Michel Culross
EDMU 205-6
Cultural Autobiography
Mr. Dallis Pike
May 2, 2014
A Look Into My Multicultural Experience
I believe that I and like most of the rest of my classmates fit into the common
American student category. This category we fit into is middle to upper middle class
citizens furthering our knowledge to become better in society. We are all mostly white. I
like to put important things off until the last minute. I tend to believe that they world
revolve around me, and that when something does not go as planned the world is going to
end. I like to spend time with the people that are close to me and have fun. Ways that I
may be different than most of my classmates is I do like to spend time to myself . I like to
follow the rules for the most part. Many people in my classes like to go party, drink while
under age, and like to try drugs out possibly. I have no interest in these things and believe
that I do crack under peer pressure.
Overall diversity has not affected me that much. I guess I could say that it has
affected me in a good way; because I am so use to it that I am not surprised by it .
Growing up I was taught to respect everybody even to toughs whom do not respect you
not matter race, skin color, or beliefs. In the school system that I grew up in and came
from, we had a diverse group of people from different countries from South America.
When I was elementary school one of my best friends was from Mexico. Then going on
to middle school and high school my school was made up of about 35% of people with a
Hispanic background. In my extended family I am accepting of diversity because some of
my cousin are of African American descent. In my personal experience I have a little bit
of bad thoughts with some Hispanic people. When in middle school I was harassed and
threaten to be killed a few different times by different Hispanics in a group. Besides this
instance I do not have a problem with Hispanic people or any other race really for that
matter.
The course reading has pointed out to me how westernized our school systems
are. I knew before that schools were Western based, but not more then I already knew . It
never occurred to me until our discussion on literature one day in class that we only read
books written by English authors in class. I have always wanted to take a class on
American history on the other sides’ point of view of the events in American history.
How this could change is using a part of one of the goes set in the book, that goal is
developing multiple historical perspectives, do this would possible make people form
better opinions about Americans. Another point to how westernized the American
classroom is; just in the past few decades or so we have learned of many different
psychological ideas. Because Americans are so “hard headed” we did listen or look into
many psychologist ideas from other countries because we thought and still think we are
the best.
I feel like in most American classrooms we are not reaching the core values and
goals that the book talks about for Americans to have. I feel like we like to say we are do
these things or that we are working at becoming better at these things, but in reality I do
not think we are. One core value is appreciation of “otherness”. Many educators just will
teach what is easiest way for them to teach the subject. They do not try to incorporate
diversity into their lesson plans. If they were to do this then possibly we could erase
many stereotypes that if you are not white, you probably are not as intelligent as white
people and therefore put in regular or remedial classes rather than the advanced classes.
Overall I believe we as Americans still have a lot to learn about how to act around
other races and ethnic groups. We need to be more accepting of diversity, and we need to
change for the better, because one day it will get us into more trouble than we can think
of.
The social class that I relate most with is the middle class. I come from a family
with six children, so I have grown up not always getting what I want because we do not
have the money for it. This being said my parents were always letting myself and my
other siblings try and do whatever we wanted to try. My parents knew that if we wanted
to do something enough they would figure out away to let us be apart of it. My religion
has affected me a lot in my life. I have been raised as a Lutheran. At my church I was
taught to be kind to everyone. I have learned to always welcome strangers with open
arms not matter their skin color, social class, sexual orientation, or the way they are
dressed. I take what I have learned from my church and put it to use most days . I am a
shy person when I meet new people. But once I get to know a person I treat them like
they are my brother or sister and respect them and will help them out with anything they
need help with.
In my childhood growing up as a male I have learned to treat women with respect.
Meaning I do not hit, kick, or hurt women or other men. I was taught that men use
manners. This has helped me to always be nice to people and hold the door and things
like this. Because of this I do not try to stereotype people when I first meet them. Since I
have learned these traits growing up I always try to do this to anybody no matter where
they came from, their ethnic background is, or what their social status. The only
exception to this is if I try and respect someone and they continually treat me bad and
disrespect me, then I most likely will not treat them as nice as I would someone else who
does respect me and treat me right.
Growing up with my peers in high school has played a big part of who I am
today. Since I grew up in a small school with only 50 other students graduating with me,
and a big majority of that graduating class being white, I do not have the best experience
of working with peers that are from a different ethic background for the most part.
However since I have come to Ball State University to study music education my
interactions with people of different ethnic background has grown. The whole time that I
have lived in the dorms on campus I have lived in both of the different multicultural
dorms. The first year experience was not a good as the second year experience. For the
most part everyone was nice, the biggest problem I had was the students from Asian
countries. The only real problem that I did have was when I would be trying to sleep at
night the students would be up making a lot of noise like yelling. I knew the reason for
this, because back in their home country that is when they would be use to being awake,
but it made it a little challenging to always be nice to them when the students kept you up
at nights sometimes. My closest friend that I have made this year is another music
education major and is from an African American family. Being friends with him has
shown for the most part we are alike in many different ways even though we come from
completely different backgrounds.
Growing up my mentors have played a big role in my life and made me who I am.
The biggest mentor I have is my old chemistry and physic teacher from high school. He
was also my coach for academic quiz bowl and academic super bowl teams . This person
taught me a lot that I knew about trying to be there for everyone. He is always there for
me when I need help with something, and I am always there when he needs my help. I
hope to one day be like this teacher where students can come to me with their problems
and I be able to help them the best I can. What I have learned from him is sometimes you
cannot do it all and sometimes you need to tell some something that a student said
because it can be a dangerous situation that you are not qualified to handle.
I went and volunteered at both the Friends of The Conley Inc. and The Boys and
Girls Club of Muncie, IN. I was able to spend six hours with the students at the Friends
of The Conley Inc. The students at the Friends of The Conley center are different than me
in a couple different ways. The first thing they were different than me was the need for
help on homework. When I was their age I never went to someone besides my teacher or
family members for questions on how to do something. Another way that I am different
from the students at the Friends of The Conley Inc. is technology wise. When I was the
age of the student that I worked with I did not have a cell phone or Ipad. I know the Ipad
was provided through school, but the cell phone was not. My parents felt that there
wasn’t a need for me to have a cell phone when I was this student’s age. One last way I
am different from the student I worked with at the Friends of The Conley Inc. is skin
tone. No I am not trying to be racist or anything we are suppose to point out differences
and the colors of our skin were different this student is black and I am white. The first
time I went to the Friends of The Conley Center Inc. I worked with a girl on her Algebra
and science homework. Helping this girl out with her Algebra was not that difficult once
I remembered how to do what she was learning in her class. We were able to get through
her Algebra homework and move on to her science homework. Science was my least
favorite subject, because it was mainly my most difficult subject to learn . With the help
of another volunteer and her book we were able to work together and get this girl to find
all the answers that she needed for her assignment.
The second time I went and volunteered at the Friends of The Conley Inc. no
students showed up. This experience taught me that you can give your students plenty of
opportunities for help and other things, but if they do not take it, they cannot be mad at
you. This also taught me in the future when I am teaching that if no one shows it gives
myself more time to myself and work on plans for my classes or anything I needed to do
related to my job or personal life.
The last time that I visited the Friends of The Conley Inc. one student came for
help on homework. Again the student needed help on Algebra and Science. It was a
different girl this time. I found it a coincidence that both girls needed help with the same
subjects. Another volunteer and I worked together to help the student with her Algebra
homework. When it came to the science homework I let the other volunteer help her,
because he was good with science and as I said earlier science was my worst subject in
school.
The Friends of The Conley Inc. plays a positive role in the students that come to
the place. One positive way that the Friends of The Conley Inc. play is tutoring. Without
this place the students may not be able to get help on homework because a family
member is not there or willing to help the student out with their homework they have, or
may just not have the knowledge to help the student out. Another way the Friends of The
Conley Inc. plays a positive role in the students life is the parents knowing where their
child is. When the parents take their child to the Friends of The Conley Inc. they know
for that couple of hours that their child is safe in that building with people rather than
outside somewhere where they can get into a dangerous situation.
My role at the Friends of The Conley Inc. has influenced me in a few
ways. The first way the Friends of The Conley Inc. has influenced me is learning to be
more patient than I already thought I was with students to figure what they are learning.
The second way that the Friends of The Conley Inc. have influenced me is do not a lot
for granted. The building itself is not the greatest. The building looks like it was
furnished with donations and tables and chairs furnished it bought from Goodwill. The
reason I make this statement is in the future I may not have much money to spend on my
music budget so I need to use all that I have to the fullest like the Friends of The Conley
Inc. does with what they have. The last way that the Friends of The Conley Inc. has
influenced me so far is by being more open to help student out with their homework even
if it is not in your area of expertise, I can figure out how to do what the student needs
help with quickly and then point the student in the right direction for figuring it out for
them selves.
There are a couple challenges that I face at the Friends of The Conley Inc.
One challenge that I face is that I am white and that a student may not want me to help
them because I am white. How I can address this challenge is showing that the student
can trust me and that I am there to help them not hurt them. Another challenge that I may
have at the Friends of The Conley Inc. is not knowing how to do the work they need help
with so I can help them. How I can address this challenge and fix it is by asking what the
student know already to “jumpstart” my knowledge on the subject that I once had. I can
also look at the student’s notes and textbook if the student were to have it with them.
I have been able to spend 9 hours working with the students at the Boys and Girls
Club of Muncie, IN. I was able to mainly work with the little kids ranging from
kindergarten to fifth grade. Again a majority of the students at the Boys and Girls Club of
Muncie, IN are different than me. This difference is again our race. This did not effect
how I worked with the students and it did not seem to bother the students at all, all they
wanted to do is play with the “older guy”. I enjoyed working with this age group, at first
I was a little on the skeptical side because I have not had much experience working with
younger students. The first time I went and worked with the students was during their
playtime. The students were playing on the different table type games available in the
room. Quickly one of the students asked if I would play foosball with them. I quickly
said yes and warned them that I haven’t played the game much. After we were finished
playing it was time for the students to leave. I said a little bit after the students left to fill
bags of snacks for the next day, because one of the staff members asked my friend and I
to do it for him.
The second time I went to the Boys and Girls Club of Muncie, IN I was able to
help the students during both their tutoring time and play time. During the students
tutoring time I mainly worked with two students. The first student I worked with needed
help with his English worksheet on antonyms. Next he had an assignment about an article
he was supposed to have read about cheating, which he did. Every time I went to check
his answer to make sure it was fine he would not let me see what he wrote and said I was
trying to cheat, so I went to work with another student. This next student had both math
and reading to do. I first helped him with his math. He had a hard time figuring the
questions about time. While in the middle of helping him with this another male student
flicked an eraser at my face. Almost immediately the staff member in the gym with us
sent him to go talk with the main person running the boys and girls club. When the boy I
was working with finished his math we moved on to his reading, the whole time he was
complaining that he didn’t want to read the story so I kept telling him I was going to
leave and he would say no I will start reading, which he did not. Tutoring time was over
and I got ready to help put up the tables and chairs and the student asked if I would
continue to help him with his homework, I told him I would but reminded him that had he
not complained the whole time about reading he could have had all his homework done. I
ended up no helping him, because one of the staff members said he would help him finish
his homework.
It was time for the students to get to play and go outside, one of the younger girls
came up to me and asked if I would jump rope with her and I quickly said yes . The next
thing I knew the girl grabbed my hand and was leading me outside to the jump ropes . I
thought this was the sweetest thing in the word. After I little bit another student cam up
and asked me to throw a kickball with her, we did this for a little bit and then started to
play monkey in the middle. Shortly everyone wanted to join in and play monkey in the
middle. This group of students went inside and a new group came out. A group of boys
asked if I wanted to play basketball with them and I did and warned the students that I
wasn’t very good at basketball. After we finished our game one of the boys asked if I was
lying to him because he thought I was good.
The most interesting part of my time spent working with the students at the Boys
and Girls Club of Muncie, IN happened next. I saw a boy trying to shoot a basketball
with a stuffed animal in his hand. I asked the boy what he was doing and he replied I am
teaching Austin how to play basketball. I asked the boy who Austin was, and he
explained that he is the class mascot and each student has to take him home and take care
of him and write about it in a journal. The boy had me hold Austin because he needed to
take a nap. While I was holding Austin the boy told me all about how Austin has been
acting up by hitting people, putting his hands on people, and shoot two people. The buy
said when he got home he was going to give Austin a beating for all the bad things that
he did. We went inside and the boy started to write in the journal at first he had me write
in the journal for him, but one of the other students came up and told me that he was
suppose to write in it, So I had him erase what I wrote and rewrite it himself. Once we
finished this his mother showed up to take him home. His mother did not like the idea of
the stuffed animal because she thought it was unsanitary and a dumb project for school . I
personally thought it was a good project, because it taught the students about taking care
of something else besides themselves.
The next day I arrived at the Boys and Girls Club of Muncie, IN when it was time
to play. This time I played Mancala with a couple of girls and put together these bugs
type things called cooties. I felt bad for the girl that wanted to play with them because as
soon as she got the box out for it and started to put a bug together four or five other
students wanted to play with the bugs also. Next I played some carpet ball with a student.
I enjoyed this because I had never played carpet ball before. The last thing I did with the
students is play foosball with two boys. This was funny because every time I scored one
of the boys would just stare at me.
The reason I choose to be a music education major is for a couple of reasons. The
main reason I choose to be a music education major is because through my time in
middle school and high school band I had five different band directors at a small school
where there is only one band director at the school. I want to try and stop this trend from
happening at my high school or at some other school in Indiana. Another reason I
because a music education major is because I love music, and it is the only thing the
remotely sparks my interest as a career for he rest of my life. The last reason I decided to
become a music education major is because I thought it would be great to work with and
be colleagues with the teachers I had when I went through my school. Sadly most of the
teachers are either leaving the school this year or retiring because of problems my high
school is having.
The events that I experienced in my volunteering with the students changed my
belief in younger kids. I use to think that I never wanted to work with younger kids,
because they have a lot of energy and do not like to listen, which for the most part is true,
but I had a lot of fun working with them and all they want to do is have fun and look up
to older people because they think they are “cool”. This change in my idea makes me
change how I react to younger students in a better way, now I will not dread as much
when I have to work with younger kids. The events that have happened at my high school
sort of makes me not want to teach at my high school as much anymore. But I feel that
anywhere else I would not be an effective teacher and not want to teach anymore.
The course has changed my view of only teaching a majority of white students . I
want to only teach at my high school, which is a majority white students and about
twenty to thirty percent South American. This class has helped me to understand other
races backgrounds so I can be better prepared for if and when I do have a different race of
students that I do not normally teach. Also the class has prepared me for teaching other
ethnic groups at other school besides the school where I came from, because the chance
that I actually will be able to teach at my high school right when I get out of school is
slim, So this course gives me a better idea of what other schools population may be made
up of. Volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club of Muncie, IN has helped me with my
future career by giving me more experience with working with different ethnic groups
than what I have helped with most of my life and teaching experiences so far.
With all of the experiences that I have stated in this autobiography my
interpretation of multicultural education from a social standpoint is that everyone fits into
a different place on the social scale. I, myself as a future educator need to learn to look
past the social differences in people and teach the students like I would teach anyone
else. With multicultural education I have learned more about peoples different beliefs and
not to judge the peoples different beliefs because of their race. My version of
multicultural education with this is learning other peoples life before judging them,
because they are probably more like you than you think even though they may be a
different race or have different religious views, sexual orientation, or may be in a
different social class than what you have grown up with all of my life.
My interpretation of multicultural education on an experience standpoint with all
the volunteering I have done is kids are kids. Meaning no matter what kids look like,
believe in, or their social class they are kids and they want to have fun. For the most part
they do not care whom it is with as long as they are having fun. The kids do not learn for
the most part to judge people by what they look like or where they are from until they are
older and see that from adults. My version of multicultural education with this subject is
where all the events that happen in my life like my teacher that is my mentor, the time
that I have spent volunteering with the students at the Friends of The Conley Inc. and the
Boys and Girls Club of Muncie, IN., and the reasons I have chosen a major in music
education have helped In making my identity and what I know as multicultural education
is to me.
My interpretation of multicultural education pertaining to the change in my
beliefs is that kids just want to be kids no matter their ethnicity of something else. Yes
the kids have a lot of energy and do not have the best manners, but they mean well for the
most part and just want to have fun and play. My version of multicultural education
related to the change in my beliefs is where one day you get all students no matter where
they are from or what their ethnic background is can go around and play and work
together without getting into arguments or fights or even judging the other person.
My interpretation of multicultural education relating to my view on my plan on
teaching is my career as changed due things I have learned in my class and how I can
actually relate them to what I have seen while doing my volunteering at the Friends of
The Conley Inc. and the Boys and Girls Club of Muncie, IN. This change is for the better
because I am able to understand more what makes up a person. My version of
multicultural education with the change in how I plan to teach because of this course
includes where I do music that highlights the different ethnicities that I have in my class
to hope that it helps embrace the other students of different ethnicities about the ethic
background that I am having the students look at with the piece.