted was in relationship to family diversity. When people think culture, they automatically think grouping individuals into their culture group. It is important for outsiders to know that there is more to culture than grouping people within just their culture group. Being able to hear other individuals definition of culture and diversity, it allowed me to see how deep of a understanding individuals have in regards to culture and diversity.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
My Family Culture
If a catastrophic event happened and my family and I had to quickly move to another country and take only three things, the three things that I would bring are: my cell phone, picture album and a book.
My cell phone is important for me to bring, because that is how I would be able to keep in contact with my family. I am really close with my family. Being able to let them know what is happening and where I am located, it would allow for my family to be able to send anything that could be used to help my family and I or just to talk and be open with my family. My family is located all around the entire United States, so that is why a cell phone is so important to me right now. Not only is it important to call my family members, but it has internet access and allows me to keep up to date on important news going on around the world.
A picture album would have pictures of my family and friends. The photo album would contain pictures from when I was a baby up until my life now. This would remind me of memories and to still feel close to my family, even if I am not in touch with them.
A book is the last thing that I would bring with me because almost my entire family read's in their free time. It is a relaxing time for us and allows us to let the worries go.
Each of the three items mean a lot to me. They all relate back to my family. I have a very close family in which a lot of us have a lot of the same interests. That is why the three of these objects would be important for me to bring to another country if a catastrophic event happened.
If I arrived to the other country and I was told I was only able to keep one item, I would be very stressed and frustrated. The one item that I would keep would be my cell phone. My cell phone has pictures of my family on it and I would be able to contact my family using my cell phone. It may be a lot more difficult to use my cell phone, but I would do whatever it took to contact my family members.
I learned that it is very important to value your family. If something happened and you had to leave almost everything behind and go to another culture, it would be harder to communicate with your family.
My cell phone is important for me to bring, because that is how I would be able to keep in contact with my family. I am really close with my family. Being able to let them know what is happening and where I am located, it would allow for my family to be able to send anything that could be used to help my family and I or just to talk and be open with my family. My family is located all around the entire United States, so that is why a cell phone is so important to me right now. Not only is it important to call my family members, but it has internet access and allows me to keep up to date on important news going on around the world.
A picture album would have pictures of my family and friends. The photo album would contain pictures from when I was a baby up until my life now. This would remind me of memories and to still feel close to my family, even if I am not in touch with them.
A book is the last thing that I would bring with me because almost my entire family read's in their free time. It is a relaxing time for us and allows us to let the worries go.
Each of the three items mean a lot to me. They all relate back to my family. I have a very close family in which a lot of us have a lot of the same interests. That is why the three of these objects would be important for me to bring to another country if a catastrophic event happened.
If I arrived to the other country and I was told I was only able to keep one item, I would be very stressed and frustrated. The one item that I would keep would be my cell phone. My cell phone has pictures of my family on it and I would be able to contact my family using my cell phone. It may be a lot more difficult to use my cell phone, but I would do whatever it took to contact my family members.
I learned that it is very important to value your family. If something happened and you had to leave almost everything behind and go to another culture, it would be harder to communicate with your family.
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