Pay attention to group dynamics in discussions – who dominates conversation, who gets cut off, who never speaks.
Communication is one of the easiest features that you can watch in a group discussion. While sitting in the lounge in Kulp dormitory, I sat back and watched as various students, many of them my close friends, talk about the past weekend. I was looking for who talked, for how long, how often, and who talks after each person, and who do they look at when they are speaking? I also wanted to see who interrupts whom?
From just sitting back and observing other people, I was able to tell a lot about the pattern of communication. It was obvious who influences whom. One of my friends, Molly, speaks very little, yet when she talks she captures the attention of the entire group. There is another girl who talks a lot but she does not get a lot of attention from the people that she is speaking to. I noticed a struggle for leadership among a few girls and those girls seemed to have somewhat of a rivalry. I thought that that type of passive communication stopped once we graduated high school.
Once another girl walked in to use the kitchen, I saw a group dynamic that I had seen very often. The idea of acceptance and inclusion within the group was prevalent. This usually takes place in the form of consistently agreeing with everyone and laughing at almost everything that is being said. There is almost a nervous laughter that fills the room for both parties.
You can tell a lot about people’s personalities from watching group discussions. Stress, lack of sleep, and anxiety always need to be considered during a group discussion. I think it would be interesting to look further into group dynamics, especially among my friend and work group. I think we could learn about how to better handle conflicts and consider people’s personalities when we are speaking to each other.
Speak up when someone makes a racist or homophobic comment in your presence
I was recently watching a comedian on television with a group of people. The comedian’s specialty must have been racist jokes because he told quite a few. As he was telling the jokes, I was very uncomfortable and perplexed at what to do. Many of the people I was with were laughing at them. I decided that it was important for me to stand up for what I believed even if it went against how my friends felt. As a future teacher, I do not want any of my students to think it is acceptable to tell a racist joke, even if it is in good humor and the person telling it does not mean for it to be hurtful. When I brought up how the joke was really not that funny, I got the response of “if we joke about stereotypes, then we can break down ignorance.”
I think it is important to put yourself in the affected group’s shoes. I think that if we all do that, then we will start to see how hurtful racial jokes are. We need to strive against racism and learn how to embrace other people because we are all different. I try to read as much as I can about other cultures. I try to keep my own prejudices and biases under control and remember that how someone looks does not compare to what is on the inside and our judgments should not be skin-deep.
Since today is Martin Luther King Dr. Day, It is important to remember that he told the world that he had a dream that one day; people will not be judged based on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character.
Pay attention to your groups – are they balanced as far as diversity? Gender?
I was looking forward to writing about my friends group because I feel as though my group has always been balanced as far as diversity. Ever since I was a little girl, I have had friends of various backgrounds and diversities. I went to an inner city elementary school where there were few white students and even few students who would be considered middle class. I learned that the color of my skin did not matter. When I went to junior high, I carried on my beliefs from elementary school and continued to be friends with many different people. When high school came, I applied to a high school that was known for its diversity and accepted a certain number of students that were in each racial and gender group. The school embraced everyone and gave us a chance to bring out culture into the classroom. We learned from eachother and did many projects and speeches about our heritage and what we found important about it. Racism was never allowed and we all seemed to respect one another. The banner that was written over the doors of the school said “through these halls walk the greatest students in the world,” and I believed that.
When I arrived at Goshen, I noticed immediately the differences between the two environments. Although Goshen embraces diversity, the students are not as diverse as my high school was. I still continue to learn from others whether it be based on gender or race. One of my friends that I have had since I got to Goshen is from Guam and although she may look like me, her culture is very different from mine.It was important for me to get to know her and recognize that. She has taught me more than she will ever know about acceptance of other people and about how looks really can be deceiving. I look forward to being able to embrace my future students and teach them about acceptance and what diversity really means.
