5102: Adult Learning & Development

Hi all,

You can now post to your hearts content without any filtering. Enjoy your break.

Jane

Jane, Thanks for adding this space :)

Classmates, I told Jane that I really liked the Wiki because it is more interactive. I like that we can have real discussions and give each other feedback. Since I started in this program, I know that I have learned a lot more from my fellow students and their experiences than I have from any of the course content. The feedback that I have received from each of you has been invaluable. I'm hoping that since most of you are on the Blog and not on the Wiki, that this space can serve a similar purpose.

After that last friday class, I was very upset about the discussion about diversity and the term WASP. I had a lot to say, but because my emotions related to the subject were pretty strong, I thought it was best to keep quiet. I didn't want to offend anyone, and still don't, but I think that if we're all going to be educators in some form, that we need to start by educating ourselves.

For some reason, I keep thinking about this. So, looking at our class, yes, we all have white-ish skin. The biggest problem that I had with the generalization (wasp) was that even though we all look like we may fit in that group, it's clear to me, having had conversations with most of my classmates, that most of us don't.

Personally, my biological dad is a native american, which most people don't know. I've never met a person who could tell this by looking at me with my blond hair and pale skin. Also, many of us don't fall in the "protestant" category either. When I look at any of you, I see how you are different from me at the same time that I see our similarities--we really are a very diverse group even though we all look white.

Diversity to me is more about a person's experiences than what they look like. We are diverse in our family structure and history, our education, our work, hobbies and interests, political viewpoints, socioeconomic status, and even our learning styles. I think that in order for a person to be an educator, s/he must be aware of all forms of diversity. It's important for diversity to be incorporated in all education. We learn so much from discussing our differences, I'd hate to have that go unrecognized.

Finally, I don't remember who brought up the term WASP, but I want to thank you. Without that, I may never have been prompted to look at my own views on diversity nor would I have had several of the conversations that I've had since that night. :) Peggy

Diversity is such a wonderful thing within any group and I feel that our class does have diversity despite the consistency in our skin color. We have people that are grandparents as well as people still enjoying their 20's. While I don't know the history of everyone in terms of where they have lived in their lives, I understand that most people in our group are educators. All educators affect so many people's lives it is imperative to understand how people that are different from us (in any way) think and act to give them the best learning environment that we can. An educator that is biased against a person can negatively affect that student for the rest of their lives.

As a teacher, my wife had a wonderful opportunity to learn about diversity first hand. She had lived in Ohio for her entire life (including going to college) but her first teaching job was in Hawaii. It is nearly impossible to explain the culture shock that she experienced (she was the only person with white skin in the classroom). She was the outsider and learned how to interact with the kids there while imparting some of her life experiences while in the classroom.

Many people that I know have pre-conceived ideas that anyone different from them in any way is "_______" (fill in the blank: lazy, slow, backwards, stupid, etc.). I feel fortunate to have been able to interact with so many people of varying backgrounds. We all have many positive assets and I am looking forward to learning more from each of you as we move through the rest of this class as well as in future classes.