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Lauren McDaniel
4-20-16
Dr. Kang
ELED 310
Diversity and Education
All throughout history people have tried to make it to where they only belong to
one specific group. However, it is pretty much impossible to just say that you belong to
only one specific group. For example, I identify as a southern, white, female because of
my geography, ethnicity, and gender. I believe that part of what the makes the world such
an interesting place is that every single person in the world can identify with more than
one group of people. This means that we are able to connect with people that may have
some things in common, but they can also have things that are different from us. We are
able to learn so much from other people because we all have something that is different
about us that we can educate someone else about. The world would be a boring place if
we all came from the exact same background. I am happy to be able to say that I live in a
world where we share common traits but we also have differences. I believe that the
groups that you identify with can have a strong influence on your educational
experiences. I will be taking a look at how my socio-economic status, ethnicity/race,
gender, and geography affected my schooling and educational experiences.
A persons socioeconomic status can have a very big impact on a students
schooling experience depending on where they went to school. If the child falls into the
under class or working class but they go to an upper middle class they will feel out of
place and ostracized. The same can be said if a child who falls into the upper middle class

or middle class goes to a school that is primarily under class or working class. The high
school that I went to was comprised of students who mostly fell into the middle class
category however, there were some students who did fall into the under class, working
class, and upper middle class. I fell into the norm in my high school when it came to
socio-economic status because my family fell into the middle class category. My dad
worked for JMU in the Information Technology department and my mom was a
preschool teacher at a private church preschool in Rockingham County. As a family we
never struggled to put food on the table and my parents never struggled to buy my brother
and I the things that we wanted. Even though we never struggled when I got to be of
driving age my parents didnt have the money to buy me my own car right away so I had
to share the car with my mom. As someone who fell into the middle class category my
parents were able to provide for me pretty much everything that I wanted, but they
werent able to go out and buy my a brand new car as soon as I wanted it. In high school I
didnt face any adversity when it came to my socio-economic status because I belonged
in the norm in that category. All of my friends in high school were also in the middle
class socio-economically so I never felt out of place. Thankfully, I never felt ostracized
when it came to my socio-economic status in school. A disadvantage of this was that I
didnt feel that I could really relate to the students in my school that fell into the working
class or the upper middle class therefore, I tended not to befriend the students who didnt
fall into the same socio-economic category as me. Being in the norm for socio-economic
status had both positives and negatives when it came to my educational experiences.
Ethnicity/race seems to be the group that divides us the most as human beings.
Ethnicity/race is what we seem to fight about on a daily basis because for some reason we

as a society have decided that somebodies ethnicity/race is the most important factor
about them. When it comes to ethnicity/race I identify as a Caucasian or white. Since I
identify as Caucasian or white I fall into the majority category therefore, I have never
been ostracized or treated differently in school because of my ethnicity/race. The high
school that I went to was not diverse at all. When I graduated in 2012 I graduated with
five African American students, one Asian student, and six Hispanic students. The rest of
the students in my graduating class were white. Even when it came to the teachers in our
school it wasnt diverse. I had two Hispanic administrators and one Hispanic teacher, one
African American teacher, and the rest of my teachers and administrators were white. I
went to a high school that clearly was not diverse in the slightest, so it was a benefit for
me in a way because I didnt have to worry about not falling into the majority category
when it came to ethnicity/race. A negative to my ethnicity/race is that I was not able to
really relate to the students who fell into the minority ethnicity at my school. Since I was
a white student in a 92% white high school I didnt understand what it meant to have to
struggle through my education because I was considered a minority. After reading the
White Privilege and Male Privilege article I understand something now that I didnt
understand before about my race. I had talked about how my race didnt have a big
impact on my education because I belonged to the majority group. However, now that I
think about it I believe that my race caused me to not understand the white privilege that I
had because I was taught to ignore it. I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize
white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege (McIntosh, 1988). I
believe that because I am white and because I had a good home life I didnt truly realize
how much privilege I actually had in my life. I didnt find it abnormal when I walked into

a store and wasnt looked at funny or when I walked down the street and people didnt
start clutching their purses closer to them. I didnt think about how these actions were
normal for me because of my race. I thought that this was normal for everyone, but after I
read this article and really started to think I realized that I was taught not to notice my
white privilege. The different privileges that I was privy to werent pointed out to me on
a daily basis. I was taught to overlook them or to see them as normal. I now realize that
this is wrong and I need to be more aware of the privilege that I do have in this world. I
also need to do something to ensure that other people of different races get to have the
same privileges as me.
When it comes to gender things are not always black and white for everyone
however, for me my gender was black and white. I am female and have always identified
with being a female ever since I was born. In my high school it was split pretty evenly
between male and female students and teachers. Since it was split relatively evenly
between male and female students I didnt really have any negative experiences when it
came to my male or female peers at school. My male classmates never treated me
differently in school because I was a female however, I did have one negative experience
with a teacher when it came to one of my teachers in high school. When I was in high
school I had a math teacher who liked to treat the girls differently in class. My teacher
was a female herself so it was shocking to me when she would ostracize the girls in the
class the way that she did. Whenever a girl would answer a question and get it wrong the
teacher would almost scold her and tell her that maybe math wasnt her subject, and even
though she did not state it out loud you could clearly tell that she was being negatively
biased towards the female students. Whenever a guy would answer a question incorrectly

she would tell them that it was fine and they would get it next time. The teacher clearly
believed that girls were not as capable as boys at doing math and therefore had no chance
at doing well in the class. That was the only negative experience that I had in school
when it came to my gender. Now that I think about it I have had more than one negative
experience when it comes to gender. I didnt think about this experience until we read the
Miles of Aisles of Sexism article for class. In this article it talks about how it is clearly
marked in the stores that girls toys should be pink and girly, but I can remember as a little
kid still wanting to play with the boys toys. The aisles of girl toys are designated with
pale pink letters and the names of the girl toys are in oval signs framed in purple or pink
(Hoffman, 2008). When I was little I loved to play sports so I constantly wanted to buy a
new basketball or football whenever we went to the store. I would usually see the
basketballs that were pink and flowers on them right next to the normal boys
basketballs. My mom gave me a choice of which one I wanted to get, but I would always
reach for the normal boys basketball. I just wanted to feel like a normal kid who liked
to play sports. I didnt want the boys to see my playing with a basketball that was pink
and flowery and assume that I wasnt serious about playing the sport. Basketball was one
of my favorite things growing and I took it very seriously, so I wanted my peers to know
that I took it seriously. I believe that seeing the girly basketballs had an impact on me
because it made me think that I wasnt allowed to play basketball with the boys because I
had my own special basketball to use that was different from theirs. I didnt understand
before I read this article how much of an impact this actually had on me, but now that I
think about it I was greatly affected by this. Seeing this in the toy stores made me
question whether or not I was good enough to play basketball with the boys and compete

with the boys. I started to question whether I was worthy enough to play basketball with
the normal basketball because clearly according to the toy stores I was supposed to play
with my own special basketball. Thankfully seeing this did not make me want to stop
playing basketball, but it did make me question some things. I continued to play
basketball throughout the years and I continued to be better than most of the guys that I
played against, but if I had let what I had seen in the toy store that day bother me I never
would have kept playing. I think that something needs to change in the toy stores in order
to make sure that there arent other girls or boys who have the same feelings that I did
when walking down the toy aisles.
Geography can be a very big unifying factor for people because when someone
finds out that they share a similar hometown with someone they suddenly have this beam
of pride showing on their faces. I am from Rockingham County, Virginia, which is about
20 minutes from JMU. I went to Spotswood High School, which is about 25 minutes
from JMU. Even though I lived in a neighborhood I still lived in a very rural area. I am
surrounded by mountains and big trees for as far as the eye can see in my neighborhood.
At the entrance to my neighborhood there is even a pasture with cows that graze year
round. On occasion the cows have even gotten beyond the fencing and have ended up in
the middle of the street. It also wouldnt be uncommon for me to get stuck behind a
tractor on my way to school. One benefit to growing up in a small rural county is that I
knew everyone in my area; and nine times out of ten they were all related to me. I went to
school with many of my cousins because my whole extended family is from this area.
Another benefit when it came to my schooling was that I fit in with everyone else
because we all pretty much came from the same backgrounds. When it came to my

education the only negative thing about where I lived is that it was frowned upon if we
took a lot of time to learn about other cultures or religions. In my county we stuck to
what we knew which was a white and Christian education. Politics and religion was not
brought up at all in my high school because it was assumed that everyone was a Christian
Republican because of where we grew up. I would say that the only negative aspect on
my education that was caused by where I live is that I did not get to learn about diverse
topics.
As human beings we all fall into multiple identity groups that help to define who
we are and what we hold important in our lives. Whether that has to do with your
ethnicity/race, gender, geography, or socio-economic status depends on the person. I
believe that any groups that you identify with can either have a negative or positive
impact on your education depending on what groups you identify with. Thankfully I
identified with groups that were mostly in the majority in high school so there werent
many negative impacts on my education however, I know that is not the same case for
every student in the U.S. I believe that my identity will help me to be able to understand
what my future students are going through if they fall into those same categories
however, I think that I will be slightly hindered because I did not grow up in a diverse
area with diverse educational experiences. I believe that teaching diverse students will be
a learning curve for me, but in the end I will be able to identify with and help any student
no matter their background achieve their educational goals.
One of the identity markers that I didnt include in the paper before is my religion.
I identify as a Christian who is a follower of Jesus. I was raised in a Christian household
with a family that went to church every Sunday. I was also involved in Sunday School,

VBS, and youth group every year. I am still involved in church with my family. I go to
church with my family every Sunday, but I am not involved in as many extracurricular
church activities as I used to be when I was younger due to school. The Christian
Privilege article enlightened me to the fact that I did have privilege growing up that
correlated with my religion. Because of their numerical superiority and long-standing
political positions, Christians have more power than all of the minority religious groups
combined (Schlosser, 2003). I think that it is true that Christians do have privilege in the
world because the majority of people around the world categorize themselves as
Christians. Growing up as a Christian I had never had to be worried that I would be
looked at as someone who might blow up a building or become violent because of the
religious beliefs that I hold. I never experienced discrimination in my education because I
went to school with majority Christian classmates. I live in an area where the majority
religion is Christianity, so I went to school with people who are Christian. Since I went to
school with people who share the same beliefs as me I never felt discrimination because
of my religion. Even as a college student who is going to classes and working I still dont
feel discrimination because of my religion. I believe that because I fall into the majority
religion I do experience privilege and that is why I have not experienced discrimination
in my education because of my religion.
My assumptions about diversity have been challenged thus far just by simply
thinking about how much diversity I could potentially see in my classroom. Since I went
to a school where there wasnt much diversity I didnt think about teaching in a
classroom that had diversity because I didnt experience that in my own schooling. I
think that I need to make sure that I am prepared to be able to teach in a diverse setting

because I most likely will encounter a diverse setting in my own classroom. The
stereotype and bias that I am still grappling with is against people who are Atheist or
Agnostic. I have this stereotype that people who are Atheist or Agnostic are not very
understanding about people who are Christian. I feel that they would be full of judgment
against me because of the beliefs that I hold. I have this stereotype because I have met
someone who is Atheist who has these beliefs about me as a Christian. This person is
very judgmental and jumps down my throat every time that I say something about my
faith. This is why I have this stereotype towards Atheists and Agnostics. My personal
story explains these assumptions because I grew up in a Christian household where my
faith was very strong. Since my faith is strong I share it with people and that is where I
have experienced the most push back from people that are Atheist or Agnostic. I believe
that this is why I have these assumptions/biases.
I thought my service learning experience was extremely eye opening. I got to
work with Hispanic students at my church in an after school program. I would play with
them, help them with homework, do a bible lesson with him, and at the end of the time I
would walk them home to the trailer park behind the church. When I first started I didnt
expect the kids to be as open and warm as they are, but the kids surprised me with their
generosity and openness that they showed to us. I was also surprised by the poverty that
the children lived in. I knew that they didnt live in extreme wealth but I didnt expect
them to live in such poverty. I was fully interactive with the students from the beginning
of the volunteering. I was playing with them on the playground, helping them with
homework, and talking to them about their lives. I was never fearful of getting involved
and that showed in my interactions that I had with the students. As a result of this

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experience I would say that I have changed in my level of passion for this group of
people. After this experience I want to do everything in my power to help these families
have a better future. I want to help these children have access to a better future than
working in the poultry plants because they couldnt afford to go to school. I want to
advocate for the rights of these incredibly special families because there doesnt seem to
be anyone else who wants to be a voice for them. My service learning has showed me
that teaching for social justice is extremely important. If this issue was addressed in the
schools I think that it would be much easier for families to see what is going on in their
community that they might not be paying attention to. I think that by teaching for social
justice I would be able to make families aware of issues that are going on in their own
community. I think that it is extremely important that people are made aware of these
issues if we want to invoke change, and what better way to invoke change than through
education.
I have learned that being a teacher in a diverse classroom setting can be difficult
at times, but it is also highly rewarding. I learned that I need to get to know my students
backgrounds before I start making assumptions about them. I also learned that it is very
important to get the parents and/or guardians involved in the childrens education. I
learned that there will be many struggles and push backs to what I am trying to do in
order to have an inclusive learning environment, but it is important that I make sure that
all of my students feel included in class. Lastly, I learned that I need to make sure that I
am understanding of all my students no matter where they come from because that is the
first step towards changing our societies view on diversity.

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References

Hoffman, S. (2008). Miles of Aisles of Sexism. Rethinking Early Childhood Education,

29-33. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
McIntosh, P. (1988). White Privilege and Male Privilege. Race and Racism. Retrieved
April 19, 2016.
Schlosser, Lewis Z.; Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development, 2003,
vol. 31, issue 1, p 44, ISSN 08838534. ISBN 08838534.