Identity could be regarded as a continuous re-shaping of the
self-based upon identification desire, and any subsequent symbolic
representations. This is my personal thoughts on identity. At the very end of
the MEd program, I could help but thinking about the on-going process of having
my identity built and having my voice heard as a multicultural and multilingual
visible-minorities students. It is true that, whenever I publicly represent
myself through diverse social activities, ranging from speech, in-class
presentations, oral speaking, online posting either for course credits or for
personal social needs, as a subject in the existing third space around me, I
personally change by the very action of representations. Under many in-class
circumstances happened in University of Ottawa that I did not hold excellent
statements and propositions upon the topics being discussed, yet I still had
the will, desire and agency to speak, to have my voice shared. One impressive
of them did happen in recent days, when there was a whole-class sharing on
personal perspectives on the inclusion of the multilingual and multicultural
resources from students. I did not notice such a deep attachment to my home and
original culture and to my mother tongue (Cantonese) as well as first language
(Mandarin) until I ended my little speech; not until then did I reinforce the
proportion of nationalism to China. My personal experience in strengthening
students voice proves that, learning doesn’t happen when students are unable to
express their ideas, emotions, confusion, ignorance, and prejudices. In fact,
only when people can speak their minds does education have a change to happen.
I believe that inside school, students not only learn subjects content
knowledge but also learn about themselves, and self-identities are the results
of the latter practice.
1 comment:
Hello, Xiaoli,
I agree with you that when students are learning, they are not only learning the knowledge, but also learn more about themselves. However, I respectfully disagree that "learning doesn't happen when students are unable to express...".
I believe learning exists in every second in the class.Feeling frustrated when the student finds it difficult to express him/herself is a process of learning---the feeling of frustration tells the student how much he/she cares about expressing him/herself in this every topic. Expression is a behaviour, and it not necessarily relates to learning. In other words, we can learn without outputting what we are thinking.
Like in Zen meditation, the Zen Master may ask everyone to meditate and keep quiet all day. Nothing is said, but many people see themselves more clearer during this meditation process.
I think whenever our mind is processing and our emotions are moving, learning is happening.
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