The race is defined as the poor assumption of ideas and actions emanating from the thoughts that one race is quite unique or superior to the other. It always results in mistreatment or discrimination of specific racial groups, while culture is the way different people carry on their daily activities for example, in their values, dreams, attitudes, and practices characterizing an institution. They are passed on from generation to generation. Educational justice is the movement that relies on human rights and equality for economic opportunity. Taiwanese from Taipei in Taiwan my native language is Mandarin Chinese, English being my second language. The experiences at the school reveal that there is great concern about the ineffectiveness and negative consequences of having English as the second language program, the influence of immigrant poverty and peer divide is so pronounced. In my country, many laws and regulations are a hindrance to education access by many children especially from unrecognized communities and of different languages. Therefore English is learned in the first years of schooling for the students who are still new and lack enough knowledge in English. Due to teachers’ attitudes, many students are always affected emotionally as they are discouraged by the teachers who are not fully qualified in the field of teaching, thus the results are experienced when many students drop out of school, and the poor performance by students. The aspects of race, language and immigrant status and gender have influenced my ideas of teaching in that, I feel there is a need to break down the racial barriers so as to achieve the goals of the country. This can be through helping students to develop the necessary language needed and also promote any other important skills the students have so as to achieve equality for all. There is a need to advocate for racial and gender justice in schools in order to achieve unity and avoid divisions in the communities.
As a classroom teacher, I will use my position to dispel the myths about the marginalized communities on the racial /cultural status through emphasizing the local histories especially by focusing on the heroes, those who have the authority and the original families of the community so as for them not to be assumed as the dormant community members but as prominent agents of both the social productivity and change in society. The procedure has served to eliminate the myths that in case these people are not recorded within their community’s history, then they must not have achieved any dream. A historical approach to the representation of the race includes having the advantage of taking into account the specifics of different marginalized groups, whose main moves are allocated in the changes of social relationships. It also enables the maintenance of a healthy relationship towards the evidence of experience. Another way to dispel the myths about the marginalized communities is through offering encouragement to the students; this is by encouraging a change of behavior and attitude towards each other. They should be motivated to protest for injustices and thus make something for themselves and for the community at large (Moffat, p. 54).
As a classroom teacher, collaborating with the students will also help in dispelling the myths about the marginalized communities in that the teacher has to ensure that the knowledge he passes across to the students is valid. By collaborating, they both learn about each other’s reality and hence empowering them to have positive attitudes toward life and problem-solving.
As a classroom teacher, I will use my position to communicate to the youth /families of the student /person represented in the story by allowing the youths to carry out field research so that they can be in a position to identify the problems or issues that are affecting them and their families. This will confirm if they are ready to work on them as a group /family. Therefore by developing possible solutions to those issues and problems, they will be empowered to have a voice in their education set up and thus present their findings to their respective communities and also within the school. Another way to communicate to the youth /families is through understanding their cultures well so that you can be In a position to address the issue or the problems facing them from their point of view.
My sociocultural, sociolinguistic background is that of the native Chinese. It is considered to be having rules of speaking and social norms which are very different from those of the westerners/Americans. It’s important to internalize sociolinguistic rules to assist in choosing the appropriate form, apart from having the grammatical rules so as to enhance intercultural communication and foreign language. I first became aware of racism from the discrimination of the white Americans and the African American people where all the privileges were accorded to the Americans at the expense of the blacks. The Africans were mistreated, denied their human rights and discriminated against seriously. Also, the Chinese were discriminated against on the racial issue by the Californian government to an extent that they were almost chased away from America.
Marginalization is the act of being removed from others or from a place where you live and forced to move to another area due to overpopulation thus ending up being just on the edge and not at the center of an area. I came to understand that some people were marginalized when immigration rates increased and thus many people ended up being displaced due to increased population. There are some issues of injustices or discrimination which are of great concern and this includes environmental injustice or discrimination where not everyone is involved in the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, policies and regulations. This is important to me because there is a need for all people to be in a position to enjoy protection from environmental problems and equal participation in making decisions.
Racial identity has influenced my journey into teaching in that I feel concerned about dealing with this issue of racism and even help my students to reduce or eliminate it completely from the country. Am just the same as the student I will teach because they are still dealing with the same issues of racial discrimination which affected me and they are still affecting them. By identifying my culture, am able to teach in Los Angeles urban context because I have knowledge of what is required and how to deal with it.
With my position, I will help in negotiating the issues of race, language, sexuality and culture through encouraging the fight for justice in urban areas to working-class and to schools.
In conclusion, I as an educator for racial, cultural and education justice have a lot to offer to my students because these issues are very serious and need urgent attention if we are to help the students achieve highly in academic areas and also have the country achieve its goals. Therefore, I will fight to ensure that there is a promotion of justice to all people irrespective of race, language, or someone’s culture.
Works cited
Moffat, George. Redefining social work standards in the context of globalization: Lessons from India.NewYork: International Social Workers, 2007.