In today’s society, I find my perspectives and pre-conceptions on matters to be formed primarily through my own experiences and interactions with others. However, I find it challenging to refrain from social media’s portrayals of cultures and ideas to not influence my perspectives of other cultures. Through the ease in viewing worldwide events, political campaigns, crime, and the dynamics of relationships in other cultures, I find it hard to create my own opinions on these matters without the influence of social media. While technology can be harmful, it can also be a helpful tool in teaching our students about other cultures.
Who teaches us and the tools we use to learn greatly impact how we experience and interact with other cultures and people. For example, if we are only taught by Caucasian women who have been raised in dual-parent homes, their perspectives on what would make life challenging will be different than that of an African-American student who is an orphan. The ideas and culture of these two groups are far different, as a result of their experiences. Because of these experiences, they have different perspectives to share; therefore, we will learn different ideas from each of these people. Technology can help us understand these differences in culture, experiences, and beliefs, and have more access to ways to learn about these things. If we can understand how our experiences shape our pre-conceptions of culture can be changed, for the better, through learning about other cultures, our post-conceptions of cultural matters will be more accepting of others.
Technology can be a great tool to use to learn about other cultures. We can use technology to ask and answer questions, gather literature to broaden our knowledge of other cultures, and stay connected with people long distances from us. Many might use technology to find these advantages. Technology also allows us to understand drawbacks of its presence, such as a dependence on using it, ease in creating sedentary lifestyles, and more. Like any other tool or resource, it is important to understand the power that technology holds and use this to enhance culturally diverse learning. Using technology as a tool to help reshape our conceptions of cultural issues is a great way to get started.
I enjoyed reading your reflection on how your perspective of cultures are shaped by experiences and interactions. Your example of social media plays a major role in our perspectives. As you stated, technology can give great opportunities or challenges in cultural education. I am happy to see your commitment to using these tools to promote understanding and acceptance of the different cultures. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
ReplyDeleteI loved your connection to learning from teachers with different backgrounds. I have been involved in several discussions about this. I am 43 years old and have many years spent in classrooms as a student. I have never had a teacher, instructor, or professor that was not white. Not one. (unless they were online instructors that I did not see) I did not have a male teacher until I was in middle school. My girls were incredibly fortunate in their elementary years to have had a wide range of backgrounds from their teachers. Their elementary school was a Dual Language Magnet school and that required the Spanish speaking teachers to be from Spanish speaking countries. They moved to our area for 3 years to teach in the program and then returned home. My oldest daughter had black teachers every year with the exception of 1st grade. (She was not in the Spanish program at the school). Both of my girls learned more than just the basic curriculum from their teachers. It is so important for our students to experience diversity in their classroom, not only with their peers, but with teachers and administration as well.
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