I was really shocked and
found it interesting that some African Americans identify themselves with
Blackness. I have never heard of that term before. I was also surprised by the
fact that they communicate with each other by saying certain phrases and then
they realize that they both identify with Blackness. I think I was most
surprised because I cannot think of any phrases I would say to someone else
that would identify myself with them. I cannot think of a phrase I would say to
someone White that no one else would identify with. I think it is a cool way to
communicate with others and notice that you both identify with the same people
and probably culture and values. I think there are many White people or
Hispanic and the list could go on that could identify themselves with some of
the things that African Americans do, so I am not sure what the difference is
with the Blackness identity.
One big problems that is always present with the TESOL
profession is cultural stereotypes. Kumar’s article talked about stereotypes
associated with students from Asia, however, there are so many unfortunate
stereotypes that these students pick up. As we have talked about before, they
can pick up stereotypes from their families, friends, textbooks, teachers, the
media, etc. It is part of our jobs as TESOL educators to avoid these
stereotypes when teaching and to help the students steer away from any types of
stereotypes because a lot of them are not accurate.
I think an important task to think about in the classroom
understands the backgrounds/cultures of different students so that you can
incorporate how they learn well in the classroom. For example, in Kumar’s
article he talks about how teachers are aware of Asian students culture, so
they can help them learn in the classroom environment. I was kind of shocked to
read the stereotypes Kumar had to say about Asian culture. I personally had
never heard of some of them and was shocked to hear of such stereotypes. The
Asian culture is perfectly capable of critical thinking. Everyone can think
critically especially when they are asked to at school. It boggles my mind to
hear some of these stereotypes and that they are still being “spread” and
talked about by many people.
I have strong feelings about stereotyping, especially in
the classroom and with your students. I do not want to put any preconceived
ideas in their head about what I think or know about another culture. A lot of
stereotypes are rude, not true, or blown out of proportion. If you are going to
teach students about different cultures, then you should be teaching them the
real facts about it. Better yet, you could have students talk and teach the
class about their own culture, so you are getting real facts.
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