Diversity

“Class based conflict develops among African American students attending GED programs “between students who see themselves as members of the hip hop culture and those that do not.” Guy,  2002,  (p52)

Reading through Brookfield’s chapters in racism and diversity I came across the above quote. I want to reflect on this specifically because it as been an interesting personal transition for me moving to Canada from South Africa and experiencing a whole new culture that I needed to adapt to.

I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa and attended High school during the end of apartheid in 1991. I look back on those days in horror now as I realize how racist everyone was. My Grandparents were pretty bad and that affected my parents, which in turn trickled down to my brother and I as kids. We didn’t know it but that is how we were raised.

I left South Africa when I was 18 and went backpacking around the world. I went to some of the poorest places on this planet and experienced things that changed me life. I became a whole lot more excepting of cultures, colours and beliefs.

I eventually immigrated to Canada and found myself on the other side of the line. I became an immigrant with an accent, fighting to get a job alongside Canadians.

I like to hold on to those memories of my upbringing and travels and immigration as they serve as reminders to be open and accepting to diversity within my classroom.

This past year was probably my most diverse group of students. I’ll tell you a little bit about some of the observations I made.

We had to Korean students who were absolutely wonderful students. In my Professional Practices class, many of the assignments required the students to present in front of their fellow classmates. Every time these students presented they spoke so quietly it was almost inaudible. After each class I would give feedback and ask that they speak louder, however, the next presentation it was quiet again. This happened over and over until one day those students approached me after class and explained why they spoke so quietly. It came down to being a cultural thing, in their town it was considered rude to speak loudly. It was truly difficult for them to break out of a cultural norm and adjust their volume. This is such a stark contrast from when I grew up in Africa. Indigenous African ladies speak very loudly. You will often see a couple ladies sitting together under a tree almost yelling at each other. In the Zulu culture it is considered devious to speak quietly as others will think you are speaking about them.

We had an East Indian student who would get docked marks every assignment for using images in his art without permission from the original photographer. He told me that where he came from in India it was totally acceptable to take any image off the Internet and use it freely for any purpose. There were no repercussions for plagiarism in school if you copied text from somewhere else. We had to have some major changes in class to update students on what was allowed and not allowed regarding copyrighted work. 

Now I stop myself before I jump to conclusions in class. There are often times other reasons for a student's behavior that we might not notice.

Having all these personal experiences and in class experiences has really grasp what I can and can’t say in class and also how to guide my students into what they can and can’t acceptably do or say. This goes for international students and Canadian students.

I’m proud of who I have become later in life. An accepting, open-minded person, who is willing to change to be more inclusive of everyone.