Before coming to Rhode Island College as an undergrad, I considered myself a tolerant person. I went to a diverse high school, had friends from different backgrounds, and had a sense that I was "lucky" in terms of my life circumstances - a middle class white teenager with two college graduate parents, a home my parents owned, a part-time job at a pizza shop, a reliable car, and a savings account. Looking around the city and experiencing various life occasions with my friends (birthday parties, proms, graduations, etc.), I knew not all was equal and I did what I thought I could to help (gave rides, spotted money, etc.). However, with other people I didn't know so well, I often assumed that some of their less-than-ideal circumstances were the result of choices they had made, rather than thinking about the systemic injustices (and my relationship to them) that may have led to those situations.
My college experience definitely changed the way I think. I have grown so much from my time in the Emerging Leaders program (with Tina!), reading Peggy McIntosh's "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" during Writing Center tutor training, participating in diversity workshops as a Resident Assistant, and of course from applying critical lenses to the readings in my education/English classes. Johnson's ideas in "Privilege, Power, and Difference" are not necessarily new to me, but his writing is a really powerful reminder of how our thinking influences our actions. Now, I have the language to name that "lucky" feeling that I had as a high schooler. I recognize that some of my fortunes are connected to others' misfortunes. I have a better view of the way in which societal structures sort out differences.
So, although I don't work in an urban school where differences in power and privilege between teachers and students are often most pronounced, I am still responsible for recognizing and taking action against the inequalities that exist. After all, there are certainly privileges and power naturally associated with the role of teacher. As we mentioned during our first class, teaching is always political. Teachers can decide the texts that are read and those that are skipped. Teachers can say whose voices are heard and whose are silenced. Teachers model what it means to be an "educated" person. They play a role in shaping the minds of young people.
Regardless of the community in which I teach, my goal is similar to Johnson's: "the purpose is to change how we think so that we can change how we act, and by changing how we participate in the world, become part of the complex dynamic through which the world itself will change" (viii). I became a teacher because I think education is important. In my classes, I hope to develop critical thinkers who can do something about privilege, power, and difference, and make the world a better place.
The texts for my first unit revolve around the topic of immigration and migrant workers with The Circuit, so I am definitely curious to see how privilege, power, and difference will emerge in our discussions...
"I recognize that some of my fortunes are connected to others' misfortunes." I can't help but think how powerful this statement is, and how important it might be for some of us (and our students) to come to terms with. One is not a direct result of the other, but they are connected nonetheless. How do we talk about this connection with our students, without putting blame on them while also giving them the responsibility to change it? Are we afraid to talk about these differences with them? It is a little scary to talk with eighth graders about issues like white privilege, but is it scarier to talk about in a class filled with mostly black students or white students?
ReplyDeleteI facilitated a discussion this morning with my class at CF High School today around privilege, and while everyone in the room could point to examples of privilege, the general sense of the young people in the room was that the descriptions found in the inner circle of the Diversity Wheel, were not as important as the ones in the outer circle. The examples: How teens in hoodies with earbuds were approached in certain stores in the mall as if they were unwelcome. How white people get pulled over while driving less often than black or hispanic people.
ReplyDeleteand How women get charged more to get their car fixed than men. All these claims are identified in Johnson's article, and statistically proven. What has to change is the opinion of the majority, the behavior will follow. As for classroom discussions, if it is uncomfortable, than it presents the opportunity for learning and growth (Vygotsky - zone of proximal development) and therefore worth the risk.
I love that reading Johnson gives you (reaffirms?) words for things you already know. :)
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