Relationships with others4
Venn diagram5
How might my personal history, background and experiences influence my relationships with children from diverse backgrounds? 6
How will this information influence my teaching practices? 7
Personal background
I was born in Uruguay, in South America. My father is Spanish and my mother is French. This means that I grew in a very diverse family structure. From a tender age my parents made sure that I had an appreciation for this diverse culture. It is prudent to understand that in addition to the French and Spanish culture of my parents I had to conform to the overarching Latin culture that characterizes South America. I learned how to tango and appreciate other elements of the Latin America culture. I predominantly spoke Spanish but also spoke Portuguese due to the influence of many friends from Brazil. Uruguay like any other Latin America country has a diverse population. They are white people who are mostly remnants of the colonial powers that colonized the country. They are also native Indians that were among the native populations of South America. There is also a black population resulting from the slave trade that was taking place between Africa and the America’s during the colonization of Latin America. In the light of this, there is no single person who can stand and say that they are the typical Latin Americans. This is because Uruguay is a melting pot of many cultures and diverse populations. This means that race and creed is not commonly used in Latin America as a way of stratifying society. Instead other indicators such as wealth, occupation, and gender may be used. Having grown in a society that did not put much emphasis to race and creed, I relocated to the United States 10 years ago after getting married to an American.
Contrary to the Latin culture that I was used to in Uruguay, the United States was different. People in the United States were more sensitive to race compared to any other elements in society. Children would first describe their immediate door neighbor is being black before even talking about their occupation or gender. This was an illustration of the key differences that existed between the culture and traditions in Uruguay and the biases that were evident in the American society. Having settled in the United States for about ten years I have become more aware of these biases and stereotypes compared to when I first arrived in the United States. The White Anglo-Saxon protestant males seem to be ranked on top of the social hierarchy while minorities such as blacks, Native Americans, and Hispanic populations tend to rank at the bottom of the hierarchy. Being from a minority culture in the United States I cannot consider myself as being ethnocentric. I do not believe that there is any single culture that is better than another. Every man regardless of their race, creed, of profession has the same capabilities and abilities. This is the fundamental principle upon which the United States as a country is founded. United States is perceived as being a land of opportunities where every individual can be in a position to prosper regardless of their social class. Despite the understanding of this concept, biases in the United States are still eminent. Cases of racism and other social biases have continued to bedevil various individuals in society.
Relationship with others
Having grown up in Latin America, I grew in a different culture that had a value for community. People in Uruguay are more concerned about the welfare of their neighbors and friends compared to the United States that is more of an individualistic society. I played soccer and other games with friends from down the street when I was young. I knew many kids in my street because even parents helped foster the idea of community. The race of the kids or the parents that I interacted with did not matter. We were all one people and one culture. We remained united by the similar struggles, history, traditions, and culture. Due to these bonds I grew up as a person who has a great sense of community. Despite the urge to succeed as an individual, the fact remains that succeeding as collective community was more important. Therefore, assisting a neighbor in need was something noble and one that was highly appreciated in society. This would mean that I even spent nights at my neighbor’s house watching a TV show and playing with kids. My parents were at no time concerned because of the sense of community that characterized Uruguay.
However, this sense of community was not present in the United States. People preferred to grow as individuals. Many people hardly know the names of their next door neighbors. This is because people are not concerned about community but their own success. It is because of this attitude towards life that various biases such as racism continue to resonate among the US citizenry. Due to the lack of personal ties and connection between people of different races, the only way that people can refer to each other is through the use of stereotypes. In order to illustrate the differences that exist between the US culture and the culture that I was used to in Uruguay, I am going to use a Venn diagram of myself and my friend whose name is going to remain anonymous for now.
Venn diagram My Friend
People I have to Love love for family People I don’t care about
As is evident from the Venn diagram my friend and I have a difference in the way we relate to people. For example, I am a strong believer in community and I am of the view that I have to love other people regardless of whether they are family or not. This might be influenced by the way I was brought up in Uruguay. I learnt to love people regardless of whether we were related or not. On the contrary, my friend does not care about other people that she does not know. She has a sense of individualism and is not concerned about the welfare of other people provided things are working towards her way. However, we have a sense of commonality. We both have high regard for family. Family values are something that we both cherish and hold dear. It is from a single commonality that we can slowly embark on enhancing better relationships between ourselves and other people (Carlsen & Willis, 2007).
How might my personal history, background and experiences influence my relationships with children from diverse backgrounds?
The fact that I grew in a society with children from diverse backgrounds I have a better understanding of these children. I was able to build better relationships between myself and childhood friends from diverse backgrounds. Due to the fact that my personal background provided an environment of diversity I have great social skills and awareness about how to relate with children from diverse backgrounds. I understand how I should handle such children as well as make them feel appreciated in a given environment. This would include preparing children who have not grown in diverse societies on how to relate with children from other races and creeds.
How will this information influence my teaching practices?
This information will influence my teaching practice by making sure that people understand that I have an appreciation for cultural diversity around the world. This means that I understand children from different backgrounds and I aim at making sure that children also have appreciation for other children from other cultures. By eradicating ethnocentric notions in the minds of children, then some of the biases and stereotypes that are present in society can over time be eradicated.
References
Carlsen, R., & Willis, D. A. (2007). Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference annual March 26-30, San Antonio, Texas, USA. Chesapeake, Virginia: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education.
