Blog Post #1 Presentation reflections and K-12 System reflections
In the previous class we had to present our “Who Am I?” presentations. We had to select one element of our identity and discuss how it has shaped our life in a day to day basis, our educational journey, future goals and overall our life as a whole. I enjoyed hearing my classmates’ presentations because I learned that I have a lot in common with most of my peers. It made me feel more at ease as well as connected with them. I also learned that a couple of my colleagues are the big sister in their family so I can empathize with them a lot since I am also the big sister in my family. A couple of students talked about how they wanted to make their parents proud by getting a degree and have a good career. I can relate a lot to them because not only is being a role model for my siblings my biggest motivator to succeed, but also to make my parents proud of me for my accomplishments. I thought it was interesting to hear how the majority of my peers want to get a college degree to set an example for the people they love and for their benefit. Overall, I feel privileged to have learned an element of their identity.
In chapter, Inside the K-12 Pipeline for Black and Latino Students, I was not shocked to learn that Blacks and Latinos have a huge disadvantage in the K-12 school system. While reading this chapter I recalled my own experience in middle and high school. In my high school about 10 percent of my peers were white and the majority of the teachers were white. I witness how teachers had more expectations from the white students than nonwhite students. I believe this inequality is the reason why some of my non-white peers felt discouraged. I felt the same until the school hired an American-Mexican history teacher in my sophomore year. It was her first year teaching and she shared with the class that she was a Stanford graduate. She talked about her own struggles and how she managed to beat the system by working hard to overcome many obstacles. She inspired me to continue my education after high school and beat the system even though it’s working against us Latinos. The chapter, Testing, No Child Left Behind, and Educational Equity, was an eye-opener for me because after reading I realized that there is a vicious cycle in the K-12 system that will continue on unless the federal government steps in and increases public school funds. I thought a good example of these two chapters is the movie Freedom Writers. The other four articles I read were about White privilege. Although I do not relate to the articles I enjoyed reading them especially, 6 Things White Parents can do to raise Racially Conscious Children, because I believe we can all apply most of the ‘6 things’ when it comes to raising our children.
