The video "A Girl Like Me" showed how students suffer an identity crisis and that society and the media makes it worse. [For example the typical talked about stereotypes are; boys are better at math than girls, lighter skin is better than dark skin (typically appears in African or Hispanic media), blonds are dumb or ditzy, Asian students are smart.] I know that I need and plan to use Multicultural Education as part of the academic lesson, but as a Chemistry teacher I wonder how I will encourage self discovery while teaching the periodic table. (My initial response would be to introduce them to other societies and cultures, which they don't usually have interactions with to teach them that the world is bigger than their back yard but I am still unsure of how to integrate that into a lesson.) I am use to society looking at me and placing me in a specific category, however, I am tired of trying to prove I don't fit in just one box and explaining why. I know most students are probably just as tired and so they quit trying to define themselves, and they allow society to define them. My fear is that they will pigeon hole their potential by trying to fit in a predestined category based on geography, skin color, economic background, and/or gender etc... (Fulfilling the stereotype) and pass it on to their children, therefore; creating a never ending circle.
Besides trying to educate students in a specific subject in our classroom, how do we help them find themselves and help them understand that they don't need to fit perfectly in a specific category, and show them how they actually do fit in?
1 comment:
A big part of the task of helping students find themselves and understand that they don't need to fit in a specific category is breaking the barriers that society sets. Until we change as whole, teachers are going to have a big job on their hands. I feel that our goal as teachers should be to nurture a generation of individuals who are willing to go against the grain and not be conformed by society's standards. We can do this by embracing differences and encouraging diversity within our classroom curriculum.
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