Cultural Autobiography Part 2
Amy Ong
TE 822
Because of my family background and where I grew up, I have identified very strongly
with my cultural identity as a Filipino-American and my upper middle socioeconomic status.
Since writing the first part of my cultural autobiography, my views on these two identity markers
has not changed. I was born and raised in Novi, Michigan, which is a affluent, mostly white
suburban community. Most of the families in Novi are classified as having middle to high
socioeconomic status; the median household income is $80,151 and only 4.8% percent of the
population is reported as living below the poverty level (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). There is a
great public school system, which I attended from kindergarten to high school. The community
itself is not very diverse. About 73% of Novi’s residents are White and 16% are Asian (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2012). My father immigrated to the United States when he was in his late 20’s.
He grew up extremely poor in the Philippines and came to this country in order to gain more
educational and occupational opportunities. After meeting my mother, he was able to go to
graduate school in order to become a Nurse Anesthetist. My mother is a first generation
immigrant from England and has lived in the metro-Detroit area for most of her life. Because of
my family and where I grew up, I have identified strongly with having an upper-middle
socioeconomic status and being a Filipino-American. These aspects of my identity have been
affected and shaped by the school experiences, and throughout those experiences I have had
advantages with my cultural identity.
Because of my socioeconomic status, as well as my cultural identity, I have always had
the belief that school is a priority. My parents were able to provide me with ample educational
toys while I was growing up. Also, my parents always made time in their busy schedules to read
to me and help me with my homework. Because of the community I was raised in, I also had
access to a great school system. Even in elementary school, we had regular access to computers.
Also, there were numerous rewards programs set up that encouraged students to excel in their
academics. Throughout elementary school we had “bank accounts” and in order to get more
money in our accounts, we had to read books outside of school. Each book was worth $50. At
the end of each month, our library became a huge store and we could write checks in order to
purchase toys and candy. This can be classified by as an unearned advantage because as Novi
students, we were given a competitive edge in life due to the incentive programs in our schools
that resembled real life scenarios (Johnson, 2006). This allowed us to be able to learn real life
skills at an early age. Because of funding Novi Community Schools receives, programs such as
this were possible. Due to the high funding of the schools, more extracurricular activities were
made available to the students. Being involved in extracurricular activities increases a student’s
aspiration to stay in school (Hodges-Persell, 2010). These experiences allowed me to have the
belief that school and education are important, and can lead to “more money” or success.
My cultural identity has also shaped my belief in the importance of education. Growing
up, my sister and I had very clear roles in our household. We had only two rules in which to
follow: study hard and get good grades to have a successful future and obey your parents. My
family, in general, has expressed that a successful future is equated to being a doctor, lawyer, or
engineer. These ideals are rooted in my father’s cultural background and were adopted by my
family. My cultural identity as a Filipino American comes with placing education as a priority.
In the Philippines, education is one of the only ways a person can change their social status.
Family members will often work overseas in order to provide money to their family. Filipinos
believe that providing education for their children will give them a better life in the future.
Woven in this set of principles is the myth of meritocracy (Langston, 2000). A lot of Filipino
values are derived from American ideals due to being a territory of the United States for about 40
years. Although moving between social classes is very difficult in the Philippines, the myth of
meritocracy ensures that there is always the false hope of doing so. Working overseas is often
glorified by businesses promising better lives for their employees, frequently sharing
testimonials demonstrating this. Therefore, when people work overseas, they often believe that if
they work harder, they can improve their economic status. Although my father did work hard to
succeed, an upper social class family, who was able to provide him with greater resources and
opportunities, also sponsored him. He was able to benefit from the privileges given to an upper
class family, even though he was not a part of that class. Because my father was able to move
social classes, he internalized his success as a product of his hard work (Langston). It was always
emphasized to me that hard work would lead to success. There was never any mention of
advantages or disadvantages people may have which would allow the path to success being an
easy road for some. In my family and my culture, a person’s success is directly linked with their
work ethic.
I believe the multidimensionality of my identity with greatly impact my future career as
an urban high school teacher. Specifically, my expectations will be very high for my students.
Because both my cultural and socioeconomic identity markers have instilled in me the
importance of education, I hope to pass this on to my future students. Teachers have been found
to have different expectations for students who come from different social classes, specifically,
having greater expectations for the students from higher social classes (Hodges-Parsell).
However, I believe my identity markers will assist in this phenomena occurring in my classroom.
Because my father was born into a very low social class in the Philippines and was able to
change classes after moving to the Untied States, I have high expectations for all students.
However, because I also realize that my father was given certain opportunities, such as attending
a private high school in the Philippines because of a wealth family, I hope to also provide my
students with increased non-familial social capital. Social capital is a term used to describe the
standards, support, and information acquired due to relationships and social networks (Conchas,
2006). Having a positive relationship with my students and setting high expectations will help
me encourage them. Also, because I have built up strong relationships in the science profession, I
could use this social network to further increase the social capital and ultimate success of my
students. This will be particularly important because I will be teaching high school age students.
At this age, students are determining who they want to be in life, being exposed to various career
paths within the science field could be really beneficial.
To gain a better understanding of the influence and impact certain identity markers will have on
my future students, six high school senior girls were interviewed over a four-week period. These
interviews asked the students how various aspects of their identity had an impact on their
educational experiences. One identity marker that all of my interview students identified with
strongly was their gender. Due to the students’ intersectionality, they have been exposed to
different gender norms based on their racial and social class identity. The students informed me
that African American men are expected to drop out of school or get arrested. However, African
American women are expected to go into high education (Urban Scholars, personal
communication, July 18, 2012). Typically, men are ranked above women of the same race and
class (Lorber, 2000). However, in poorer groups, Almquist found that women are able to exceed
men in educational and occupational statuses (Almquist, 1987, cited in Lorber). The gender
norms that the Urban Scholars were exposed to greatly impacted their educational experiences.
In school, the Urban Scholars noticed that teachers often spend more instructional time
with the men in the classroom rather than the women. The students have interpreted this as
encouraging the African American men to stay in school. The African American women in the
classroom are not thought to need this extra attention because it is a gender expectation that
African American women will do well in school and attend high education (Urban Scholars,
personal communication, July 18, 2012). According to the cycle of socialization, these gender
norms are reinforced by messages received at school during institutional and cultural
socialization (Harro, 200-). Because of the lived experiences of the students, they are able to
learn the rules associated with their gender, which is also influenced by their race and social
class. In this particular situation, the teacher is attempting to change the gender norms of the
community. Because African American females from poorer communities are considered at a
higher educational and occupational status, the teachers are trying to interrupt the cycle of
socialization (Harro). They have questioned these gender norms and are trying to reconstruct the
rules so both African American men and women from the community are held to the same
standard to graduating from high school and attending college.
From my interviews with the Urban Scholars, I have also found that the students’ racial
identity, African American, has had a great impact on their educational experiences. One of the
students, Lacie, attends school in a majority white community. Because she is one of the few
African American students at her school, she has become very aware of the white privilege
awarded to other students at her school. She has mentioned that her classes rarely focus on the
accomplishments of African American professionals and the instructional materials always
highlight the white race (Urban Scholars, personal communication, July 26, 2012). These forms
of white privilege in schools are also mentioned by Olson (Olson, 1999). In order to direction
change from these forms of white privilege, Lacie started a Diversity Committee. Lacie
questioned the messages of racial norms coming from the school and is trying to evoke new
ways of thinking (Harro). Prior to the Diversity Committee, one poster was put up in the school
for Black History month. However, now, speakers and presentations are available for students
after school highlighting the cultural background of the minority students.
Lacie, however, was the only student in the interview group that attended a majority
white school. The other five students all attended school in which African Americans were the
majority, and therefore had very different educational experiences than Lacie. In their schools,
teachers frequently are making the subject culturally relevant for the students (Urban Scholars,
personal communication, July 11, 2012). Students have been given a great deal of autonomy in
certain classes that allows them to make cultural connections to the material. For example, one
student reported a teacher withholding textbooks from students because it mostly contained
information about White history. Instead, the teacher did her own research and provided her
students with materials about African and African American history instead. As the majority race
in their school, however, the students in turn oppress other minority groups. One student said,
“Our school is made up of mostly Blacks and a few Caucasians. Oh there are Mexicans too, but
no one pays attention to them” (Urban Scholars, personal communication, July 11, 2012). In this
sense, the African American students have oppressed the Latino community through cultural
imperialism (Young, 2000). In the high schools in Detroit that my students attend, African
American history and culture is established as the norm. In turn, this oppresses the Latino
community by determining their perspective as invisible. The students did not mention nor
remember coving material that would be culturally relevant to the Latino students at their school.
The identity markers of being female and African American greatly influence the beliefs
and behaviors of the Urban Scholars in respect to their school experiences. Because the gender
norms for African American females within their community are expected to seek out higher
education, the students are very motivated in school. Even when they do not receive the same
attention as the men in their classes, they understand that they are expected to succeed. This
motivation has caused the Urban Scholars to become involved in many extracurricular activities
to make themselves attractive candidates for college. The extracurricular activities of the
interview group consist of member of National Honor society, student council, diversity
committee, the volleyball team, the basketball team, and the dance team (Urban Scholars,
personal communication, July 11, 2012). Because the students attend schools aimed at college
prep, they recognize the importance of being involved in school enrollment and college
acceptance.
The importance of education has been similar between my past educational experiences
and the educational experiences of the Urban Scholars. Because my interview group was
comprised of six African American females from similar communities, they all shared the belief
that getting a good education could lead them to a bright future. This was a gender norm that
they had all been exposed to since a young age and was dictated by not only their gender, but
their social class and racial background. Past teachers have also influenced the students view on
education by adding culturally relevant material. The students stressed the importance of this
aspect on their motivation in certain classrooms (Urban Scholars, personal communication, July
11, 2012). I share the belief that success is dependent on educational experiences and motivation
in school, which was derived from my cultural identity as Filipino-American and my uppermiddle social class. If the students I have in the future share these ideals, the classroom has a
potential to be a very productive learning environment. By having high expectations for my
students and my students being highly motivated to do well in school, there is a possibility that
the students could learn the content matter really well. However, my future students could also
have a different view on their educational experiences. For example, my future students could
have had teachers who did not infused classroom material with culturally relevant aspects.
Because the Urban Scholars stressed the importance of this to me, I will try to frame the material
in a culturally relevant way as much as I can while teaching chemistry and biology. This strategy
would involve adding in issues that the students would care about such as ethics and race and
they would be able to apply them to the ideal of justice, which Haberman argues is “good
teaching” (Haberman, 1992). This strategy would involve critical consciousness because the
students would be able to critique aspects of biology and chemistry fields that produce and
maintain social inequality.
References
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