I have always thought of myself as being a multicultural individual, but once seeing the survey and the questions posed, I began to feel challenged. I never would have thought about myself as not being diverse and it made me feel horrible to think that I could be mono-cultural. As I was going through the survey, I was mainly circling twos and threes with the exception of one ten which made me question whether I was a multicultural individual or not.
The experiences that I was provided with while growing up, are what have placed me in the mono-cultural category. I grew up in a community where there was not a large variation of different cultures. I was surrounded by individuals who were just like me. I was not fully exposed to other cultures until I reached college, where I was introduced to a whole new world. Not only did I come into contact with different cultures in my classes and living situation, I also spent adequate time in the Rochester City School District. The opportunities that I have been provided with over the last few years have allowed me to move from the mono-cultural category to the mono-cultural but moving in a multi-cultural direction.
I have been immersed into a whole new culture as I have been in an interracial relationship for about two years now. I have been given the opportunity to try new things, meet new people and form new beliefs and understandings about myself and the person that I have become. I believe the experiences that I have been a part of will allow me to form relationships with my students in order to get to know them and their own personal culture. I cannot wait to start reading The Light in Their Eyes to learn more about diversity and how I can embrace upon it in the classroom setting.
I agree, I have always seen myself as multicultural person. These questions really got me thinking. Yes it seems we are very open to others who hold different backgrounds, viewpoints, strengths and weaknesses otherwise we would not be in the teacher profession. It is just our experience working with our diverse society is just growing. I feel like after living a sheltered childhood, I am just starting to break out of my shell and learn how to teach others based on their needs. One thing I have realized learning how to teach others now is not how it was when I was in school as a child. I am glad our society is breaking from the formal mode of teaching and really change to teaching the student not the subject :)
ReplyDelete^ - Christina Trovato
ReplyDeleteShawne, thank you for an honest reflection. Do you find that others, especially those from the races and ethnicities that represent your significant other and you, "judge" your interracial relationship? How do the responses of others influence your desire to grow in multiculuralness? Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteI like that you are able to be open about your fear of being mono-cultural. I feel the same way, as if it was by some fault of our own that we only experienced certain categories of people as children. Each generation becomes more and more diverse it seems. Our parents are not at fault, they are simply emulating what their parents instilled in them and that is that same is safe. We just need to remember to instill in our students the things that we are learning as we grow as an educator and our experience changes.
ReplyDelete-Laura Nardozzi
ReplyDelete