Assumptions

I love when lectures from two of my classes coincide because then I can apply what I have already learned from one class to the other. I'm currently taking a multicultural education class, and Tuesday's discussion covered a lot of issues that I'm learning about in MCE. The thing that stood out to me the most was that culture, like structure, is influential but not determining. In MCE we are also constantly reminded that race does not equal culture. Important details about a person and their family can be lost when we start to generalize.
For MCE all students are required to tutor an ethnically diverse student for nine hours during the semester. The student that I am working with is a fifth grade girl from a Mexican family. I work with her in her home so I am able to get the full experience of what her family's culture is like. I suppose I had a few preconceived notions about what her family would be like, but I don't think that I was too stereotypical. One incident that made me rethink my previous beliefs was when a boy from the neighborhood came over to see if the kids wanted to play outside. I looked out the door and for a split second I realized that I was surprised by the fact that the boy was white. I was almost embarrassed by the subconscious fact that I thought the kids would mostly interact with other Mexican families. I also figured that the girl I was working with might need extra help with reading or writing, but I was definitely wrong in that assumption. For the most part, the family is no different than most of the families I've been around. Like Dr. Hollist said, it would be terribly ignorant to assume that all Mexican families like pinatas. Individual families within cultures are going to have their own unique characteristics, and these are the things people need to be aware of.
I'm sure that their are characteristics of my student's family that are different from what I'm used to, but I would never be able to find out what they are really like unless I'm willing to ask. By assuming that all people of a certain ethnicity are the same, we forget that there is more than meets the eye. Being open to exploring people as individuals is a trait that I hope I will remember to use in all parts of my life. It will help me to get to know the people I am working with so that I can figure out the best way to help them.

Michelle