Today there were no classes as all students attended a
conference. There were several sessions that were interesting but the one that
spoke to me the most was by Martin Morrison on race and identity. It was very
clear that Martin is passionate about his field of study and is happy to share
his experiences with others. This passion was infectious and made for a very
interesting talk. I never really thought of myself as privileged before this
day. Don’t get me wrong, I am greatly for what I have and have always been
thankful. What I mean to say is that I never really considered myself
privileged because of my race. I am aware of racism and some of the things that
minorities have to deal with. What I never really considered was that in order
to combat this I must first look at and understand myself. I need to understand
my own identity and what it means to be a white male. Martin explained that it
is only thought this realization that we can begin to understand and combat the
real issue that is taking place.
When I was in a classroom, I was one of those teachers that
believed I treated all students fairly no matter their race. To me this meant
that students who I perceived to possess similar backgrounds would essentially receive
the same consequences when certain tasks were not completed. I now realize that
by doing this, I am making certain assumptions that I am not capable of
understanding due to racial differences. What I perceived to be fair was
probably in fact not fair in every situation. The session today will help me in
my future by reminding me to obtain a better understanding of my students
before I decide what is or is not “fair”.
I took my Into to Inclusive Education with Martin last summer. I physically felt my way of thinking change. I had headaches and was overwhelmed at times but I know I was becomming a different thinker because of it. If you ever have a chance to spend some more time with Martin, I highly recommend it!!
ReplyDeleteI too used to think that treating everyone the same was the right thing to do- regardless of background. Then I remember learning that equal doesn't always mean the same. People need to have who they are, what makes them who they are recognized. I liked the saying that students need to see themselves reflected in class and also introduced to other cultures- thus mirrors and doors; reflected and introduced. Maybe look into the concept of white privileged, I found that whole concept informative. Check out Peggy McIntosh's article "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" if you haven't read it yet. http://www.artsci.washington.edu/natsci/Search-committee-materials/unpacking-invisible-knapsack.pdf
ReplyDeleteJonathan, like Ashley, I took the Inclusive Ed course last summer and probably had more questions than answers. The presentation on Friday from Mike and Martin brought those questions flooding back. getting to know your students is the key. I have learnt that lesson many times.
ReplyDeleteI have had the privilege to be a minority race several times. The experiences were sometimes to my advantage but sometimes they were not. i was often judged but I took it as coming from people who didn't know me and my background (I was the first white person they had seen). I understood where they were coming from. Saying this, I was in a foreign country; many oppressed people in Canada are in their own country.
I still have many questions!
Thanks for the post.
Simon
Hi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteI also took Inclusive Ed. from Martin last summer. I have a saying in my classroom which I use with students, "Fair isn't always equal." I have used this in the past to illustrate the differences of some students regarding behaviour, and assisitive tech, but I believe that it could work with this scenario as well. It is a very "big" topic, and I think that there is still a lot to learn; however, I think that you certainly got the big idea around looking at yourself first and understanding how your judgements can affect how you interact with others.
Thanks for sharing! :)