¿What happens away from the daily workings of teaching?(regrese al salón de clase pero sigo aqui con l@s bloguer@s)
Vamos a ver que pasa compañer@s
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Message Received
Bias incidents, hate speech, and hate crimes target individuals but are meant to send a message to everyone from that culture, race, sexuality, gender.
Hi Vic, Well, I had to comment on a few things, but did not want to put it all in your blog...but I am!! First, it was good to see you...nice touch with the YouTube. Now all of us can see you are still wearing black...you knew I had to comment on that!!!! LOL I had to tell you that in class on Wednesday, we had a moment of silence for thoughts about the problems we are seeing on campus. Then Prof. Hildahl encourage talk in our class about the issue. I let the students talk (sometimes I need to shut up since it forces them to talk). I was so encouraged by those that spoke up. I think there is a feeling, according to what I hear in this small group, that the majority of students will not accept what has happened. They will stand up and do what ever is need to make sure ALL students are safe at Wells. One comment in particular stood out. A senior student encouraged all juniors and seniors to talk to freshman and sophomore, to teach them what Wells is about. She said the underclassmen are a huge number compared to upperclassmen, but the actual teaching has to go on. I think this is a good point. The administration can say all they want, but coming from the upperclassmen, the message means much more. I am aware that in most formal talks, the ones who need to hear it are not there, so maybe more personal talks to underclassmen by way of dorm talks would work.
Also, I read the article that Natalie Munoz wrote and I think I remember that is your sister. I find it interesting that she is writing about the overkill of holidays to denote a specific ethnic group. It is such a touchy subject! Either it would not be long enough to encourage the learning of the culture or too long. And I find in most issues, people have a tendency to over kill before they settle to a medium. But I do think that learning of different cultures should be a continuous and inclusive item all through the year. True diversity would not need a day or a month to celebrate!!! True diversity would celebrate all the time within every part of our lives! I guess my point is, to get to this point, we need to find the happy medium and we haven't yet. I always have to relate to my ethnic background to see the possible future. As an Italian-American, who is aware of the prejudices imposed on my ancestors only a generation ago, I see changes today for the better. We never had an Italian awareness month in school, but what did happen is that these different groups of unique ethnic communities started to diversify, either through marriage, work, or school. It took time but this brought people closer....close enough to get to know one another. You know that is an important factor. We ASSume we know what a group of people are like BUT if we know the individuals personally, many ideas change in our minds. So where am I going with all this? It makes me wonder if we are introducing diversity in a manner that is positive! Should we encourage our children/ teens/ college students to live with those who are different from us for a while? Like an internship in life skills? Teaching children about the culture is fine....it's fun. food, music, etc. But we need to see the similarities too. We need to connect to something. I know I am rambling, but I do have a point somewhere here....I guess I think it is not how long the holiday is, but what are they teaching? Is it enough? Do the children understand that their family at home is very much like families across the world? How can we establish this knowledge? With our technology, it seems we could do a much better job.
I'm glad your blogging again.....Your work is very important to all groups of people...ALL!! We ARE all affected by racism of any kind! Take care, Debbie
2 comments:
Hi Vic,
Well, I had to comment on a few things, but did not want to put it all in your blog...but I am!! First, it was good to see you...nice touch with the YouTube. Now all of us can see you are still wearing black...you knew I had to comment on that!!!! LOL I had to tell you that in class on Wednesday, we had a moment of silence for thoughts about the problems we are seeing on campus. Then Prof. Hildahl encourage talk in our class about the issue. I let the students talk (sometimes I need to shut up since it forces them to talk). I was so encouraged by those that spoke up. I think there is a feeling, according to what I hear in this small group, that the majority of students will not accept what has happened. They will stand up and do what ever is need to make sure ALL students are safe at Wells. One comment in particular stood out. A senior student encouraged all juniors and seniors to talk to freshman and sophomore, to teach them what Wells is about. She said the underclassmen are a huge number compared to upperclassmen, but the actual teaching has to go on. I think this is a good point. The administration can say all they want, but coming from the upperclassmen, the message means much more. I am aware that in most formal talks, the ones who need to hear it are not there, so maybe more personal talks to underclassmen by way of dorm talks would work.
Also, I read the article that Natalie Munoz wrote and I think I remember that is your sister. I find it interesting that she is writing about the overkill of holidays to denote a specific ethnic group. It is such a touchy subject! Either it would not be long enough to encourage the learning of the culture or too long. And I find in most issues, people have a tendency to over kill before they settle to a medium. But I do think that learning of different cultures should be a continuous and inclusive item all through the year. True diversity would not need a day or a month to celebrate!!! True diversity would celebrate all the time within every part of our lives! I guess my point is, to get to this point, we need to find the happy medium and we haven't yet. I always have to relate to my ethnic background to see the possible future. As an Italian-American, who is aware of the prejudices imposed on my ancestors only a generation ago, I see changes today for the better. We never had an Italian awareness month in school, but what did happen is that these different groups of unique ethnic communities started to diversify, either through marriage, work, or school. It took time but this brought people closer....close enough to get to know one another. You know that is an important factor. We ASSume we know what a group of people are like BUT if we know the individuals personally, many ideas change in our minds. So where am I going with all this? It makes me wonder if we are introducing diversity in a manner that is positive! Should we encourage our children/ teens/ college students to live with those who are different from us for a while? Like an internship in life skills? Teaching children about the culture is fine....it's fun. food, music, etc. But we need to see the similarities too. We need to connect to something. I know I am rambling, but I do have a point somewhere here....I guess I think it is not how long the holiday is, but what are they teaching? Is it enough? Do the children understand that their family at home is very much like families across the world? How can we establish this knowledge? With our technology, it seems we could do a much better job.
I'm glad your blogging again.....Your work is very important to all groups of people...ALL!! We ARE all affected by racism of any kind!
Take care,
Debbie
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