Practicing Awareness of Microagressions

Microaggression probably happens more than we realize to us and to others but we are not always aware of it because we have become accustomed to it or numb to it.  One microaggression that I came across was thought to be humorous and was posted by a teacher.  On a math test the student was to look at a math problem and find what the person in the problem had done incorrectly and they were supposed to correct the math.  The person in the question was a woman so instead of figuring out the problem the student simply wrote that the problem with the math was because it was done by a women. That used to be the way people thought, that girls are not good at math and society has worked hard to change that image but unfortunately some people still think that way.  This message was one that I got as a child in a subtle way so I was never confident that I could learn math and that I could understand it and solve the math problems.

Another microaggression that I remember is a 4 year old referring to the Mexican children in her class as those kids who don't speak English very well.  She had categorized them all as not able to speak English even though their was only one child who did not speak English as well. The teacher told her that they all have names and she needed to use their names and that they did speak English as well as Spanish.  The little girl did not mean this to be mean it is just what she has heard form the society around her.  The comment the little girl made was disheartening because I thought that I lived in a community that much more accepting and it made me realize that prejudice is an issue and as a teacher I feel that it needs to be talked about with children in the classroom.

My observation of these microaggressions has shown me that stereotypes are still used in our society and that young children pick up on these at a very young age.  If we want the perceptions to change then it needs to start with us, the adults and society.  The effects of prejudice and stereotyping people can reach deep into a person and they may never be able to overcome the effects of this.  It is important that we are educated on diversity and culture so that we are aware of how others live and learn in our society.      

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I talked with three people on what their definition of culture and diversity was.  The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course that I noticed in the answers were that culture is mainly the influences of the society or group that you associate with.  Some examples that I was given were the customs and beliefs of the people in your group, where you live, where you grew up, habits you have and food you eat are all aspects of culture.  Diversity was described as people being different but similar, different nationalities coming together.  The teacher I talked with said she thought of diversity when having a divers classroom where the children would be from different cultures around the world and she would incorporate this diversity into her classroom.  Another person described diversity as people having different ideas and living differently.

The aspects of culture and diversity that I noticed that they did not mention were the abilities of others and how that can be part of culture and diversity.  They did not mention class, age or gender.  I think that we have become a society that pays more attention to ethnicity and so the other areas do not stand out as strongly as ethnicity.  We also look only on the surface and see the holidays that are celebrated, food that is typical of a culture and other common traits.

What I have learned is that a teacher thinks a little bit differently than a person that does not work with children and families on a day to day bases.  I also noticed that the people I talked with each had a little bit of a different take on culture and diversity.  The young person called it customs and beliefs, the man saw it as everything around us that influences how we live and the lady in her 70's saw it as influences from where she was born and raised which was a different country.  Where we are currently can influences but where we may have come from also has a big impact on our perspective on culture and diversity.


Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.
Jawaharlal Nehru

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My Family Culture

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country.  The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees.  You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event.  However, you have absolutely no input into the final decision or in any other evacuation details.  You are told that your host country's culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently.  You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you.  You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represents your family culture.

The scenario of having to uproot my family and live an another country that had a much different culture than what I am used to would be scary at first but but I would have to put my self in the mind set that it would be an experience that I would have to keep my self open to accepting for the good of my family.  In having to choose three items that I feel represent my family and that are my most important items would be my Bible, pictures of my family and my wedding ring.

In explaining to others what these items mean to me;

• My Bible represents my Christian faith.
• My family pictures would be a visual reminder of them and help with family memories.
• My wedding ring is important to me because it represents then family unity with my husband and the commitment to our family and each other.

If upon arriving I was told that I had to choose only one item to take with me I would be angry because of having to have already chosen only three items.  I would be difficult to have to decide when they are all so very important to me.

 

After doing this exercise I feel that I have learned that I feel strongly about my Christian faith and that I want to know my Bible better.  I learned that my family culture of having that Christian faith, being involved in church and attending Christian schools has helped to shape who I am.  The importance of family and commitment is also something that I value and want to preserve.