The inspirational community of
#CyberPD is reading Being the Change:
Lessons and Strategies for Teach Social Comprehension by Sara Ahmed. If you are interested in joining the study, check out our amazing facilitators, Cathy's post here or Michelle's post here. Here is the information for the rest of the
book study:
This may not be a revelation for
many of you but bear with me for a convoluted reflection.
Two years ago, I was introduced the
Gallup’s Clifton Strengths. My new campus is a Strengths-based campus, which
means freshman and transfer students are provided codes to complete the Clifton
StrengthsFinder assessment. This
assessment consists of 177 paired statements that asks the test taker to select
the one most like them. After analysis, which has been refined over 40 years, the
person is provided their top 5 Themes, with personal insights on how they work
together. These themes answer the
question “How do you absorb, think about and analyze information and
situations? In other words, what lenses are you using to understand the world.
I took the assessment and my top 5
are Input – Learner – Intellection – Activator – Positivity. In short, according to Gallup, I 1) crave
knowing more, 2) are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions, 3) have
a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve, 4) can make things
happen by turning thoughts into action (but can be impatient), and 5) am upbeat
and can get others excited about what they are going to do. When I read my report, so many habits,
inclinations, and decisions in my life made more sense. But, the biggest revelation was that these
themes guide the way I view the world, and not everyone sees and interacts with
the world similarly. For example, with
Input/Learner/Intellection bundled together I LOVE questioning, learning, and
growing. I constantly crave new
experiences and ideas. I have a million
questions in my head every day. But, guess what, not everyone does. My husband, who is basically the polar
opposite of me, can be exhausted by me.
This clearly can lead to conflict – not because the other person is
being mean, stubborn, or contrary – it is because they literally see the world
differently than I do. I’m more often
than not, wearing rose colored glasses, where others view the world through
other tints.
What has this to do with this week’s
chapters? First, microaggressions. To start with full disclosure – I am a white,
heterosexual, middle class white woman, who might have worked her way through
college, but my entire childhood was filled with expectations of literacy, engaged
citizenship, and higher education. In short, I am privileged. When I joined the Army Nation Guard, I felt a
few slings of sexism and harassment, but compared to my colleagues of color,
different sexual orientation, race/ethnicity etc. I had it easy. Microaggressions are easy to miss, because my
privileged lens doesn’t pick up on it.
Have I inflicted microaggressions on others? After reading this chapter,
I think it is an unequivocal yes. Have I
assigned identities to others without knowing their real stories? Absolutely.
Have I allowed a typical identity label to bias my thoughts and interactions
with someone? Unfortunately, yes.
Second – Our News – My lenses make
some things UTTERLY important to me, but they have no bearing on others. The question I have on my mind right now may
feel like it needs an immediate answer, but when the person I’m interacting
with has just gotten bad news, is on a way to a meeting, or is writing an email
– my question is secondary, as best. I need to be mindful of this as I have
barreled into situations with my agenda, rather than recognizing other people’s
“news”. This has so many implications
for my work with both undergraduate and graduate students. I need to know their news to know what is
important to them.
So, where do I go from here? I hold fast to Maya Angelo’s quote, “I did
then what I knew how to do. Now that I
know better, I do better.” In my intellection
head, I know that I do these things – I need to move my mind, heart, and spirit
to do better – each and every day. I need to be constantly cognizant of what lenses
I’m bringing into an interaction and recognize that the other person is wearing
their own – and honor their lenses to be able to understand it. This book has
been a wonderful reminder of the importance of this!
