Reading this made me realize how education can impact me as a hispanic student. Growing up I always went to public or charter schools, so my classmates would always be hispanic, black, etc.. I never felt alone because I always shared a connection somehow with each student because of our cultural background. My teachers would sometimes be white, but I never paid attention because they were always so nice and understood their students. However, when I came to my first year in college at URI my perspective quickly changed about how the education environment made me feel. I went to all my classes and most of the time I was the only hispanic girl in my class apart from all the white students. I never felt comfortable talking to my white professor because I felt as if they would never understand or take time to help because the way they taught was always so stern. In one of my classes it hit me pretty hard how different I was because I always sat alone and the white girls in my class would just look at me with confusion. The white girls always somehow cliqued and when I tried it was as if they were talking to an alien. White privilege is very real and hard to overlook, but in a school where white people clearly have power it's hard to stand up for yourself and speak up when you know you're alone. It makes me think about how many teachers there might be in the world where they still show favoritism to white students instead of their colored students. Or how some professors might feel pity and show lack of respect for their students or lack of acknowledging about what type of students they teach. I would like to know since our class are the future educators, how would they interact with their students to make sure they won’t ever feel alone in who they are?
This week we were assigned to watch a Woke Read Aloud video and read the RI Department of Education's Guidance for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students. I believe that yes it can be challenging to understand how people identify themselves and in the video the teacher is taking the time to help kids understand that some people are different and its okay. It’s important to listen to one another and respect their decisions. It’s also important to not judge one another and assume things about their gender. At a young age I never really learned about the LGTBQ community unless it was on social media. Until highschool when I started to have teachers that were gay or transgender, and I also had the opportunity to take a class about the history of the LGBTQ community. I was blindly thinking about my life forgetting that there are people out their who are confused and scared about being who they are. I wish I was taught a little earlier more about the LGBTQ community because I...
I am reposting the entry in the comments section:
ReplyDeleteReading this made me realize how education can impact me as a hispanic student. Growing up I always went to public or charter schools, so my classmates would always be hispanic, black, etc.. I never felt alone because I always shared a connection somehow with each student because of our cultural background. My teachers would sometimes be white, but I never paid attention because they were always so nice and understood their students. However, when I came to my first year in college at URI my perspective quickly changed about how the education environment made me feel. I went to all my classes and most of the time I was the only hispanic girl in my class apart from all the white students. I never felt comfortable talking to my white professor because I felt as if they would never understand or take time to help because the way they taught was always so stern. In one of my classes it hit me pretty hard how different I was because I always sat alone and the white girls in my class would just look at me with confusion. The white girls always somehow cliqued and when I tried it was as if they were talking to an alien. White privilege is very real and hard to overlook, but in a school where white people clearly have power it's hard to stand up for yourself and speak up when you know you're alone. It makes me think about how many teachers there might be in the world where they still show favoritism to white students instead of their colored students. Or how some professors might feel pity and show lack of respect for their students or lack of acknowledging about what type of students they teach. I would like to know since our class are the future educators, how would they interact with their students to make sure they won’t ever feel alone in who they are?