Prompt #4 (Question #4)

Every student walks into the classrooom with a history that has preprogramed different kinds of biases into their minds regarding race, sexuality, and what defines "normal" and "acceptable". My personal history has influenced many biases and false beliefs that I had as a child and as an early teen. I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood with no friends or classmates of color. I went to small catholic schools all my life with little discussion regarding homosexuality or racism. Not to say that my family was racist but they would quite frequently make remarks that enforce the bias of all african americans being criminals or "no good". Although I never agreed with that bias it was still engraved in my mind that people of color were mainly associated with crime and violence due to the medias portrayal and my families remarks. As I grew older I became surrounded by poeple of different races and made a group of friends that were mainly of hispanic or african descent. It was by the interaction with people of different cultures that worked to diminish my biases and open my eyes to the reality that we should be accepting of all groups of people and that one group is not more important than another.

As a teacher I would have to work towards helping my students biases diminish just like mine did. I would do this by not letting rude comments regarding race, sexual preference, or gender go ignored. If i were to hear a student use a nasty name I would call the student aside and ask why he chose that particular word and then describe why it is not appropriate and how the word came to be. I would also expose my students to people of different cultures and beliefs so that they are accustomed to ways of life outiside of their own. I would strongly encourage that my school invite guest speakers to come and talk to the students about growing up as a homosexual or as an african american and how the biases applied to their situation have effected their lives. I think the more students are exposed to difference then the more likely they are to be accepting of others as they grow older. We as teachers need to provide students with the tools to go out into the real world and be able to realize that the stereotypes that surrounds them are false and based off of ignorance and misunderstandings.

My personal history of growing up as a white female in a white neighborhood may intersect with some of my students who live in predominately black neighborhoods or communities whose primary language is not english. Although my students and I will have many differences it is important to not let those differences become barriers to understanding eachother and the needs they have as students. However, some challenges may arise such as if there are a large group of english language learners in my classroom and i would be unable to explain directions to them in spanish or any other language they may speak if need be. In this case I would need to make accomodations such as providing a translator or arranging special times for them to see me for extra help. An advantage would be that I understand why these biases exist and do not blame the students for having them since it is not their fault but the society as a whole who is responsible for creating them. I would use this knowledge to make my classroom as accepting as possible through teaching techniques that do not put minorities at a disadvantage and through explaining to my students the hurtfulness of stereotyping and the damage it does on certain people.

I am so thankful for this tutoring experience because it truly did prove me wrong about several misconceptions i held towards children of public schools. Since I have always been somewhat sheltered in a catholic all girl school for five years and in other catholic schools for my earlier education i have always had a bias towards public school kids. I always viewed them as out of control, rebellious, and disrepectful towards teachers. However, this experience made me realize that public school students are just as curtious as the classmates that i grew up with. This misconception was destryoed within five minutes after wallking into the school and having little third graders go out of their way to open the doors for me. This just goes to show that if people are not exposed to certain things then they conjure up an image that is incorrect but could be easily fixed if exposure occurs before the person becomes too stuborn to change their thoughts. Providing my students with course material that includeS all groups of people and by exposing them to different cultures and ways of life will be a huge step towards correcting biases and forming a classroom that accepts everyone.