response

From this weeks modules, I have learned that culture is dynamic; multifaceted; embedded in context; influenced by social, economic, and political factors; socially constructed; learned; dialectical from the Nieto reading. All complex factors that make up parts of one's identity. I have also learned that educators should stop, pause, and reflect to be more of a critical leader, or specifically from Dorinda Carter, a 'race consciousness leader.' The current event articles reinforce this belief and remind me that racism still continues in school regardless what many people would still state they are colorblind. The readings from Gorski and Sapp have taught me how to make some actionable changes in the classroom. However, this is not my first time reading and watching this material, but it is one of the first few times where I am now looking at this topic in regards to my students.

I must say that I am left feeling more overwhelmed in how to create a more culturally democratic learning environment in my classroom and within a school knowing that his is just some of the factors that make up a student's culture and identity. School is no longer the location of simply learning core classes or extracurriculars, but it also one of the central locations where students begin to discover how their culture relates to a different culture. If supported well from the educators, administrators, and school community, the differences from the cultures may be viewed more positively, but more often than not, this is isn't the case where there seems to always be a dominant culture that is the norm and in power suppressing the other, whether it be race, ethnicity, class, etc. For instance, my school is majority Latino with a few African American, Asian, Middle Eastern, and White students attending the campus. I find it interesting that our school did not partake in whole school events to highlight other cultures, such as Black History Month, or Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. Also, there has been issues of of administrators stating that certain unit plans should contain specific Latino/Hispanic topics. As an educator I find this frustrating because I find that one of our main roles is to expand our student's minds and perspectives, yet, there are still leaders in education that do not innately see how this affects other students. This is one example of how I think some members in education still do not pause and think about how a student body is being represented because of the power from a dominant culture, ultimately replicating actions/policies based on a specific population.

This particular context has me thinking about the idea of how other dominant cultures, regardless if they are considered the minority, will progressively gain their own privileges due to dominance and power. In the documentary, White Like Me: Race, Racism & White Privilege in America, Tim Wise mentioned feeling isolated and being aware that he was 'different' at an early age but wasn't able to provide a reason when he attended an all Black school. It is that moment when one realizes that they are different that begins to create the racial tensions that occur within a school community. This is what I also find overwhelming as an educator because I I do not know when those moments occurred for my students. Thus, I am constantly serving as the role of race consciousness leader, which has been interesting since I also classify myself as Hispanic. Some of my students are curious of my educational background, family history, and such, which I am open to sharing with them. However, when I would tell them that I have been discriminated in all White society, Black community, or Hispanic community. They often are shocked or are fearful because some have not experienced anything like it before. It makes me curious and raise a few questions. Are the schools they have attended in the past mostly Hispanic dominant? Which then leads to the question, how would my students respond in an environment that is predominately all White or of different ethnic backgrounds, for instance, attending a university? I am aware that I should not assume that my experiences should dictate others simply because we have a few things in common, but it raises a more powerful question: Even though a school population does not face high acts racism, should the issues of racism not be discussed? Do these issues constantly have to undertake a reactive form of action, or could it be more proactive? I find that this is the power of an educator and an additional responsibility to undertake a complex task.