I prioritize advocacy for inclusive and supportive communities above anything else inside and outside of my educational and professional work. As someone who has been granted privilege through my intersectional background, I owe it to others to take advantage of my opportunities and support marginalized communities. Through my career choice of teaching in prisons, I am dedicated to creating inclusive environments that recognize, accept, and accommodate differences. “I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.” – Toni Morrison
Comparative Cultural Biography (and Advocacy) Project, IES 102: Social Construction of Differences
Comparative-Cultural-Biography-and-Advocacy-Project
Knowledge: I had the opportunity to interview someone who identified with a different intersectional background than myself. I transcribed our conversation and analyzed it to delve into the ways we experience the world differently. I wrote a reflection on what I gained from the interview and what I would take away from it to apply to my future in the educational field.
Skills 1: Through my interview with an international student attending Chapman, I learned about his cultural background and the ways growing up in Abu Dhabi shaped his beliefs, values, and morals. We discussed how American culture has influenced his perspectives, communication, taste in music, entertainment, and style. His responses defied many of my assumptions of what it would be like moving from the middle east to a predominantly white area in southern California, and I felt more culturally aware following the experience.
Skills 2: Our conversation provided a space for us to compare our differences and understand how our intersectionality drives the trajectory of our everyday lives. I finished this assignment with an entirely different perspective of my internal and external biases, which I was not fully aware of at the time. My reflection suggested more meritocratic classrooms that provide individualized and unbiased lesson plans and grading, which I hold true today.
Disposition: In hindsight, this assignment pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I was asking difficult questions that required vulnerability and openness. I had to keep an open mind and leave my stereotypes behind while I listened to someone whose life did not align with my expectations. It showed me how parts of our identity can significantly change the way we are treated and the way we carry ourselves.
Women’s Leadership Forum, Attallah College
Knowledge: The Annual Women’s Leadership Forum hosted by Attallah College gathers a panel of women in powerful positions from different fields to share their personal experiences in the workplace. They share advice and act as mentors to participants. It includes keynote speakers, a panel discussion with questions and answers, and breakout sessions. Here, I met a panelist who changed the trajectory of my career path.
Skills 1: Going into college, I was dedicated to a career in corporate America; however, I walked out of the Women’s Leadership Forum with my four-year plan entirely shattered. One panelist shared her experience as a professor in San Quentin State Prison, and her words were my catalyst for change. She told us that “corrupt teachers are at the very core of our corrupt education system, and without determined and resilient people who encourage students to defy society’s stereotypical expectations – the school-to-prison pipeline will persist.” She could see my passion for making a difference and told me I had the potential to break this obstacle.
Skills 2: I immediately switched my major from strategic and corporate communications to integrated educational studies with minors in psychology and law, justice, and social control. I committed to strive toward becoming an instructor of youth at risk of incarceration. I have studied unequal opportunity, racial injustice, educational inequity, and a numerous range of topics that exposed me to see how naïve I had been to my privilege.
Disposition: Through my experiences and education, I have reflected on the advantages I have been granted and taken steps to become more familiar with marginalized populations and a consistent ally.
Correctional Education and Reduced Recidivism, IES 303: Education Through Life Transitions
Correctional Education and Reduced Recidivism
Knowledge: My research paper analyzed the literature on how correctional education gives incarcerated students the opportunity to cultivate an enriched lifestyle post-release. I advocated for individualized curriculums in prison facilities to decrease the possibility of crime rates and reincarceration.
Skills 1: My findings furthered my passion for eliminating racial disparities in the education system as a preventative measure against incarceration. Considering the institutional inequities that push people into the criminal justice system, it is imperative that educational programs in prison make up for these disparities. These services could reduce recidivism rates and break the negative impacts of crime-control models in schools.
Skills 2: Examining peer-reviewed literature and immersing myself in the educational resources available on the benefits of correctional education, I was able to envision an ideal world where post-release for incarcerated students could be smooth and supportive. There is much work to be done.
Disposition: I plan on pursuing a career that alleviates the lives of inmates by providing educational spaces that may have not been available to them pre-incarceration. Until prisons are abolished, this is where I see the trajectory of my future.
Follow Me and You’ll See, IES 340: Children’s Literature and Literacy
Follow Me and You’ll See Storybook
Follow Me and You’ll See Paper
Knowledge: I wrote a children’s book that targeted young audiences who may not yet understand their privilege. Each character has a different background, which features diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, weight, sexual orientation, and religion. It normalizes the recognition, discussion, and acceptance of cross-cultural differences.
Skills 1: Considering the lack of representation in children’s literature, I decided to create a final project that I would like to see in a children’s book. It addresses the unfamiliarity children face in public and within diverse communities, and the ways in which there is nothing to fear when it comes to those communities. It mostly encourages children to be inclusive and open to different experiences.
Skills 2: Through my research, I learned more about how children construct social norms and self-esteem at a young age, which can easily be influenced by the storybooks they read. With this in mind, authors should be writing books that evoke discomfort and reflection. In the same sense, educators need to be exposing their students to books such as these.
Disposition: I was not aware of how much the content of children’s books can affect students’ internal and external biases. When I was younger, I was not reading any diverse or inclusive literature, and I now know that as a future educator – I need to incorporate these ideas not only in my lesson plans but my available books as well.