"Hacking at our very roots"
05-October-2006
permalink email thisAnother fascinating article looking at the white students teachers perspectives of being white and how it can affect them indirectly. The article is using narrative/ story telling, direct instruction and critical reflection on oneself.
It brilliantly identified the steps necessary for effective multicultural education that include awareness of oneself and how community and background affects individuals, confrontation with outside perspectives, involvement of emotions and feelings, and the taking of action to improve the situations. Fisherman and McCarthy (2005) pointed out and is being reiterated in the article is that, if we are not 'self-reflexive about our own white biases' then 'productive talk about race' is not likely to eventuate with out students.
The author goes on to discuss and elaborate the stories of resistance from her own students via the story telling journal. She was looking at the aboriginal and multicultural education (in the context of Australia) as this is a compulsory course within her university's teacher education program. Her findings suggests how varied the perceptions of being White and implication on the multicultural society. Some of her students found how guilty they were for being white and some feels that is the way it is, white is the ruling party in the society. In her final reflection, the author stated how she wants to help the white students to move beyond positions of guilt and resentment to a space where they can become effective while allies.
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