Looking forward..... Teaching others
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The value of teaching others can be exercised in day to day life, but I am also interested in teaching others in an academic setting. During the course of our Diversity, Oppression and Social Justice class, I was invited to guest lecture at a “Philosophy and Ethics” class of first year social work students at Grant McEwen University. The invitation came from my practicum supervisor, who regularly instructs social work classes. I had expressed an interest in developing my public speaking skills, as well as an interest in exploring whether I wanted to instruct in the future. I enjoyed the experience but also came to recognize how challenging it can be to be an instructor.
I plan to continue to seek out opportunities to guest lecture in order to further develop my skills, to seek feedback, and to one day instruct at a college or university level.
I was presented with a number of topics in their curriculum that I could choose to speak about, and the topic that immediately struck me was Critical Thinking. This gave me the opportunity to incorporate the relevancy and importance of critical thinking as it relates to diversity, oppression and social justice
Following is a paper I wrote for our Diversity, Oppression and Social Justice Class which was based on my Critical Thinking power point presentation, which can be found below.
PRESENTATION OBJECTIVES
The objectives for the presentation were to enable first year students to develop basic critical thinking skills in order for them to address issues of diversity, oppression and social justice in their day to day practice. There is a need, as ethical practitioners, to think critically as a means to exercise the values outlined in the CASW (2005) Code of Ethics. The values and attitudes related to critical thinking as outlined in Gambrill and Gibbs (2009) align with the social work values. For example, "the belief in and respect for human rights and the dignity and intrinsic worth of all human beings" (p.17).
Examples and scenarios provided in the presentation encouraged students to think critically about issues of diversity and oppression. As a practical skill, it was deemed necessary to incorporate some critical thinking exercises into the discussion. The sample test of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Form (Watson & Glaser, 1994) encouraged students to take a different approach to problem solving and required significant analysis of the data provided. Johnston (2009) recommends the use of the WGCTAF as a pre and post test in Social Work Diversity courses to assess students' progress in developing critical thinking skills. For a course that is focused on diversity, another useful tool that could be used to encourage critical thinking is the Diversity Self Awareness Questionnaire (Sonnenschein,1999).
As this presentation was in an academic setting, I was able to outline the theoretical framework right into the presentation and therefore will not elaborate on the Critical Social theory and Social Constructionist Perspective in this document to avoid duplication.
Following is a reflection on critical thinking as it relates to issues of diversity, oppression and social justice at a personal, cultural and structural level and the interactions between them (as described in Mullaly, 2010). This reflection is intended to highlight areas that stood out for me as particularly important for practitioners in both their own self awareness and in their work with clients.
PERSONAL
Mullaly (2010) indicates that oppression at the personal level includes thoughts and attitudes that portray negative prejudices of oppressed populations. He further states that oppressive beliefs are often internalized by both victims as well as perpetrators. There is a need to think critically in order to achieve a level of awareness of the complexity of
identity. Critical thinking also enables us to gain a better understanding of the relationship between identity and the world around us. Without critical thinking, one may assume their identity is prescribed by how societal influences define them. Brene Brown (2006) describes critical awareness as the level of awareness an individual has about the social/ cultural forces that shape their experiences and their ability to critically assess their personal experiences in the context of those forces.
Critical thinking is also an important strategy for developing resilience. Brene Brown (2006) describes the relationship between critical awareness and resilience; deconstructing one’s identity and reconstructing it in a in a social/ cultural context can be an empowering experience for individuals. The ability to deconstruct and contextualize one’s identity can normalize
individuals’ experiences and assist in realizing they are not alone in their experiences. Those individuals with little or no critical thinking skills and subsequent critical awareness can lack the skills necessary for deconstructing and contextualizing their experiences. Rather than linking their experience to larger issues, they pathologize, reinforcing societal beliefs about that individual’s identity. Without insight into the larger context, issues become internalized and are personal issues rather than a collective issue or “social problem”. The outcome is that individuals believe there is something inherently wrong within themselves.
Bricker- Jenkins (as cited in Brown, 2006) describes a problem-posing dialogue involving the following series of questions: (a) Who am I? (b) Who says? (c)Who benefits from this definition? and (d)What must change and how? The aforementioned questions can help individuals think critically about their identity and which factors are influential in how they are defined.
It requires a significant amount of self-criticism and self- reflection to be accepting of one's own privilege and to be able to acknowledge and address it. The importance of self awareness can also be discussed in terms of acknowledgement of our own assumptions of others as well as the many privileges that are taken for granted. Mullaly (2010) discusses how privilege allows people to assume certain levels of acceptance, inclusion, and respect in the world. He further explains how privilege increases the odds of having things your own way, of being able to set the agenda in a social situation and determine the rules and standards and how they’re applied. It also means that you, in a privileged position, can improve or impede how oppressed people are perceived. How you, in a position of privilege, judge others, can impact how others judge people.
Sonnenschein (1999) states that in order to be self-aware, there is a need to critically reflect on how individuals are socialized and what influences have made you the person you are today. He further states that understanding how perceptions work does not mean that we are always aware of our own perceptions. Influences include family, personal experiences, educational experiences, peer influences, media influences and critical incidents.
CULTURAL
Critical thinking enables us to assess the use of language. Mullaly (2010) discusses the role of language and discourse in keeping subordinate groups subservient to the dominant group. He further outlines how terms such as "social inequality" is a "polite" term that fails to acknowledge the volatility and complexity of what it really is- what Mullaly (2010) defines as "socially sanctioned social terrorism and structural violence" (p.312). Mullaly's example demonstrates the use of vague and misleading terminology that is open to interpretation. Gorkoff and Jochelson (2012) further exemplify this in their discussion on the term social justice. They say that the term is inarguably abstract, both as a concept and as a goal.
Sonnenschein (1999) further explores the use of language and expresses the need to participate in activities that help increase tolerance for ambiguity. He explains that words are ambiguous by their very nature; they have many meanings and can be used in many contexts. People say things with meanings other than what you might assume. As indicated in the personal section
above, Sonnenschein (1999) explains how our frames of reference also lead to different understandings of the same discourse.
Of further concern is the oppressive nature of pop culture, media, and cultural messages that are seen in music, television, novels and movies. Sonnenschein (1999) describes how advertising, the news, entertainment and other mass media forms use images and products that depict the dominant groups or social systems as the norm. The use of distorted information in propaganda encourages people to respond with the least thought possible without having all of the information and systemically oppresses diverse populations by failing to recognize them.
STRUCTURAL
From a social constructionist perspective, how we define social problems through our use of language and subsequent assumptions that result from vague terminology leads us to make hastened decisions without considering all of the factors. Caragata (2006) uses the example of homelessness. We assume we know what ‘homelessness’ means which causes “goals and strategies for action to be quickly accepted, often by-passing a comparison of causal structures, functional, temporal and other aspects of the situation… there is a need to deconstruct, ie delayer and unmask these other meanings......" (Caragata, 2006, p 268). Just as homelessness can be easily pathologized, so can racism, sexism, and all of the other "isms", if we fail to connect a personal issue with the larger context. Recidivism of "ism" issues will occur if matters are only dealt with at the personal level and not at the structural level.
There is a need to incorporate critical thinking of issues at the structural level into day to day practice. A practical tool for determining if a group or individual is oppressed are to use criteria. Young (2010) provides such criteria, which can help us to answers WHY we identify a certain group as being oppressed. The criteria she provides are exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness cultural imperialism and violence.
CONCLUSION
The experience of presenting this topic to students has provided me with the opportunity to develop and refresh my own skills in critical thinking and to reflect on my own practice.
In conclusion I would like to leave with this excerpt from Weld (2011) which provides inspiration and guidance to new and emerging leaders in their quest to approach leadership with an anti-oppressive lens:
"Transformative work is about building insight primarily into ourselves as a way of progressing our own development of the world. It is not about becoming an expert, but about developing the ability to perceive or think differently about something."(p.20)
I plan to continue to seek out opportunities to guest lecture in order to further develop my skills, to seek feedback, and to one day instruct at a college or university level.
I was presented with a number of topics in their curriculum that I could choose to speak about, and the topic that immediately struck me was Critical Thinking. This gave me the opportunity to incorporate the relevancy and importance of critical thinking as it relates to diversity, oppression and social justice
Following is a paper I wrote for our Diversity, Oppression and Social Justice Class which was based on my Critical Thinking power point presentation, which can be found below.
PRESENTATION OBJECTIVES
The objectives for the presentation were to enable first year students to develop basic critical thinking skills in order for them to address issues of diversity, oppression and social justice in their day to day practice. There is a need, as ethical practitioners, to think critically as a means to exercise the values outlined in the CASW (2005) Code of Ethics. The values and attitudes related to critical thinking as outlined in Gambrill and Gibbs (2009) align with the social work values. For example, "the belief in and respect for human rights and the dignity and intrinsic worth of all human beings" (p.17).
Examples and scenarios provided in the presentation encouraged students to think critically about issues of diversity and oppression. As a practical skill, it was deemed necessary to incorporate some critical thinking exercises into the discussion. The sample test of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Form (Watson & Glaser, 1994) encouraged students to take a different approach to problem solving and required significant analysis of the data provided. Johnston (2009) recommends the use of the WGCTAF as a pre and post test in Social Work Diversity courses to assess students' progress in developing critical thinking skills. For a course that is focused on diversity, another useful tool that could be used to encourage critical thinking is the Diversity Self Awareness Questionnaire (Sonnenschein,1999).
As this presentation was in an academic setting, I was able to outline the theoretical framework right into the presentation and therefore will not elaborate on the Critical Social theory and Social Constructionist Perspective in this document to avoid duplication.
Following is a reflection on critical thinking as it relates to issues of diversity, oppression and social justice at a personal, cultural and structural level and the interactions between them (as described in Mullaly, 2010). This reflection is intended to highlight areas that stood out for me as particularly important for practitioners in both their own self awareness and in their work with clients.
PERSONAL
Mullaly (2010) indicates that oppression at the personal level includes thoughts and attitudes that portray negative prejudices of oppressed populations. He further states that oppressive beliefs are often internalized by both victims as well as perpetrators. There is a need to think critically in order to achieve a level of awareness of the complexity of
identity. Critical thinking also enables us to gain a better understanding of the relationship between identity and the world around us. Without critical thinking, one may assume their identity is prescribed by how societal influences define them. Brene Brown (2006) describes critical awareness as the level of awareness an individual has about the social/ cultural forces that shape their experiences and their ability to critically assess their personal experiences in the context of those forces.
Critical thinking is also an important strategy for developing resilience. Brene Brown (2006) describes the relationship between critical awareness and resilience; deconstructing one’s identity and reconstructing it in a in a social/ cultural context can be an empowering experience for individuals. The ability to deconstruct and contextualize one’s identity can normalize
individuals’ experiences and assist in realizing they are not alone in their experiences. Those individuals with little or no critical thinking skills and subsequent critical awareness can lack the skills necessary for deconstructing and contextualizing their experiences. Rather than linking their experience to larger issues, they pathologize, reinforcing societal beliefs about that individual’s identity. Without insight into the larger context, issues become internalized and are personal issues rather than a collective issue or “social problem”. The outcome is that individuals believe there is something inherently wrong within themselves.
Bricker- Jenkins (as cited in Brown, 2006) describes a problem-posing dialogue involving the following series of questions: (a) Who am I? (b) Who says? (c)Who benefits from this definition? and (d)What must change and how? The aforementioned questions can help individuals think critically about their identity and which factors are influential in how they are defined.
It requires a significant amount of self-criticism and self- reflection to be accepting of one's own privilege and to be able to acknowledge and address it. The importance of self awareness can also be discussed in terms of acknowledgement of our own assumptions of others as well as the many privileges that are taken for granted. Mullaly (2010) discusses how privilege allows people to assume certain levels of acceptance, inclusion, and respect in the world. He further explains how privilege increases the odds of having things your own way, of being able to set the agenda in a social situation and determine the rules and standards and how they’re applied. It also means that you, in a privileged position, can improve or impede how oppressed people are perceived. How you, in a position of privilege, judge others, can impact how others judge people.
Sonnenschein (1999) states that in order to be self-aware, there is a need to critically reflect on how individuals are socialized and what influences have made you the person you are today. He further states that understanding how perceptions work does not mean that we are always aware of our own perceptions. Influences include family, personal experiences, educational experiences, peer influences, media influences and critical incidents.
CULTURAL
Critical thinking enables us to assess the use of language. Mullaly (2010) discusses the role of language and discourse in keeping subordinate groups subservient to the dominant group. He further outlines how terms such as "social inequality" is a "polite" term that fails to acknowledge the volatility and complexity of what it really is- what Mullaly (2010) defines as "socially sanctioned social terrorism and structural violence" (p.312). Mullaly's example demonstrates the use of vague and misleading terminology that is open to interpretation. Gorkoff and Jochelson (2012) further exemplify this in their discussion on the term social justice. They say that the term is inarguably abstract, both as a concept and as a goal.
Sonnenschein (1999) further explores the use of language and expresses the need to participate in activities that help increase tolerance for ambiguity. He explains that words are ambiguous by their very nature; they have many meanings and can be used in many contexts. People say things with meanings other than what you might assume. As indicated in the personal section
above, Sonnenschein (1999) explains how our frames of reference also lead to different understandings of the same discourse.
Of further concern is the oppressive nature of pop culture, media, and cultural messages that are seen in music, television, novels and movies. Sonnenschein (1999) describes how advertising, the news, entertainment and other mass media forms use images and products that depict the dominant groups or social systems as the norm. The use of distorted information in propaganda encourages people to respond with the least thought possible without having all of the information and systemically oppresses diverse populations by failing to recognize them.
STRUCTURAL
From a social constructionist perspective, how we define social problems through our use of language and subsequent assumptions that result from vague terminology leads us to make hastened decisions without considering all of the factors. Caragata (2006) uses the example of homelessness. We assume we know what ‘homelessness’ means which causes “goals and strategies for action to be quickly accepted, often by-passing a comparison of causal structures, functional, temporal and other aspects of the situation… there is a need to deconstruct, ie delayer and unmask these other meanings......" (Caragata, 2006, p 268). Just as homelessness can be easily pathologized, so can racism, sexism, and all of the other "isms", if we fail to connect a personal issue with the larger context. Recidivism of "ism" issues will occur if matters are only dealt with at the personal level and not at the structural level.
There is a need to incorporate critical thinking of issues at the structural level into day to day practice. A practical tool for determining if a group or individual is oppressed are to use criteria. Young (2010) provides such criteria, which can help us to answers WHY we identify a certain group as being oppressed. The criteria she provides are exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness cultural imperialism and violence.
CONCLUSION
The experience of presenting this topic to students has provided me with the opportunity to develop and refresh my own skills in critical thinking and to reflect on my own practice.
In conclusion I would like to leave with this excerpt from Weld (2011) which provides inspiration and guidance to new and emerging leaders in their quest to approach leadership with an anti-oppressive lens:
"Transformative work is about building insight primarily into ourselves as a way of progressing our own development of the world. It is not about becoming an expert, but about developing the ability to perceive or think differently about something."(p.20)