‘OMG where is my free laptop? Hashtag first world problems’

1.     A reflection of your own experiences of culture and identity in relation to education

My own experiences of culture and identity were shaped dramatically in education, where although having attended a private school, academic prosperity was never strictly enforced upon students before year 12. I never considered myself a ‘westie’ nor did I think lower socioeconomic status or social stigmas had an impact on my education until a year 11 mock trial away session at an affluent independent school, where my team mates and I were astounded by the fact that their table legs didn’t fall off, and that they had revolving doors in their library (students broke our manual one). Such trivial and superficial aspects to take note of, however, it ignited the reality of what other students had access to that we were unaware of what we were missing out on. Like the funded laptops handed out to schools, that we as a private school, heard about in the news but never received, instead our school invested in laptops only available for teacher hire during class time (but they got stolen a few weeks later so that didn’t work out). Having been employed since the age of 14, I never felt impacted by the inefficiency my school had in resources as I purchased my own, however, now that I look back it was simply a reflection on the inefficiency of expectations from the school executives themselves, why spend precious school fees on poor, obnoxiously loud, ethnic students who don’t want to learn?

As a school of mainly students of lower SES, and of mixed ethnicities, mainly that of Middle-Eastern and Pacific Islanders, the culture immersed itself into each students identity. Race played a significant role in the overall culture of the school, where students were inclusive and it was often teachers who were more hostile to our diversity from the stereotypical higher SES affluent ‘white’ students our teachers were used to in most private schools (I witnessed a teacher yell at an entire grade ‘stop acting like you’re from Granville for once’). I therefore choose to emphasize the impact this kind approach has on students, as many of my peers felt they were defined by their postcode and their race, needing to conform to the ‘dodgy Arab’ stereotype.

University was only an option for the minority of students whose motivation mostly came from home. Where it is necessary that ‘’teachers themselves have a professional duty to respond appropriately to social change and to develop an above average level of intercultural communication, cultural understanding and general competency in inclusive teaching’’ (Mansouri 2010, p94). That teachers must be aware and responsive to the culture and multiple identities within a certain school and embrace these factors to enhance, rather than repel, students motivation to excel. As ’any good teaching must engage deeply with the complexities of the community’’ (Lynn 2010, p319). Many of my teachers did embrace our culture and racial diversities, dancing and singing with us to the sad imitations of Arabic drums using lockers and bins, but ultimately, it was those teachers that enhanced the educational experience, and lead 30% of the grade to pursue tertiary education (highest in our schools history, woohoo!).

‘’There are three things to remember when teaching: know your stuff; know whom you are stuffing; and then stuff them elegantly.’’ Lola May

References

Lynn, A 2010, ‘The Role of Inuit Languages in Nunavut Schooling: Nunavut Teachers talk about Bilingual Education’, Canadian Journal of Education, pp. 295-328.

Mansouri, F. Jenkins, L 2010, ‘Schools as Sites of Race Relations and Intercultural Tension’, Australian Journal od Teacher Education, vol. 35, no. 8, pp. 93-108.