Genocide & Ethnic Cleansing

Genocide and ethnic cleansing are two phrases that are commonly used interchangeably. This is not necessarily correct because they do differentiate somewhat. Genocide is when a group purposely destroys another group. Ethnic cleansing is when a group which is not liked is taken out of society through the means of genocide or by forcing them to migrate somewhere else. In one of the readings it is discussed how genocide once only brought thoughts of the Holocaust or other mass killings, but in today’s society we now think of the topic in a more in depth way. We not only think of certain situations in which there has been a killing of a group because of the race, religion, gender, etc. Now we also incorporate what we think might have caused it, who did it, what made them turn to genocide as a possible solution for their prejudice against another group. In Rwanda there was a premeditated killing of two million Cambodians. In Bosnia, not only was genocide carried out by also ethnic cleansing. In Bosnia two hundred thousand people were murdered as well as many women were viciously raped, and children and fathers were taken away to concentration camps. These vicious killings were most times carried out by the government and happened throughout the war. This ethnic cleansing that took place in Bosnia lasted many years. Many people were put in concentration camps, killed, or forced to flee their homes. Sarajevo, which is the capital of Bosnia was one of the only places that escaped the “cleansing”. In Bosnia there were a total 10,000 people killed in 1992 and almost 50,000 people injured. Later on in 1997, there were still roughly 21,000 people missing. In May of 2005, was the last update and there were still 14,444 people missing without any trace. Since these people were forced to migrate out of their homes and their country it has been extremely difficult for their family and friends to be able to contact them. I believe that what was done to all these people in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur is cruel and unfair in every humanly way. Genocide and ethnic cleansing should be illegal and those who carry it out should be persecuted. The most difficult thing about having it be illegal is that most times the government is the one who helps carry these actions out.

Required Assignment 1

I believe that the teacher who I am completing my required service learning hours is very conscious of the diversity in her classroom and handles it with careful thought and consideration for all different types of students. Just through my personal observations I have noticed that in this classroom the majority of students are Black and Hispanic, only a small percentage of students are White, Asian, or of other races. Also the class consists of mostly females; there almost twice as many girls as there are boys in this classroom. The teacher does a good job of seating the students in an arrangement that they are able to cooperate and converse with different students, not having all the same races or genders in their own comfort zones. I have noticed that the teacher does treat all students with equitably, not having more of a preference for females or Hispanics just because she is one also. The teacher uses many of the methods of instruction that I learned in Introduction to Educational Technology, which really surprised me. Last semester, we discussed in class how many teachers are stuck in the use of old technology and have scared to change and use the many resources that are made available to them at times. This teacher has the students use magazines, computers, television for the students to complete some assignments and even homework assignments. The teacher is aware of the different learning styles of the students; I’ve also noticed that she is a constructivist teacher for the most part. Constructivism is so far my personal favorite teaching style and she clearly promotes teamwork and gives children a situation and has them critically think, do their research, and come up with a little presentation in which they stand up in front of the class and discuss what they learned. The students had a writing assignment recently in which they had to write the standard 5 paragraph essay. The teacher added a twist on it, since five of them set in a group in the class they each had to write one of the paragraphs of the essay and then it all had to put it together. Of course they were responsible for making sure it made sense, edit someone else’s part, and then read their paragraphs out loud to the class. I thought this was very cool and well thought out assignment. This particular assignment was sensitive to all types of learning styles because it helped those auditory learners because they heard other people’s stories and were communicating ideas and thoughts to their team, visual because the teacher modeled the assignment to them before hand so they knew exactly what to do. Using the overhead projector, the teacher wrote portions of the essay and explained the common mistakes that can be made since each student is adding in a paragraph. She explained that they should make sure to stay on topic and that all the ideas connect well together. All the students helped each other out by editing and reading other teammates papers to make sure it was done correctly. Also it helped those sociological learners because it felt encouraged working in a group to come up with a final product and were able to give their input and read their portion in front of the class and get others feedback. The teacher gives the student a sense of comfort by having them work in groups often, and talk in front of the other students. They have started to feel comfortable speaking after a while and hence this promotes an open climate that makes the students not feel scared when it comes to asking questions and participating in class discussions even when they are not required to work in groups. There are still some students that are shy but she tries to accommodate them to the best of her ability. The teacher still requires them to participate in presentations but she is mindful that certain students are not so comfortable asking questions so she makes her way to those students during assignments to make sure that they are clear and have no lingering questions. Many of the behaviors and methods that the teacher uses to tackle diversity issues are discussed also in our textbook such as seating arrangements, using different teaching styles to help different types of learners. I think she does a great job at handling diversity in her classroom, and molding it into something beneficial in the learning process instead of something that can hinder it.

The Holocaust

When I think to myself of the biggest example of hatred towards another group of people that was just a complete example of prejudice, extermination and most of the other topics we have been discussing in this course, the prime example of that in my mind is the Holocaust. Before reading more thoroughly into the assigned readings, I thought that the only people who were mistreated, placed into concentration camps, and killed were Jews. I was completely misinformed. During the rule of Adolf Hitler, and the Nazis they murdered and/or persecuted many handicapped and mentally disabled individuals along with Gypsies, homosexuals, and people who had different political and religious views differing from their own. This is just yet another extreme example of a group that is tremendously ethnocentric. They believed that anyone who thought or felt differently than them was opposing or just a threat to the master race of Germans. They thought that mentally handicapped individuals were a biological threat, as well as gypsies and Jews and they felt the need to rid themselves of those groups. The Germans reshaped all of the laws and social standpoints to make the Jews inferior to them. They made laws in which the Jews could not attend universities, quit their job, and could have no jobs in court positions. These laws were enforced upon the Jews by the Germans in 1933, at this time we could maintain the limited rights that the Germans allowed them to have. Between 1937 and 1939 the Germans began to seize Jewish owned stores, but after a short time this turned into the Nazis destroying any business owned by the Jews, invading their homes, and killing Jews. Already 1936 the Nazis had many different people in concentration camps. There are people that still until today claim that these events did not happen, I personally think that they are in denial. In terms of the DMIS I think that the Nazis in a way were in the defense stage of this model, because they were threatened by the thought of cultural, religiously, racially, sexually different people out in the world. It was said throughout the reading that the Germans thought that their race was the “master race” so they did see other races as less human than their own, another description of being in the defense stage. I think that those people who think these events did not occur should do their own research and not be uninformed naïve individuals and make their own decisions and opinions. Becoming informed and doing research is the only way to truly know something.

Prejudice

Prejudice is the foundation that leads to the ‘ism’s we are familiar with in our everyday life. A person who is prejudice is a part of group and discriminates against another group that is unlike them. In order to be prejudice you must participate in some sort of group in order to single out another individual or pack of people that different in some way. In the article “Understanding Prejudice” there is a part that discusses how we have long focused on the victims or prejudices instead of focusing where the problem actually stems from, the people who demonstrating prejudices. One of the major ways in which we learn prejudices, is by the many stereotypes we are introduced to as children. In young age, since we are introduced to these stereotypes we hold on to them until later age when we encounter a certain circumstance which we think only proves those stereotypes right, and if there is a situation which does not fit into the stereotype which we believe, we simply do not pay attention to it. Later on we build a belief system of what we think is right and correct based on the foundation of these previously learned stereotypes. Hence when we are being prejudice we are not aware of this because these ideas are already embedded in us so we unconsciously are being prejudice. In the article beliefs, values, and attitudes prejudices are discussed more in depth. It is explained that stress is a major reason why humans avoid certain situations because we as human beings like to avoid stressful and uncomfortable situations. Stressful situations lead to feeling somewhat threatened which then leads to fear which are all uncomfortable feelings for any person so we tend to try to avoid them altogether often times. What we tend to think of good and bad is culturally influenced. It makes sense that our perception of good and bad would be determined greatly by our culture because our culture gives us what we think of initially as the only right and correct way things are done. As soon as we are exposed to something different which we are not familiar through our culture, we assume it is bad or incorrect. These thoughts or beliefs later lead into behaviors against any other group unlike our own, we use antilocution, avoidance, discrimination, etc.

Understanding Self, Self-Concept, and Self-Esteem

The most important concept I learned through the reading of the article is “I think therefore I am”. This concept is discussed very in depth throughout this piece of writing. The concept pertaining to understand one self, or complete discovering yourself is a recent phenomenon. Rene Decartes explained self as a thinking matter. In order to understand the self we have to understand how exactly we differ from other species. We are more advanced in many ways. Humans are advanced in how we use tools, how develop and use language, but most of all because have self-consciousness which animals and other species do not have they only have a sense of regular consciousness about their surroundings. Since we have self consciousness we humans are able to function in a way more complex manner due to that sense of consciousness. In my personal opinion we have many selfs. We do not act or think differently based on the people in our surroundings or the way we feel. Having more than one self just means that we are able to show a certain aspect of ourselves at certain times, not that complete change who we are because that’s completely impossible. In the article Transformations which talks about self-esteem and self-concept, it is explain that self-concept is complex in that is composed values, traits, roles, and etc. Self-concept is given the definition of how perceives oneself in relation to their surroundings and the world around them. It is important for a person to have a good sense of self-esteem that way that person will be able to function properly and feel good about themselves. Self esteem is the concept that we build about ourselves and it is imperative. On this concept of ourselves we build our belief system and our values, so like any other thing in the world we need a good foundation in order for it to be strong. It is said by many that the way that we tend to feel about ourselves depends on how we compare ourselves to other people. So instead of being put down when we lose a competition we should feel more competitive and think that we are practicing and will get better at whatever it is, that way we will boost our confidence instead of lowering it.

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was a pioneer in the field of psychology. Freud was the first to introduce the concept of the unconscious mind to the field of medicine at that time. Freud actually wanted to go to school to be a doctor, but he was given a grant to study hypnosis. His work was especially important because he was the first person to take a non-biological approach to sickness. Before Sigmund all theorists solely said that biological factors were completely responsible for making us who we are and how we act. Freud explained that there were only two different drives that were responsible for how our behaviors, thought, and emotions. The two drives that control all these different things are sex and aggression. Sex was thought to be a strong human driving instinct because sex influences life and procreation, which is what life is all about. Sex is a motivating factor also for animals, because it also reproduces the same way. Aggression is explained as the exact opposite, it’s the way that all living being protect themselves from anything or anyone trying to cause harm to them. The structural model that Sigmund Freud created consists of id, ego, and superego. Id is something that we are born with from the day that we come into the world. It lets us meet our basic needs but all the id is concerned with is pleasure, and it has no doubt about the long-term. Once a child starts to grow out of being baby, when the only part that they have is their id, now their ego begins starts to develop. What the ego does is taking into consideration the long term effects can how pleasing yourself sometimes can hurt others in the long run. So in my opinion ego starts to give some common sense to the id, which strictly long wants to pleasure itself. Once a child has reached five years of age the superego is developed. The superego is the part of us that gives us moral which lead us to believe in what’s wrong and/or right. A balance should be maintained because if the id gets too strong the person would only want to be pleased, and if the superego is too strong then they will be very strict about their beliefs and live very severe. I think that Sigmund Freud’s ideas and theories are important because he was a pioneer in the field of psychology so regardless if someone agrees or disagrees with him, his work is still beneficial and very important to everyone, not only psychologists and doctors but also teachers, lawyers, and anyone who works with people because it’s useful to know how people work.

Beliefs, Values, and Attitudes

What strikes as most important about the beliefs, values, and attitudes reading is a combination of all of them, and honestly most of what I read throughout this piece. The article explains that a belief is a grouping of different categories that leads an individual to think of them as true and hence reflect them. It is explained that the mind will only take into consideration what fits into the categories which have already been made. If there is a situation which occurs that does not fit into the categories, the mind will simply through it away and consciously only use that fits the standard. A belief can often times also be considered what is called a conviction. A conviction is when a person truly believes that a phenomenon is real. They believe that something or someone is really true are they will oppose anyone who does not agree. People get the beliefs from their own cultures or a person of power who they appoint. Values are explain in the article as the choices that people make about what is good and bad, right or wrong, so on and so forth. Attitudes are also another type of belief. It’s a belief which is similar to a conviction because it supports the beliefs of the individual and opposes all others. Beliefs, values, and attitudes of a person are what can lead to prejudice. Prejudice is a discrimination of a certain group. Prejudice can only happen in group membership meaning that a person has to be a part of a certain group in order to be prejudice. For example, since I am a college student I am part of college educated individuals, I can be prejudice to a group of people who do not attend college or do not have any college education. I feel that every individual should be aware of the beliefs, values, attitudes which are shaping them who they are and how they act towards all different types of people and groups. As a teacher in the classroom it’s their responsibility to not let their personal opinions get in the way of their job, which is to teach. There are also many behaviors that a prejudice person exhibits like antilocution, avoidance, discrimination, and etc. Teachers must be aware that they are not unconsciously demonstrating these behaviors towards their students.

Teaching for Inclusion

The article “Teaching for Inclusion” discusses which effective strategies are for teaching students with all different types of issues even including disability. I’m currently taking the class on teaching students with special needs. We were asked to reflect on an article of our choice and the article on which I reflected was closely related to many of the things discussed throughout this reading. The first thing discussed in the handbook for teaching for inclusion is getting to know your students on the first day. I think that every successful teacher needs to know their students. When I say get to know the students I’m not talking only their names, I’m talking about knowing their best suited learning style and where they are academically when they enter the class. I think that one key to having a successful student is maintaining a constant stream of communication with the students parents. Not only reporting negative feedback is important for the student’s progress but also reporting the good things. Explaining to a student’s parents that their child is showing sign of improvement can be extremely helpful in motivating a child to continue to show improvement, this is an example of positive reinforcement. By giving the child’s parents that positive letter the child might feel even more motivated to show good behavior and try their hardest on every single assignment because they like the praise that their parents are giving them for the good work. When teaching children with learning disabilities such as ADHD, there are other successful strategies which should be set in motion. Students with ADHD tend to learn better if they are given a lot of breaks in between assignments. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a long break, but letting them get water or maybe stretching in their seat can be helpful in getting them refocused on what they are learning. As a teacher one of the biggest issues we will constantly deal with is diversity. The teacher has to be aware of all the different types of children in the class and make sure that the curriculum they are using isn’t only focused towards one group in the class, this can be considered being ethnocentric. Another helpful thing I grasped from the reading is that setting rules for classroom discussion can be extremely helpful in the long run. The rules discussed in the handbook if used correctly, I think can prevent any miscommunications amongst students in turn helping avoid disagreements altogether.

Awareness and Consciousness

Transformation is a process which every individual should go through, but most will never completely accomplish. The article talks about awareness. By many it has been difficult to thoroughly explain or define what it actually means to be aware. Awareness is best described as the distinction of the unconscious and conscious development of oneself. The definition or interpretation of what awareness really means is different from person to person just like any other matter. Metta Zetty explains that awareness is being an observer of you from an outer viewpoint. I think that I agree with this outlook of awareness because you can only be aware of yourself if you’re looking upon yourself from the outside in. When you are able to look upon yourself and have the large realization of many things that you weren’t aware of before, this is referred to as an epiphany. The definition that is given in the reading is that epiphany is when there is a manifestation of truth or complete meaning of something is learned. I think that many people experience epiphanies throughout their lifetimes for many different reasons. In my personal experience, I had an epiphany when I was in high school and one of my good friends died in a car accident. Before this event happening, I really didn’t mind who I got into a car with, it really was never a big deal to me. When I found out that my friend died in a car accident and he wasn’t even the driver it devastated me. At this point, I felt like the epiphany started to happen. When I found out that he died, I started to understand and analyze that you can die in a car accident, you can die from riding in a car, you can die when you’re not even the one in control of the car, and my life completely changed. This was a turning point in my life. After this happened, I really think about who I’m getting into a car with. Even though this probably isn’t a huge change, just that one experience that happened made me realize so many things about myself and the way that I was doing things. I became conscious of so many things that would’ve never even crossed my thoughts before he died and this thought became a strong reality. I guess for some people to learn and change they must experience some big that hits them close to home, not necessarily death but something big enough to cause a change in the thought process.