Prejudice

Prejudices is a very touchy topic especially in America where there are many cultures, races, ethnic groups and socioeconomic statuses residing in the same regions. There are many things that I began to reevaluate own beliefs. I looked within myself to see if I held prejudices in my heart. This article explains how easy it is to fall into having prejudices. We often acquire prejudices through what is taught to us by our parents and our society at a very young age. Although we may not be aware of it this prejudices are embed in our minds and we act them out autonomously. Now there are also other prejudices we develop at a later and more develop stage in our lives where we have the ability to reason and think for ourselves. One of the most startling things that I read in these series of articles were the impacts of prejudices. We are often reminded of these things and also might have experienced recently but I still find it disturbing when I observe the facts. These discriminations directly affect the quality of life of citizens which belong to certain groups. There is still discrimination in the work place, school healthcare and housing. I love America but there are many problems which interfere with the freedoms of its own people. What I find to be quite interesting is that I had many prejudices myself. Although these prejudices were not destructive they still qualified me as a prejudice person. I had views on certain types of music and had perceptions of those who listened to it. I think all prejudices begin with separations. If everyone was the same we would not have any reasons to separate people into groups and subgroups. As individuals we belong to many different kind of groups whether it be gender, sexual orientation, occupational, spiritual and so on. Once there is separation then the ideas of superiority is introduced. Those who believe they are superior they begin to view other groups as lesser. These same beliefs are then taught to their children which also belong to these groups. Once these ideas have been successfully transmitted through authority the children who received these prejudice beliefs begin to act them out automatically. Once that child grows to the stage of analyzing data and making rational decisions based on evidence there is a struggle between the taught behaviors and what the know. They act out prejudice behaviors but do not intend on being prejudice and destructive. This is how racial bigotry survived in our country by instilling behaviors into the next generation.

Beliefs, Values and Attitudes

As a teacher understanding beliefs, values and attitudes is very important. I grew up understanding that “I believe therefore I am”. The person that has the beliefs holds great power. These beliefs can cause one to excel or hinder on success in life. One of the most important concepts in the article is how the statement in western culture the statement “I believe” usually constitutes as I know. Beliefs are not always based on factual evidence but can be more of ideas or generalization of what is true when giving meaning to phenomena. As a teacher one of our greatest desires is to get our students to belief that they are capable human beings with the capacity to become whatever their heart’s desire. In my experiences with people it is very difficult to change attitudes of themselves that perhaps have been transmitted to them through authority. One example of this transmission is how abuse parents profess that their children will never be anything, they are good for nothing, stupid, dumb and will never amount to any success in life. Now the child in this situation receives these words as true because they were dictated to them by an authority in their lives. Once they receive this poisonous profession they adopt these ideas as beliefs and attitudes of their selves. After discussing how “I believe” has the same or even more power than “I know” we can infer that when we belief certain statements about ourselves we are simply saying “I know”. I know I will never make it , I know I’m nothing. We give these statements power to mold our very being. Now if we take this example and use it in a positive way with our words and beliefs we can create people with power beyond measure. Beliefs are hard to change the only one who has the power to change beliefs is the believer. We often ignore evidence that does not support our beliefs and we embrace ideas that confirm our beliefs. The most important thing I learned was the definition of an attitude. Attitudes are also beliefs but they tend to have three observable components. These three components are Ideas, feelings and predisposition to action. Attitudes compared to values are action orientated. Understanding attitudes has given me much insight on how people view others and themselves. I couldn’t help but to think about how often do our behaviors and feelings reveal to other our attitudes. In closing this article contains viable information that can be beneficial as an educator and one who is seeking to increase their knowledge on beliefs, values and attitudes.

Making sense out of sensations

Essay 5 is an essay that describes sensation in great detail. It lists the structures of the eyeball and describes the processes of sight. It also describes the same things concerning the nose, ears, tongue and skin (touch). Essay 6 contrast Essay 5 in the way it deals with who information acquired in senses is then interpreted. It also deals with different phenomena that occur during interpretation of senses and the process of sensation like monocular and binocular cues, shape constancy and perceptual constancy. Essay 5 established the grounds in understanding the definition of sensation and essay 6 expound on the many concepts within the perception of sensation. The first of the four most important things I learned through the readings lied in essay 5. There was an interesting story at the end about a man that lost his ability to sense his own body movements. We are not usually aware that we have this sense although we use it every day. This sense is called proprioception and it is also known as the “sixth sense”. It was interesting to read how this disability affected his life. Although the process of sensation was quite fascinating I really valued to the explanation of perception. Perception is the process of taking stimulation whether it be chemical or mechanical and giving it meaning. Perception can even vary between individuals although both individuals experience the same stimulus. I also found that selection is very important. Selection is the process in which certain stimuli fire off sensory receptors. There are three ways in which these stimuli get selected. Stimuli that grab the most attention are most likely chosen. One of the most compelling illustrations made in Essay 6 was selection based on needs. The illustration involved how when a person is hungry the stimuli that will be more than likely chosen was food. I found that to be very true after examining my personal experiences when I was hungry. Finally, I learned how binocular and monocular cues are essential to our perception of our world. We need both of our eyes to give us both of these important depth perceptions. There are many things that fall under the operation of binocular and monocular cues. Relative size, interposition, shadow are all essential in how we see our world. Each eye on our faces views the world from a position. Being that both our eyes have their own position things tend to appear as if they move when you utilize each eye individually and this is called binocular disparity.

Transformation: Awareness and Consciousness

The article “Transformation: Awareness and Consciousness” presented some very interesting theories. I haven’t given much thought to the ideas and theories of consciousness and awareness up until this point. I believe the article has a much deeper significance than trying to explain awareness with quantum mechanics and quantum field theories. I understand when undergoing the process of transformation there should be a continual awareness one of one’s self and environment. Transformation cannot take place unless we are conscious of our need to transform. For example your front tire has a leak and air is slowly escaping each day, because you are not aware of this issue you continue to drive your car as if there weren’t anything wrong. By the end of that week your tire is completely flat. Initially you saw no reason what so ever to change the tire but once the tire was flat it was made plain to you that you need a new tire. When you changed the tire it was transformative for your car. It transformed you car from being inoperable to fully functional. This is the same concept in which awareness ushers the process of transformation. Through my readings I learned that consciousness is just a part of awareness and that there are three aspects consciousness according to some theorist. The article also discusses eight levels of consciousness which I found to be very fascinating. I found the contents of this article quite extensive or detail. I guess I can say that awareness and consciousness is a complex and immersive process as it relates to transformation. One illustration I found to be true and also interesting is the awareness of the human body even during sleep. While the human body is sleep it is keeping track of its surroundings. Certain noises and or words can trigger the human body during sleep like someone yelling “fire” or the sound of a baby crying. But what I found interesting also is how the human body does not react to other sounds during sleep like sirens, thunder, rain and etc. This article stimulated my mind and brought some things to the light that is not often thought about. We are all aware and conscious but sometimes we are not conscious of our own consciousness and awareness. This may sound weird but it is true. I do not spend time thinking about my consciousness sometimes I just go through life ripping and running, but when I do slow down for a second I realize that I am alive, conscious and aware.

Mental Representations and Schema

Mental representations and schema or schemas have great significance as we deal with culture. When our minds abstract we create what is recognized as a mental representation. There are three aspects of mental representation: Propositional representations, mental images and mental models. When dealing with culture we can safely say that there are mental images that stand out in one’s mind when recognize or hear the names of different ethnic groups. We also have propositional representations and mental models in our minds about certain groups. For example, you are speaking with a classmate and she was informing you about how her Chinese boyfriend is exceptional in mathematics. The moment you heard Chinese you thought of a short yellow person with squinty eyes. This is an example of a mental image used to represent your perception of what Chinese people look like. We make abstractions like this one all the time and is often how indentify ideas, objects and concepts. These mental representations go hand in hand with schema. Schemas are made up of mental representations such as mental models and mental images. Mental representations and schemas are given meaning or interpreted by one’s culture. How you raised and the ideas that were instilled in us teaches us the meanings of certain symbols, words ideas and concepts. Understanding how schema and mental representation connect to culture is beneficial for a pre service educator. Throughout our training as pre teachers we are constantly faced with the issues that cultural differences may present such ethnicity, religion, ideas and beliefs. Understanding how these schemas and mental representation construct reality for most will give us insight on how a culture operates and why specific cultural groups operate in the manner in which they do. We can also learn how other cultural groups solve problems this can increase our cultural competency. If you take a man who comes from a rural tribe where electronics are sparse he would have a very hard time using an ipod. The schemas that he has already acquired do not prepare him to operate electronics. He would more likely try to adapt the schema of operating a radio to this new situation. When we begin to observe his struggle with modifying this schema we can infer that his culture is not familiar with these technologies like the ipod.

Rites of Passage

Rites of passage are merely ceremonial rituals that represent one’s crossing through different periods of human life or social status. Rites of Passage are important because they help to maintain social infrastructures within a cultural group. Their ritual practices often provide individuals with social and emotion support through transitions in life. Without them individuals would have to assert their new social statuses which can become problematic. A culture would then have boys asserting their manhood which can cause conflict with other older men with in that culture. It would be very difficult to differentiate social statuses without rituals and ceremonies. The stories “Sitting Quietly”, “Facing Mt. Kenya” and “The Sambia” are very interesting articles and in most cases Americans will find the stories/articles strange. These stories depict strange rituals which are rites of passages into adult hood for males and females. I found them quite disturbing but that would be the natural response of individuals who are not from these cultures. Rite of Passage easily relates to formal education. The process of completing a formal education causes individuals to go through a segregated stage, liminal stage and stage of aggregation. Here are some examples of what I am trying convey: Many students who attend universities leave home and spend countless days and nights of study which causes them to be disconnected with their families and friends. During the liminal stage students social statuses are ambiguous. Their experiences in school are transformative and are molding social identities. Once the have completed their education they are reintroduced to society. They are now recognized as scholars and individuals that stand amongst the crop. These individuals often go onto being successful and functional members of society. There degrees and accomplishments represent a certain status. Society recognizes these individuals as intellectuals. Sadly our society operates in that manner but in our country we have countless of individuals that have degrees but can not really demonstrate that they have really learned anything. Or we have individuals with degrees that still behave immaturely and lack the social skills to be effective members of society. Despite these issues formal education in itself is a rite of passage at least for many individuals in developed nations.

High and Low Context Culture

The concepts of High and Low context culture are very intriguing. In High context culture the messages or symbols used require an in depth understanding of that specific culture. Messages and symbols are normally relatively simply but they have deep meaning. One example of this concept of high context culture is the “thumbs up”. The gesture “thumbs up” in Iran is an extremely obscene jester which is equivalent to the middle finger or “F you” in American culture. If an American was not aware of the meaning of this gesture they would give their Iranian cab driver a “thumbs up” after being driven from a Iranian airport to their hotel. Low context culture is much simpler. Gestures, symbols and messages are direct and to the point. American culture is a great example of low context culture. Americans say what they mean and mean what they say for the most part. Most gestures do not contain a complex code or message. A head nod is a simply yes and a head shake in a no there are no more messages behind that. Proxemics is the understanding or study of how a person perceives space. There are three general aspects of proxemics which are distance, space and territory. Understanding proxemics from a cultural perspective is an important attribute for a pre service educator and or beginning teachers. Different cultures have different boundaries when it comes to privacy (closeness). For an example in Latin culture families usually live in one area or neighborhood, but in American culture families live in many areas and this distance is a indication of desiring privacy. So how does this apply to teachers? Certain people are offended when some one is to close to them (invasion of personal space) or to far from them (disrespect). As teachers we will have to learn how to accommodate each culture when we come across them so that we may not cause offense. This is the same for high and low context culture. Being Interculturally competent means that we would avoid messages, gestures and symbols that can cause harm,, conflict and or confusion in high context cultures. Unfortunately being interculturally competent does not mean we will not also learn by experiences where we put our foot in our mouths.