A Transformational Journey: Exploring our multicultural identities through self-study (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Other in Self: Acknowledging Complicity in Multicultural Education
Current Issues in Education, 2014
In this essay, employing Bourdieu's sociological theory, in particular, his concepts of reflexivity, symbolic violence, and materialist models of the subjects and Dubois's construct of double consciousness, I discuss and analyze the dilemmas that I experience as a racial minority teacher educator in my effort to practice self-reflexivity in my own multicultural teacher education classrooms. In doing so, I demonstrate empirically the forceful and involuntary presence of the dominant Other that underwrite my consciousness demonstrating the danger involved in automatically assuming an insider status solely by one's heritage. I attempt to show the power of unexamined beliefs that constrain multicultural teaching practices against the status quo and the importance of critically examining beliefs in changing teaching practices. My ultimate hope for this self-inquiry is that the result of this work could extend beyond self-improvement to impact and advance the scholarship of multicultural teaching and learning.
Self-Narratives for Christian Multicultural Educators: A Pathway to Understanding Self and Others
2005
As cultural diversity increases in classrooms, it becomes imperative for teachers to gain multicultural competency so that they can provide effective instruction to diverse students. This paper argues that the development of multicultural competency should be solidly grounded on reflective, empathic, and critical understanding of one’s own culture as well as others. This cultural understanding, particularly from a Christian perspective, recognizes the connectivity of self and others in God. To enhance the cultural understanding, the author recommends studying self-narratives written by others and writing one’s own cultural autobiography.
Problematizing the Use of the Cultural Autobiography In Pre-Service Multicultural Education courses
2021
This paper explores the qualitative methodology of narrative life history as an instructional tool for pre-service teachers at a midwestern regional public university. Specifically, the authors problematize the use of the cultural autobiography assignment for undergraduate teacher candidates enrolled in required multicultural education courses in order to evolve its use. While life history has the potential to promote critical reflections on one’s own position in a complex interplay of power relations, it can also reify pre-existing prejudicial attitudes as currently used. The paper includes composite quotes from the papers of 85 undergraduate students to support authors investigation, as they suggest the integration of digital tools to provide a more meaningful and authentic assignment as the authors look to explore its potential in the 21st century
Self-Reflections, teaching, and learning in a graduate cultural pluralism course
2013
Using symbolic interaction as an interpretive framework, our participatory action research (PAR) project challenged students in Cultural Pluralism, a 2009 graduate level summer course, to wrestle with identity issues pertinent to teaching in a pluralistic society. Specifically, we wanted to know: What, if any, personal and cultural identity evolutions evidenced an appreciation for the “other;” types of diverse curricula emerged from group collaborations; and re-planning strategies surfaced for the course and its successor the following summer? Our plans, observations, reflections, and actions during the course revolved around monitoring fledgling relationships between various students who were having difficulties communicating with each other, working more effectively with those who had the most trouble with introspection, altering a class lecture midstream when we sensed it fell on deaf ears, supporting students whose written and oral autobiographies caused them angst, and seeking out potential for social change through a breaking down of rigid, judgemental beliefs. Our end-of-class analysis (reflection) indicated that to varying degrees students came to understand and appreciate that their personal soul searching was inevitably culturally entangled. They also showed a keen ability to craft culturally diverse lessons and interact thoughtfully with course curricula. Yet, the class critiques and written autobiographies indicated that a few students required more one-on-one help with self-reflection, and remained unclear concerning the symbolic interactionist framework and other identity theories. Our successes and failures led to revamping (planning) parts of the ensuing summer course.
Problematizing the Use of Cultural Autobiography in Preservice Multicultural Education Courses
Proceedings of the 2022 AERA Annual Meeting
This article explores the qualitative methodology of life history as an instructional tool for pre-service teachers at a midwestern regional public university. Specifically, the authors problematize the use of the cultural autobiography assignment for undergraduate teacher candidates enrolled in required multicultural education courses as a way to evolve its use. While life history has the potential to promote critical reflections on one's own position in a complex interplay of power relations, it can also reify pre-existing prejudicial attitudes. The article includes composite quotes from the papers of 85 undergraduate students to support authors and suggests the incorporation of digital tools to make this assignment more meaningful as the authors look to explore its potential in the 21 st century.
This dissertation documents and analyzes the impact of a curriculum-based identity intervention on the adolescent process of identity exploration in a multicultural setting. The identity intervention was implemented during the third unit of study within the Kailua High School ethnic studies curriculum, with eighty-nine student participants over a three-year period. At the culmination of their learning experience each of these students wrote an identity narrative. The identity narratives were the main source of data in the study, and were analyzed using a constructivist approach to grounded theory methods. Results from this analysis were reported in three parts: (1) ten identity mosaics depicting ethnic, place and gender identities found in the study’s cultural context; (2) overall qualitative themes; and (3) the pedagogical impacts of the ethnic studies curriculum. From these results theories were developed describing (a) the role of narrative in identity construction, (b) the tende...
Beyond the breach: transforming White identities in the classroom
Race Ethnicity and Education, 2004
Efforts aimed at promoting multiculturalism in the classroom are often pedestrian and ineffectual. When instructors do succeed at facilitating honest discourse, they frequently fail to anticipate the great deal of pain, frustration and anger that is invoked. Rather than sustain a false sense of community, we argue that a dialogic, multicultural community can only be achieved by fostering breach of mainstream norms. Using cultural anthropologist Victor Turner's notion of social drama as a theoretical framework, we document the intense con¯ict that erupted in our classroom when students were pressed to engage one another regarding issues of race. In order to both acknowledge and make public our students' emotional responses to the dialogue, we implemented a`recursive loop', a pedagogical strategy designed to provide immediate feedback and enable students to come to a richer understanding of how their experiences of race are inextricably linked. By analyzing the students' discourse, we demonstrate how these voices do not occur in a vacuum; to the contrary, they are articulated in response to one another and to grand narratives used to make years of oppression appear invisible. Ultimately, we contend that White Identity Transformation is necessary for a multicultural community and that such transformation is facilitated, ironically enough, by con¯ict.