The section on mixed race really caught my attention. I have a friend who is African American and her husband is white. They have two daughters. Once the mother lamented to me that she wished her girls identified more with their "black" selves. In my mind, I assumed that they identified more with being white. She told me that wasn't it either. She gave me the impression that it was hard for her girls, growing up in a pretty non-diverse school, to find their niche. They didn't feel that they fit in anywhere. I couldn't imagine walking up to a person and asking, "What are you?" What a rude comment to make. I appreciate the suggestion in the text about giving multi-race students images and examples they can relate to in textbooks and all the other resources we use in a classroom. I think it's very important to be sympathetic to the emotions that these students may be having with their fitting in or feeling left out. Again, it is up to us as teachers to acquaint ourselves with the cultural backgrounds of the students in our classrooms.
Does your school offer PD to help you expand your cultural knowledge?
Do you take time to research your students' cultural backgrounds?
No comments:
Post a Comment