Assignment #2: Culminating Reflective Journal

Alexandria Miles Anderson

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Submitted in Partial Completion of the Requirements for Course CIG 660

Dr. Christine Clark
June 5, 2015

Abstract
This paper discusses my personal reflection on what Ive taken away from this course.
The document gives an evaluation of myself as a learner and teacher, and explains what I have
learned about my students. Finally, the paper provides an overall summary of my experience in
the course.

Introduction
The syllabus for CIG 660: Multicultural Education outlined the course goals as getting
graduate students to build a foundation of understanding of concepts surrounding the equity
and diversity of students education. I
Myself as a Learner
A few pages into the assigned reading of the first week, throughout out the duration of
the course, and mentioned in a few of my discussion posts, I feel as if Ive come to many
realizations about myself. To my credit, I tend to be very reflective about myself in many
regards. The things that Ive read in the text and my peers discussions have, at the same time,
helped me understand myself and question my thinking and feelings even more.
I have learned that I held (and probably still hold presently) prejudices and assumptions
about many groups of people. Though Ive heard and believe that it is important to reflect on
the person that you are, both professionally and personally, I sometimes forget to think
critically about those around me beyond the social construct that is projected upon them. For
example, Ive inadvertently learned more about a friend and colleague of mine that is also
taking this course. I will, somewhat ashamedly, admit that because my friend, Mary*, is
Mexican and sometimes struggles with finesse of the standard English language, I was unsure of
how she would fare taking a graduate level course (I wont/cant specifically detail what exactly
my presumptions were, but I know that they were wrong and prejudiced). It harkens to those
chapters in the text that explore assumptions based on race and language, which ironically are

those chapters that spoke most to me on a personal level. Marys posts have shown that my
thoughts were completely unfounded.
One of her posts discussed how her family in California made fun of her for conforming
to the Eurocentric ideas pressed upon her in school. I immediately made a connection between
myself and my family in Alabama. Others reflected upon their experiences with learning English
as a second language and what a challenge it was. This class has forced me to consider that just
as Ive been analyzing myself and the influence my past has on me, so are others doing the
same for themselves. If these adults are sharing such experiences now, it means that there are
students Ive taught over the last five years that have been experiencing similar issues in
real-time. If I have consciously held such beliefs about my friends and peers, what beliefs might
I have held that have influenced the way I have taught and/or treated my students?
I have learned several things about multiculturalism over the last three weeks, one of
the most important things being that while Ive become better at making sense of my personal
reflections, I must extend my cultural awareness to those around me.
Myself as a Teacher
Ebonics
I dont know when or why it started, but Ive always felt a need to maintain a certain
level of professionalism as a Black teacher, lest any mistake I make be chalked up to me being
inept because of my race. I make sure to talk using standard English, and I worried at length
when I cut my hair extremely short (not even long enough to have a small afro) earlier in the
school year because of how parents would perceive me (possibly trying to assert my culture).

As an aside, it was actually my White male colleague that made what he believed were
humorous stereotypical jokes/comments in regards to what he assumed my culture was.
In our Week 1 Discussion 3, I wrote about my previous view of Ebonics and how I had a
student whose language I corrected from time to time. Lisa Delpit described just such an
example and how the end result of such corrections are to the detriment of a childs reading
fluency (and possibly comprehension) and/or language acquisition (Delpit, 2014, p. 172). I read
an article on a first grade teacher that incorporated Ebonics into her pedagogy (Bohn, 2003).
Rather than shy away from what most people consider inappropriate language for the
educational setting, she aptly switched back and forth, using it as a tool to welcome and make
students feel comfortable. I particularly liked the observation of a technique that would have
served me well in those instances when my students spoke to me using Ebonics:
When her young African American students communicated orally, she accepted their
use of Ebonics without directly correcting their speech patterns; instead, she simply
rephrased the students statements in Standard English as an affirmation that she heard
what her students were saying. (p. 690)
The author of the article describes having another teacher, who, for all intents and purposes is
me (in relation to my above noted professionalism), practice Iris techniques in her own
classroom. Her students responded favorably.
I couldnt have read that article at a better time. I recently found myself code switching
just a little bit in my classroom, with something as simple as addressing my class at large with
the word yall, usually followed by informal jab at their behavior. This entire year has been
fraught with complaints from parents saying their children were interpreting my propriety as

being cold and unapproachable, but in those few instances of switching with my students, the
atmosphere was noticeably different.
Even though the classes Ive taught have been primarily White, allowing bits of my
culture to purposefully slip through will likely help me connect better to my students.
Literature
Katie Van Winkle said that reading the book The House on Mango Street allowed her to
connect with a character whose culture and community bore likenesses to her own (Van
Winkle, 2014, p. 123). Exposing children to diverse literature and fostering discussions and
connections are invaluable lessons in a multicultural pedagogy. I may have my curriculum
outlined and scripted for me next year, but will use any available opportunities to ask questions
that go beyond determining the theme. I plan on asking questions that touch on issues of
discrimination and racism and the feelings associated with each.
My Students
I have learned that my students benefit from a multicultural education not only because
it enhances their learning environment, but because it allows them to grow to become
multicultural adults. Students that are exposed to and given chances to talk about issues such
as racism and inequality are less likely to be narrow-minded and prejudiced in their adulthood.
The students that I have taught and will teach are diverse in many ways extending beyond the
observation of their skin color. Factors such as language, gender, race, and culture affect the
way that students are perceived.
Oftentimes, we hold kids back by not expecting much out of them. . . . I was trained to
focus on what the kids couldnt do, rather than on what the kids could do. . . . My

approach changed from trying to remediate what they didnt have to teaching to what
they could do, which was actually quite considerable. (p. 43)

The first half of the above quote by Christine Sleeter represents where I have been and
am currently in my teaching career, and the second half is where I plan on moving toward in
subsequent years (Miner & Peterson, as cited in Au, 2014).
Conclusion
I dont think Ive ever taken a college class in which I took away as much as I have in this
one. It has allowed me to fully consider the person and teacher I am and helped me look
forward at ways to become better both professionally and personally. With this being the
culminating assignment for the course, I look forward to taking the summer to plan to put into
effect a truly multicultural pedagogy with a new class of students in the fall.

References
Bohn, Anita Perna. (2003). Familiar Voices. Urban Education 38, no. 6: 688. Professional
Development Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed June 6, 2015).
Delpit, L. (2014). Ebonics and Culturally Responsive Instruction. In W. Au (2014), Rethinking
multicultural education: Teaching for racial and cultural justice (pp. 172). Milwaukee,
WI: Rethinking Schools, Inc.
Miner, A. and Peterson, B. (2014). Diversity Vs. White Privilege: An interview with Christine
Sleeter. In W. Au (2014), Rethinking multicultural education: Teaching for racial and
cultural justice (pp. 39-46). Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools, Inc.
Van Winkle, K. (2014). Saving Mango Street. In W. Au (2014), Rethinking multicultural
education: Teaching for racial and cultural justice (pp. 123). Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking
Schools, Inc.