October 12th, 2011

DIVERSITY

in the CLASSROOM

In yesterday's class we discussed the concept of diversity, specifically classroom diversity. We talked about, and defined, "socioeconomic status" - the categorization of people according to their economic, educational, and occupational characteristics - and related that concept to the idea that students may have certain "barriers" which need to be broken down in order for that child to succeed. For example, a student who was raised to respect people with a higher education is going to come to school respecting the fact that he or she needs to obtain the same; whereas, a student who was raised in a family of dropouts is going to come to school having no respect for higher education and no ambitions to obtain more than what is mandatory. However, there are always exceptions to any generalization. But that is not what I want to talk about...

Towards the end of class our professor, Dr. Nellis, left us with a "provocation statement"... it read: (this may not be exact)

 "If people want to move to this country they are going to have to adapt to us. I am not changing for anyone." 

My first reaction was anger, obviously, because the tone of the statement is just so ignorant and redneck, for lack of a better term. In fact, it is down right Albertan. Now, just as I have previously stated, there will always be exceptions to any generalization; however, it is a well known fact that Alberta is the most Americanized of all the provinces, and that statement is totally something one would expect to hear from an American redneck (the "melting pot" concept). And, just let me state again, this is not saying all Americans are like that, in fact my relatives are American and are perfectly nice, open minded people. 

Where I am from, Nova Scotia, people are tolerant and respectful; we understand that every culture has their traditions and values and beliefs and we respect that they deserve to keep them, regardless of where they live. Since I moved to Alberta, almost 9 years ago, I find myself, in a sense, losing that respect for diversity. I find myself becoming intolerant and somewhat racist, which is absolutely against how I was raised and its disgusts me. 

So, building off of what I have just shared, my next reaction was actually consideration; I began to consider the statement. Yes, it is true that a person moving to another country with another culture should make some efforts to adopt parts of that culture. But, it is also true that the people in the community should put in the same amount of effort to learn about other cultures. 

Despite what some may think, when people immigrate to this country they are tested on how much they know about Canada's history, culture, language and geography. The test is NOT easy, believe me I have taken it and have the certificate to prove it. In fact, studies have shown that most immigrants actually know more about those aspects of Canada than people who were born and raised here. 

And so, to finish off this post, I would like to ask whoever is actually reading my blog to think about the provocation statement. What would your stance be? Do you agree, disagree, not really care...?

Thank you once again for reading, and considering...

Sincerely,

-Natasha-