To make a long story short, no, I do not have the full picture. I was not given the full picture growing up. I am now seeking every day to obtain the full picture. After watching Victoria's video about integration, it donned on me that most stories leave out the ill will that was done by the white majority. I always knew about the Little Rock Nine but never about six-year-old Ruby Bridges. I found it shocking that grown white women were throwing rocks at a six-year-old little girl. As a future teacher, I want to aim to hold myself accountable in conveying to my students all aspects of the full story of history. I feel as if our communities will be more well-rounded today if we were given the full picture of history.
When learning about dysconcious racism, there were many things I found that I could take note of to make sure I am competent in understanding my student's needs and concerns. As a teacher, I want to lead my conversations with my students into one that promotes equity in the classroom as well as the freedom to share ideas with one another. There is no excuse to justify racial inequality. I feel like these subjects are still ones that are hard to talk about, but with practice, we can all get to a point where we can make progress in creating justice! In the future, I want to create my classroom to be a safe place for my students to express any feelings they may have so I will be able to see their full picture and assist them in any way I can.
Not being from the South I wasn't immersed in the racism that seems to be so prevalent in the world. I did go to school in California so I am no stranger to attending school with people that did not look or speak like me, but I was more the minority than the Hispanic students I went to school with and I became fluent in Spanish in order to communicate with them. If found it interesting that you knew of the Little Rock Nine, but not Ruby Bridges, then I thought how many of us knew of The Austin 12? Their impact as the first 12 African American students to integrate into all white schools right here in Austin is also an amazing article to read. I watched it on the news recently on KXAN. So much has been hidden away from the public eye that it is good to see it all coming to a front so that our children don't have to know and experience a world of racism as these children did.
ReplyDeleteHi Chavon! Thank you for responding.
DeleteI do really believe that being in the south somewhat makes a person tone deaf to racist situations. I think many things are hidden from the media to keep the white majority looking positive. I think you have a very interesting perspective being from California. I did not even know about the Austin 12, so thank you for providing me with that resource! I think as teachers we must make sure we are presenting all perspectives when speaking about history! I am glad I made it apparent where my viewpoints stood in this situation!
Hi Channing. I love your honesty in your post. I feel like sometimes when asked these questions people (I am also guilty of this) will think there isn't more for them to learn. I love how you admit you are still seeking out the full picture, I believe if we aren't always learning we aren't making progress, there is always more for us to learn. I also want to hold myself accountable as a future teacher, and do my best to make sure I am sharing all aspects of history. I do sometimes worry that school districts will try to take this away from us. I know school districts are trying to control what we teach, and this could be why sometimes the full version of history was not taught to us as children. I wonder how as future teachers we will be able to cope with the pressure of teaching all sides of history as well as conform to meeting standards put on us by school districts.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily!
DeleteThank you so much for responding to my blog post! Thank you for appreciating my honesty. Sometimes a lack of knowledge with uncomfortable topics like this can be hard to admit. As a future teacher, I really hope to stretch the curriculum to make sure my students get the full picture of a topic. I do too worry that districts will try to keep us from achieving this. I think this will be a tricky task to do in the future but I believe that most future teachers that are in the same boat as we are have the same general understanding.
hey channing! I really loved your posting you did a great job of going into great description. I feel like I can agree with your post. I feel as if I do not have the full picture as well and I haven’t had the full picture my whole life yet. I personally learned so much information in this unit that I haven’t known or been taught throughout school. I agree that it is really important for us to know all the history in the world and also as a teacher to be able to teach the students the history that should be able to shine through and be known to us. I also agree with as a future teacher I want to teach students all the information I can and make sure that they understand that everyone is equal and I also want my classroom to be a safe place where students are learning! Thank you for posting, I really enjoyed learning what you had to say!
ReplyDeleteHi Alex!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for commenting on my blog post! I am so glad you can agree with my post. I believe I never really have the full picture until days, weeks, months, or even years later until I can look back onto a situation and fully grasp a concept. I too learned a lot of information I would not have otherwise if it was not for this unit. I think it is important for teachers to lead by example and give students a well rounded explanation of a situation. I am glad you want to make a difference as well and give your students a full picture!