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Professor Morrell
EDUC 275 Personal Education Autobiography
9/27/15
No matter what people argue, oppression can be found almost
anywhere. While it comes in varying degrees, even the slightest bit can
have extremely negative effects. I grew up in a small town in the
mountains of Colorado; the closest major cities are at least a threehour drive away. While I did not so much realize it growing up, I see
now that I truly did grow up in a bubble. I did not experience much
diversity, I only knew what was going on in the rest of the country and
world through news, and often did not understand much of this news
because I had never experienced anything like that. One thing I did
experience, though, was oppression, oppression of the minorities that
did not fit in with the predominately white population. Looking back on
my schooling this way is something that I have never thought to do,
but now that I am I can see evidence of racism, ableism, linguicism,
and many more oppressive behaviors that existed. While I was
exposed to many of these behaviors at school in my childhood and
adolescence, my parents did not tolerate any of them. I can see that
they kept my brother and I from embodying those behaviors and
taught us to accept and treat all people equally.
the best of my ability to every student that I cross paths with, not to
pick and choose whom I want to teach.
Adulthood:
As I just now am entering the early years of my adulthood, I look
back at my previous education as something that taught me a lot, not
only academically but also personally and professionally. My schools
did a phenomenal job of teaching history from different perspectives
and taught in a way that seemed to be very accepting and open. While
that was great, there was still a lot of oppressive behavior in the
environment. And without the behavior lining up with the academics,
the academics did not mean nearly as much.
I have learned vast amounts through the experiences that I had
in my childhood and adolescence, but am excited to be in a new place
that is larger and more diverse to continue learning about people and
the interactions between them.
Diversity:
People often say that being different is a positive thing, and I
agree. But being treated differently is not. The oppression that
occurred throughout my schooling was no doubt due to privilege and
power: something that the majority of students thought they had over
the minorities. Our one public school system supported the entire
students, one cannot properly teach them. The other person who had a
great impact on my goals and on me is my father. He is encouraging,
accepting, and supportive. He has always said that he knew since I was
little that I was meant to help people, and he was right. As an
electrician, he is one of the furthest things from a teacher, but still has
taught me many qualities that a teacher should possess in the process
of raising me. When I am teaching, I hope to be accepting,
encouraging, honest, supportive, and compassionate: all of which I
learned from my dad.
In looking back on my education thus far, I see that there have
been many flaws and experiences that were not right, but I still have a
very positive view of it. I was lucky enough to have gotten a great
education and to have learned and grown from the negative
experiences. My history in schools has taught me respectable and
damaging qualities in teachers, all of which I will incorporate or avoid
as a future teacher.