Stop the Vicious Cycle

We as a family treat everyone the same. We have not taught our kids to discriminate against anyone. We focused on developing an awareness and commitment to stopping discrimination before they had a chance plague our family. We already know how important it is to foster values of diversity early on and create opportunities for children to interact in inclusive environments. It takes a village to raise a child, everyone in contact with a child leaves an impression on that child, and therefore, the whole is greater than the sum. Each child takes a little bit of the puzzle and puts it together for themselves. It’s our job as parents to furnish the pieces.

   The following is just an example of something we had to deal with at a family and friend gathering at our house:

We all get together on the weekends, everyone is welcome. We BBQ, shoot pool, swim and partake in many fun activities. One night one of our gay friends came over and one of the other guests let it be known that he did not want to associate with “gay people”. He said a few more choice words but I will not repeat them. I over heard him say, “I don’t want to get my glass mixed up with his because I might catch something”. I politely asked him to leave. Our house is a neutral zone and I intend to keep it as such. We all want to have fun and we have no time for ignorance and disrespect. Stop the vicious cycle.

An Effective Communicator

   In a past communication class I had taken to obtain my Bachelors Degree a certain woman stands out in my mind how entertaining she was when she told a story about a bug getting stuck in her ear. The assignment given was to write a personal story about you, and tell it out loud to the class. This girl stood in front of the class and from the start, she had everyone paying close attention the whole time she told the story. I remember she had us laughing from the start. It was the way she communicated to us verbally and her gestures along with her body movement is what kept us on the edge of our seats. I remember laughing from start to finish, as well as the rest of the class. This girl had the attention of the whole class.

   Laughter goes a long way and it could be the key to making people feel welcome. I don’t think this woman intentionally wrote her speech to be comical, but it is the way it turned out. What added to the enthusiasm of the class was they way she told the story, the contents and definitely her body gestures.

   I feel when laughter is involved it open the door to communication. Sometimes difficult issues are talked about during meetings or communication and all involved need to be open and comfortable so when you share positive humor it can become an effective means to achieve a common goal. A person that can show they have a good sense of humor can help establish an inviting atmosphere. With laughter you can turn a hostile situation into a positive situation. Humor can be a means of keeping tensions, frustration and upset from escalating if times just right.

To the Future

   My goals are simple and I would like to start by welcoming people from other countries, or even our own, especially if they do not know how to speak the local language of where they chose to live, they can become frustrated and do not even want to try. Students can suffer when their parents do not speak the language of the school. This sometimes intimidates the parent and they are not involved in their child’s school experience. Without the skills to communicate with each other, understanding diminishes between the parent and the teacher. We as educators must create a welcoming environment for parents, students and accommodate the entire family. We should want all to be involved in the education process.

   Teachers need to acquire the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed to educate our diverse learners. There is a lot of resistance coming from the educators addressing issues like race and racism in their courses and even throughout the school (Cochran-Smith, 2004). Our children with diverse, cultural backgrounds will continue to not be served until our schools knowledge the need for culturally educated teachers. We all must be willing to value and celebrate diversity in developing curriculum and classroom practices. I think ways we can help diverse learners is to take a constructivist view of learning and remember all students are capable of learning.

   I would also like to that Pamela for being and excellent communicating and understanding instructor and all my colleagues for their patience excepting all my late papers. Through the course of this class it has been a difficult time and challenging time and I thank everyone involved for helping me to think and learn. I wish everyone the best in the future and i hope all of your goals happen!

References

Cochran-Smith, M. (2004). Walking the road: Race, diversity, and social justice in       

   Teacher education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.