This week’s values lecture about racism and patriarchy was both thought provoking and eye opening. It gave me the chance to fully understand just how much society has changed over the years and seeing how us as humans have grown massively regarding these issues. I understand that it is extremely important for me to be aware of these issues as a future primary school teacher.
During the first half of the lecture we learned about the issue of racism. Throughout this half, it made me think deeper about the issue in many ways. The lecture was extremely eye opening as it expressed the views of society during the late 18th century which are completely different to views nowadays and would never ever be accepted in today’s society. I was shocked to see how appalling the problem of racism was during the 18th century with Jim Crow Laws existing. There was a quote mentioned in the lecture which stated “All human beings belong to a single species and are descended from common stock. They are born equal in dignity and in rights and all form an integral part to society.” (UNESCO, 1982) This lecture really reinforced these words in my mind as we are all human and everyone is the same regardless of the way they look like or the way they live their lives. The lecture reinforced that everyone needs to be treated equally and this is very important in schools and in everyday life. As a teacher, it will be my job to treat all children equally, fairly and respectfully.
In the second half of the lecture we spoke about the issue of patriarchy. During this half I found the video by Always called ‘#likeagirl’ really interesting and eye opening. In this video children were asked to describe how girls played sport and were asked what came to mind when they heard the phrase “run like a girl” or “throw like a girl.” They expressed their views by actively demonstrating them. Numerous children (both boys and girls) portrayed girls as being ‘weaker’ than boys when it comes to sport which is a stereotype that’s completely wrong and needs to change. However, many other young girls when asked to demonstrate their opinion portrayed girls as being strong, passionate and trying their best at sports. The video highlighted the issue of gender stereotypes effectively and promoted just how important it is for girls to be seen as being just as strong as boys, not only concerning sport, but also concerning everyday life as well for example at work. It is important for me to have a good knowledge about the issue of patriarchy as a primary school teacher as children need to have the confidence to do whatever they want to do in life and not let stereotypes put them off. It will be part of my job to give them this confidence.
On the whole, the aim of this lecture was to get me to understand more about the issues of racism and patriarchy in the world in which we live, and it did exactly that. These problems have been embedded into society for many years and it is good to see that progress has been made to resolve them as life in the 21st century is quite significantly fairer than back in the 18th century, however these problems are still extremely current and need to be resolved even further.
