A
Reflection of my own experiences in relation to culture
Being educated in the areas of Auburn and
Bankstown there was always a growing conspiracy of ‘us’ and ‘them’. ‘Us’ being
the students of the Western Suburbs and ‘them’ being students from the Northern
suburbs. My experiences of growing up in the Western suburbs where it was
thought that we came from a low economic status with poor education and were
labeled as being a ‘westie’ made me question weather gaining an education in
these suburbs really did affect me becoming a teacher. Studies have shown that
“NSW tops the list with racist view” (Daily Telegraph 2008).
The idea of the segregation between the two
different groups is significantly brought up due to the cultural differences.
The northern suburbs culture is consumed of highly educated individuals, which
look down upon the ‘westies’. Since we
are looked down upon due to coming from a low social economic status it makes
it difficult for us to achieve our goals in life. For instance a range of
motives such as the essential need to share my knowledge with other
individuals, it is a humane career and extrinsic or a combination of theses
motivated me to become an educator. Schunk (2008) states the motives that drive
individuals to initially enter higher education varies among different
socio-cultural context. Many teachers find it challenging to teach specific
students in the western suburbs. Toscano and Dow (2013) article talks about a
former public school teacher who claims he was intentionally allocated classes
of a school’s “most unruly and challenging” students and is now choosing to sue
the state government. Peter Doulis suffered major psychological breakdown after
being threatened while teaching. This article significantly shows the down side
of being a teacher. This has made me question if I really want to put myself in
these circumstances.
Another idea, which affects the motives of
being a teacher, is race and culture. “Race and culture has always been
intertwined or, as Robert Young puts it, ‘the racial was always cultural’
(1995:28).” (Lentin & Titley, 2011:51). Culture can drastically isolate students but
as well as teachers. For instance if an educator who was born and educated in
the western suburbs and choose to teach in the northern suburbs it will be very
difficult has there is different views on how to be educated and different
cultural beliefs.
As this is a reflection I hope that all
teachers make a valuable social contribution and help students to gain the best
education. There are different motives to why each individual chooses to become
a teacher even though it can be challenging with the different cultures I hope
each suburb can move away from the stereotypes and allow each individual to
express their beliefs.
Reference:
- · Schunk, D. H., Pintrich, P.R. and Meer, J. L. 2008, Motivation in education, 3rd edn, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
- · Lentin, A., Titley, G., & Younge, G. (2011). The crises of multiculturalism: Racism in a neoliberal age. London: Zed Books.
- · Toscano, N., & Dow, A. (2013, October 9). Teacher sues over diffcuilt students. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from:
- NSW most racist state in Australia, research shows. (2008, September 29). The Daily Telegraph. retrieved from:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/nsw-most-racist-state-in-australia-research-shows/story-e6freuy9-1111117614837
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