Читать книгу Leading Equity - Sheldon L. Eakins - Страница 15

I remember sharing with a group of my students about a cruise I was on a few years ago. “Oh man,” I told them, “I went on a cruise with my kids during the winter break, and we had so much fun, and these are all the things that we did. I took my kids here, and we did this, and we did that. We went on this excursion.” As I was talking to my students, one of them raised their hand and said, “Dr. Eakins, I've never even been on a boat.” Another student said, “I've never even left the reservation.” A third student said, “Well, that sounds really cool.” I could see on their faces that my privilege was showing. I realized that I needed to dial it back a little bit.

It's not that I can't share an experience with a student, but rather, it's essential to recognize that some of my students haven't had or will never have similar experiences.

On the other hand, we can't avoid those conversations completely as teachers. How can we frame them? We can try to say it in a way that motivates students to think, “You know what? Maybe I should get my college degree. Maybe I should become a teacher. I'm encouraged because look, my teacher, someone I respect, has shared about some of the experiences that he had. Those are some experiences that I would like to have too. How do I get there?”

I believe that when it comes to how we approach education, we must start to recognize how our beliefs impact the decisions we make. The conversations we have in class and the content we choose to show our students often are influenced by how we view the world.

Consider where you grew up and what your family dynamics are. How diverse was the population and area where you were raised? If you can answer, “Well, I grew up in a very diverse community,” my next question is, “How diverse was your social circle?” Although you may have grown up in a town that had many cultures, races, and ethnicities, that doesn't mean that you were immersed in cultures other than your own.