reflection
When I first signed up for EDUC 272 l simply thought it was just another number and another education class. As an education student signing up for classes, the only choice we are given is what order we take classes in. For me it’s even more simply what classes fit into my schedule. Later when I figured out definitively what classes I was even taking and when I realized I had signed up for A Multicultural Approach to Early Education Curricular Issues and Instructional Methods I had no idea what to expect. Again, it was just another education class that I hoped would help me become a better preservice teacher and later a better teacher.
It did just that; even more it changed my entire perspective. The first weeks of the class were spent reading the book The Education of a WASP by Lois Stalvey. This book caused me to rethink many things. Lois introduced me to her perspective on being an Ally for other races as it occurred to her. Seeing it in this way allowed me to see aspects of life from a way I had never seen them before. Her introduction to white privilege was essentially also my introduction to my own white privilege. This book as well as other class readings such as We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools by: Gary Howard and White Privilege: opened my eyes even wider to the various struggles of various historically underrepresented groups. At this point in the semester I realized how important this class would be for my future. Many of my classmates and I started to wonder how this class was only required for Early Childhood Educators. Many of us started to believe that this should be a required part of all education. I can honestly say that I fully supported this, and because of how much this class caused me to ask questions and think in a new way, it quickly became a class that not only I enjoyed going to, but also that I felt I needed to be in.
As the semester moved on we quickly progressed to the planning of Umoja. Because I could not attend Umoja, I took an administrative role in the planning. This included various task such as preparing lessons, note taking, organizing everything with Julie, and grocery shopping. Each of these tasks helped me grow in different ways. Through my lessons I prepared a lesson with google docs. I also got a chance to talk to Julie, an Umoja administrator, about a little of everything. Finally through the grocery shopping I realized how difficult it is shopping on a budget. Never know i didn't physically do the grocery shopping part I had to work with the class to figure out what we needed and what we wanted. We didn't have a huge budget to work with so we all had to work together. It took a true effort to try and find what the cheapest thing to buy would be while still trying to ensure that I was getting what my classmates needed.
As the semester continued we worked on our Resource Plan. This included a variety of tasks: title page, diverse sheroes / heroes, a multicultural calendar, a review of children’s literature, teaching criteria, student’s preferred learning styles, and strategies for a multiculturally aware teacher. Each of these taught me various things about historically underrepresented groups. Adding the sheroes and heroes introduced me to many role models from diverse groups. The multicultural calendar provides me with an extremely valuable resource for the future. It shows an important event from every date in history. The review of children’s literature changed the way that I look at books. I now have a critical eye for what makes a book a useable multicultural book. Learning about teaching criteria was an invaluable addition to my education. This semester we focused on three major teaching approaches: human relations, single group studies, and multicultural education. Learning about these approaches and creating the lessons is important for their implementation in my future classroom. I also made a checklist to critique future lessons for how well they would fit these approaches in the future. This alone is as asset to my future students. With the implementation of these lessons and future lessons the students would not experience cultural mismatch because their culture would be represented in the classroom. We then spent a good portion of the semester learning various learning styles for diverse cultural groups. For each group we studied we read many articles on what individuals from said group preferred when learning. This will be helpful to all my future students, but it is also important to recognize that just because a student belongs to a group does not mean they prefer that learning style. Each student is an individual and therefore the preference can vary from one student to the next. We also learned various strategies to maintain a multicultural classroom. When working to establish a classroom environment in the future this will be a resource to look back on and ensure that I am doing these things in my class.
That brings me to where I am today. I feel that this class has completely changed my way of thinking. I have become aware of more about myself as well as many culturally diverse groups. Although just because I have studied various groups, this does not make me an expert. I still have a lot to learn about culturally diverse groups. I have grown professionally and personally this past semester, and although the class is ending my multicultural education will continue for the rest of my life.
It did just that; even more it changed my entire perspective. The first weeks of the class were spent reading the book The Education of a WASP by Lois Stalvey. This book caused me to rethink many things. Lois introduced me to her perspective on being an Ally for other races as it occurred to her. Seeing it in this way allowed me to see aspects of life from a way I had never seen them before. Her introduction to white privilege was essentially also my introduction to my own white privilege. This book as well as other class readings such as We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools by: Gary Howard and White Privilege: opened my eyes even wider to the various struggles of various historically underrepresented groups. At this point in the semester I realized how important this class would be for my future. Many of my classmates and I started to wonder how this class was only required for Early Childhood Educators. Many of us started to believe that this should be a required part of all education. I can honestly say that I fully supported this, and because of how much this class caused me to ask questions and think in a new way, it quickly became a class that not only I enjoyed going to, but also that I felt I needed to be in.
As the semester moved on we quickly progressed to the planning of Umoja. Because I could not attend Umoja, I took an administrative role in the planning. This included various task such as preparing lessons, note taking, organizing everything with Julie, and grocery shopping. Each of these tasks helped me grow in different ways. Through my lessons I prepared a lesson with google docs. I also got a chance to talk to Julie, an Umoja administrator, about a little of everything. Finally through the grocery shopping I realized how difficult it is shopping on a budget. Never know i didn't physically do the grocery shopping part I had to work with the class to figure out what we needed and what we wanted. We didn't have a huge budget to work with so we all had to work together. It took a true effort to try and find what the cheapest thing to buy would be while still trying to ensure that I was getting what my classmates needed.
As the semester continued we worked on our Resource Plan. This included a variety of tasks: title page, diverse sheroes / heroes, a multicultural calendar, a review of children’s literature, teaching criteria, student’s preferred learning styles, and strategies for a multiculturally aware teacher. Each of these taught me various things about historically underrepresented groups. Adding the sheroes and heroes introduced me to many role models from diverse groups. The multicultural calendar provides me with an extremely valuable resource for the future. It shows an important event from every date in history. The review of children’s literature changed the way that I look at books. I now have a critical eye for what makes a book a useable multicultural book. Learning about teaching criteria was an invaluable addition to my education. This semester we focused on three major teaching approaches: human relations, single group studies, and multicultural education. Learning about these approaches and creating the lessons is important for their implementation in my future classroom. I also made a checklist to critique future lessons for how well they would fit these approaches in the future. This alone is as asset to my future students. With the implementation of these lessons and future lessons the students would not experience cultural mismatch because their culture would be represented in the classroom. We then spent a good portion of the semester learning various learning styles for diverse cultural groups. For each group we studied we read many articles on what individuals from said group preferred when learning. This will be helpful to all my future students, but it is also important to recognize that just because a student belongs to a group does not mean they prefer that learning style. Each student is an individual and therefore the preference can vary from one student to the next. We also learned various strategies to maintain a multicultural classroom. When working to establish a classroom environment in the future this will be a resource to look back on and ensure that I am doing these things in my class.
That brings me to where I am today. I feel that this class has completely changed my way of thinking. I have become aware of more about myself as well as many culturally diverse groups. Although just because I have studied various groups, this does not make me an expert. I still have a lot to learn about culturally diverse groups. I have grown professionally and personally this past semester, and although the class is ending my multicultural education will continue for the rest of my life.