1.3 Trust & Respect | Megan McComiskie's ePortfolio

Yesterday we had a very interesting input about the Racism and Patriarchy which is present in our society.

Racism is something that I rarely come across in day to day life. This is what I think because as I go through each day I don’t see anyone acting in a racist manner. However while I can’t recall specific examples I know at some point I have heard someone make a racist remark. The lecture made me think about all the times you read about and see on the news the issues which all stem from racism. People make out that in this day in age racism is not one of the most prominent issues in society. Yes; it does not take place in the same form as what we seen in 1995 with the Civil Rights Act in America but it is something that is more present than many people realise. The presentation made me think that maybe I don’t notice as much because I have never been the victim of any racist behaviour and because of this I can’t presume to know the extent of fear and horror many individuals all over the world have went through. Having studied higher history at the school I learned all about the Civil Rights movement and I remember then I couldn’t look at some of the videos or images that showed what went on. Emmet Till was brought up in the lecture and seeing the image again made me realise the brutality that was present because of the colour of someone’s skin. I can’t comprehend how someone could do this to a child just because of the colour of their skin; I don’t understand why people were treated in such a disgraceful manner because of this. But has this really changed? The Stephen Lawrence case of 1993 shows that black teenagers still face unprovoked brutality because they are black. Stephen Lawrence was stabbed repeatedly by a group of white youths in London. The police also made little effort to pursue the attackers and they were not convicted until 18 years later. 18 years Stephen’s parents went without any sort of closure. Stephen Lawrence’s mum said something that really startled me; she said they investigated her son’s murder “like white masters during slavery”. When I read this in the Giddens ‘Sociology’ reading, it opened my eyes as it made me ask myself if times have really moved on because if they had surely attacks like this one wouldn’t occur. Slavery was a thing of the past and it was a great oppression which black people faced across the Atlantic World and for his mum to feel that the police cared so little about his death to compare them to the white slave masters shows the extent of inequality they faced. We have to ask ourselves if it would be different if it was the other way around and a group of black youths attacked a white boy and I have to say I do think more effort would have been made. I am not saying this knowing this would certainly be the case but it is embedded in society that people assume black youths are more likely to be criminals. I do believe if it was the reverse, the case would have been handled differently. Both the lecture and reading touched on the fact that racism often takes the form of institutional racism which we seen in the police force during this case. I see racism as not being socially acceptable in the way it was in the past but still takes place often but in a more subtle way that not everyone is aware of.

I understand that as a professional I have to be aware of the forms of racism which takes place all over the world and the affect this has on different individuals. As a future teacher equality is extremely important. Everyone should be treated with equal respect but I know in many aspects of life this is not the case; but the classroom is somewhere that everyone will be treated equally. Racism is something that while I understand what it is and the many cases of when it takes place; I fail to understand how people can think and act in a racist way.

“Train your wife in 5 easy lessons”:

This was a quotation from a newspaper headline shown on the lecture presentation about patriarchy. The quote has relation to the 20th century portrayal of woman as house wives and the idea that they did what their husbands wanted and didn’t have opinions that were important. This idea to me is ridiculous and sometimes it is hard to remember their was a time when woman did not have the same rights as men. Woman were inferior to men. I am passionate about the fact both men and woman should be treated equally. Today we still see men’s achievements being more publicised than woman’s and woman’s sport not being as popular as men’s. There is still a fraction of inequality between the two genders and I feel it is important to understand that we have come a long was since how woman were portrayed in ancient Greece but it is something that has been embedded into society since then. As professionals it is important to encourage that boys and girls are equals; they can both pursue any careers they want to and there isn’t anything you can’t do just because you are a woman or just because you are a man.

I conclude by discussing the idea that men should hold the door for a woman with the “ladies first” idea. I see holding the door open for someone as a polite thing to do but have heard discussion previously that they shouldn’t need to do that because woman want to be treated equally. But wouldn’t you hold the door for anyone no matter of their gender if it was the right thing to do in that situation? I know I would hold the door for a woman or a man because it is just polite and men and woman should be respectful of each other.

The task that we were set in our values workshop earlier this week was one that sparked a great deal of realisation about the way our society works. The task itself was relatively straight forward; it involved being split into four groups and each group was given an envelope with a set of materials inside. Using these materials we were to create a resource that would be beneficial to a new student starting university. It was emphasised that we were only able to use the materials we were given – nothing else. Each group began discussing and got to work. At the time I can honestly say I thought the purpose of the workshop was to get us working together and understanding the importance of being able to work as part of a team; I didn’t see any hidden lesson. My group finished our resource and we presented what we had come up with. We were awarded nine our of ten for our idea; I remember at the time we all looked at each other quite chuffed with ourselves. The other groups then began presenting what they had made and each one seemed to get a lower and lower mark and while I noticed they didn’t seem to have used as much materials as us; it still did not occur to me that they were not given the same as we were. It wasn’t until we were told that each group was given a different envelope with different equipment inside that it became apparent that that is why their end products’ were not as good as our one was.

Someone said that it ‘wasn’t fair’ that we had got given more and better materials than they had. They would be completely right; it wasn’t fair at all. I then came to the realisation that there was more to the task than met the eye; there was a deeper idea that we were exploring without being aware. Not one person in my group had noticed that every other group had less than we did because we were so caught up in what it was that we were doing. This made me question if that is how I was all of the time; do I even notice that not everyone has the same things? While I know I do notice this; it does however raise awareness of the need to be more thoughtful in the sense of noticing that the circumstances for one person can be the complete opposite to that of another. We cannot judge everyone under the same list of criteria as we are not always aware of what is going on in everyone’s head or what their life is like outside of the establishment in which we know them. What occurred to me was that as a future teacher you cannot apply the same rules to everyone; each child will be from a different background and not all children will have access to the same things. It was raised in my workshop that you can’t set a task that requires access to the internet at home to your whole class and expect everyone to complete it if someone within the class doesn’t have it. This made me understand that as a teacher I have to respect the fact that not everyone has what we all assume everyone does. As a teacher I feel it is important to facilitate a learning environment which is inclusive for everyone and to do that it is important to think about and understand that not one person is the same or faces the same circumstances.

It wasn’t fair for us to be scored higher on what we made because we had more to work with. This can be related to wider society: if you don’t have as much, if you are from an area of deprivation; do you have access to the same opportunities than someone from a more affluent background? Statistically it is proven that people from areas of deprivation don’t have as good an education and are more likely to be unemployed. But; is this fair? Is it fair that because of the social injustice present within our society people can’t access their full potential? It is not! The reason for this is because just like that task we were given you can only work with what you have and if you don’t have what you need; how are you meant to complete each task to the best of your ability?