Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

One example of a microaggression that I detected this week was at school between students in another grade. As I was walking down the hallway, I overheard a group of students talking with their teacher about an incident that occurred in gym class. The part of the incident that I heard was about the boys in the class making fun of a girl and calling her names due to her gender and weight. They were telling the girl that they did not want her on their team and that because of being a girl and overweight she was too slow and would cause their team to lose. The way I felt was indescribable. I wanted to believe this was not true.  I really did not believe we had students in our school of leadership who would do such a thing. I was glad there were adults who were intervening right away.  I then thought what our school could do to end violence / microaggression in hopes of our students growing up and wanting to continue to teach other young children the right way to act.

The observation experiences really put into perspective what microaggressions are.  Reading the specific experiences, made me think of how often and true they are. People do not even realize they are doing something to harm another person until it is too late. This week I really understood the importance of thinking hard before you speak or act. We need to be more aware of who we are as a person and what we are doing to be positive role models for others.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Definitions of Culture and Diversity

Cindy:

        Culture- is the way you live your life- your beliefs, values, background, the way you respond to things, the way you act

        Diversity- the difference among all people’s different cultures  

 

Alicia:

        Culture- is a person’s ethnicity and their beliefs, traditions, and morals they follow

        Diversity- is many different people and cultures. It’s what makes people and things different

 

Michelle:

        Culture- Culture is what brings us together. Culture is the characteristics and beliefs that are shared among a group of people.

        Diversity- is what makes individuals unique and different from one another. This could be race, gender, ethnicity, religion, age, religious and political beliefs, etc.  

 

Reflection

The aspects of culture and diversity that were included are the obvious indicators.  The things the three people included were the same things I thought before entering this course.  Each person knew the basic idea of diversity and culture like things that make people different, their beliefs and cultures. I think it was interesting that only one mentioned specifically about gender.  No one mentioned anything about sexual orientation, or economic status just to name a few.  I also found it interesting that the one who went more into the diversity definition was the youngest person I asked the question to.  

Thinking about other people’s definitions of cultures and diversity has influenced my thinking.  While writing my reflection, I kept wondering why is it that the three people’s definitions were basically the same and left out the deeper meaning of the word. I thought well maybe we were all taught the same definition growing up and we never learned the deeper meaning of culture and diversity. People only notice what is on the surface. I did notice though the youngest person knew the most when it came to giving a deeper definition about diversity. She is also living and working in a different state where there is more diversity. So, I am thinking that plays a part in the a person’s life as well.

My Family Culture

If I were told I had to be evacuated to another country and could only bring 3 items, I would bring: the bible, my photo albums, and my camera.  I would explain to others that all three of these items mean the world to me. I would explain that the bible, symbolizing God, who guides me on my way and would never, put me in a situation he did not think I could handle. I firmly believe that things happen for a reason. Without the guidance and support of him, I would not know what to do.  My faith helps define me as a person.  I would then explain that my pictures mean the world to me. I have lost many pictures over the years and the ones I do have left are sacred to me. It is my memory of my past. It is my way of remembering special people and events which brings me to my last item, my camera. My camera will help document the next journey I will be taking, which is my journey in my new “home” and country. Without my camera, I won’t have my pictures to look back on.

If I were told I could only keep one personal item and had to give up the other two items, I would be upset. I would be devastated having to give up two of the only three things I was able to bring with me. Losing everything is not easy for someone and knowing how I am in situations like these, I would not handle it well. After becoming comfortable in my new situation, I would be excited to start my new journey, but it won’t happen right away.

I learn a lot about myself the past two weeks. I found it difficult to picture myself in a situation like this, because I hope it would never happen. I also gained knowledge about how family culture plays a major role in a person’s life; their personality, appearance, how they are perceived, language, etc.

I am anxious to see what else the course has to bring. I hope to continue to learn more about myself and different cultures.