I feel that every post about my EDUC 121 class relates, in some way, to race and diversity. Well here is another one! Last Monday, I met with a couple other girls from my class to have a small race discussion group. I was not particularly looking forward to discussing the subject AGAIN, but as usual, I was pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere was much more relaxed, and I felt that I could express my opinions better than in a class full of 50 students. During our time, we talked about our own views on how to teach in a diverse classroom and also about our own experiences with race in education. We even added our two cents to the current "racist Barbie" debate.I have observed that the AVID class in which I tutor is composed of all minority students, and this really upsets me. As I have stated previously, AVID is not necessarily for students who are doing poorly in school, but for any student who would like additional help with their schoolwork. However, based on my time during tutoring, I have noticed that the majority of the students are struggling. So why is it that a classroom of struggling students happen to all be of a minority race? Is it a coincidence, or what I believe, a discrimination against these particular students by their teachers that have caused such poor results?
Recently, I also witnessed a situation in which one of the students in class made a wrong assumption based on race. While another student was delivering her birthday invitations to her friends in class, one of the AVID students asked her why she was having her party at an apartment complex. The student, who happened to be Caucasian, seemed really confused when she answered him that that's where she lived. Because the student was Caucasian, he assumed that she was "rich," and therefore, would not live in an apartment. Call me naive or ignorant even, but I was so surprised that a student of that age could honestly make such an assumption.
I am definitely shocked! It makes you think about the direction the world is going, ya know? But I think race will always be an issue in schools and general sterotypes will continue to float from mouth to mouth. People just judge other based on what they look like, the clothes they wear, and their race and gender. There's no way around it.
ReplyDeleteIt's really sad that race tends to be such a divider in schools. It's a vicious cycle, in one area a demographic may be significantly poorer than another, so the students of that demographic are stereotyped against for being stupid, when they never had the chance everyone else did by having learning resources at home.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like this work has been very intense. It's difficult to be thrown back into all of the high school stereotypes. Hopefully these kids will learn not to judge someone by the color of there skin, or how "poor" they appear to be, before they go to college, or else they will be in for quite a culture shock.
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