Saturday 8 December 2012

Final log: Reflection on my Learning


Over the course of the semester we had several different opportunities to learn about different cultures we will come into contact with as Child and Youth Workers in the Field. We learned about different cultures in the following ways:
·Assignments (such as blogging, reflecting, and venturing into the “real world” to experience something outside of our own cultural comfort zone)
·         Field trips (Quinte Mohawk School to experience the Mohawk Community’s Harvest festival celebration and to Sir James Whitney to experience the Deaf culture)
·          Guest speakers which covered the cultures of First Nations, Metis, LGBTQQ, Homeless, and People with Intellectual or Physical disabilities.
My cultural awareness and competence has definitely increased to a level in which I will be comfortable in working with different cultural groups within the Child and Youth Worker field. I must also say that Sarah’s creativity definitely made this course what it is. Your creativity kept me engaged and excited about content and the types of assignments you came up with for us to complete really gave me the opportunity to learn as much as I could about the content of this course.  It is one thing to sit in a lecture hall and talk about different cultures, but to go out into the world and choose something new to experience, like in the comfort zone assignment, was something I will never forget. Making weekly blogs was also one of the most meaningful assignments I have done throughout the entire CYW course. I learned how to use the internet to research things I never even knew existed, I got to reflect on my learning in class and extend it so far past what I would have learned simply from sitting in a classroom. As a bonus, I learned a lot about how to run a computer, which is an important lifelong skill and one I really needed to improve on. This course helped me to be comfortable to go out in the field and work with different cultures, whether or not it was a culture I learned about in class, I now have a higher level of respect for differences and know how to work with people of different cultures in a more respectful manner.




Reflection on Learning Throughout the Semester
Assignments
The “outside of my Cultural Comfort Zone” assignment was such a great assignment. I learned so much that I had no idea about. This assignment not only taught me about the Caribbean culture but also a lot about stigma and stereotypes since I had some smaller stereotypes from previous situations I had been involved in. I also learned how valuable it is to push myself to do things that do make me uncomfortable since it is a situation which makes it possible to learn so much. I actually pushed myself to do an additional “outside my comfort zone” assignment later in the semester which I used my blog to reflect about. The second time I stepped out of my comfort zone, I went to see the Drag Queens at Crews and Tangos in Toronto. This is a fun and exciting way to learn new things. I will push myself to continue the out of my comfort zone style of learning throughout my career and my life, since when I am uncomfortable I tend to learn a lot and remember the situation in more detail.
The class presentations, although a lot of work, were really beneficial to my learning as well. I learned a lot about my own group topic (New Canadians) and gave me a new level of respect to people, since it allowed me to learn the extent of things people have to do to become a Canadian Citizen. I also learned from watching the other presentations. It was an exciting way to learn about a lot of different cultures very quickly and we got to learn it from our classmates, which is also a nice change.
The blog assignment was also amazing for my learning. I learned so many things that I would not have learned without it. A huge part of the learning with the blogging is the resources I came across when I was looking for videos and articles to include in my blogs. One example I can think of off the top of my head is when I was doing my blog about LGBTQQ issues. I came across a video on YouTube done by a young man named Gregory Gorgeous. After looking into a lot of his videos I discovered that he is an awesome role model for LGBTQQ youth and he has a whole YouTube channel with new video blogs almost every week. There is not many role models for LGBTQQ youth, especially ones that identify themselves as LGBTQQ. There are even fewer that I would consider appropriate for youth. After watching several Gregory Gorgeous videos I realized that he is very respectful, funny and touches on some important issues within the LGBTQQ community. Without having done blogs as an assignment I would not have had the opportunity to learn about this great role model for youth. In the same way I learned about many other online resources I will be able to use in the field. I will also know how to better use the internet to research areas I need to learn more about using appropriate and relevant resources. Over the course of the semester we talked about many cultures, but the ones I got to learn the most about were the ones I blogged about. I chose to do blogs on First Nations issues, Quinte Mohawk and their Harvest Festival, LGBTQQ issues, anti-homophobia, homelessness, intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities.
Guest Speakers
I love the guest speakers we had come into class. There were so many of them and they all had so many important topics for us to learn about. Here are some of the ones that I enjoyed the most (although I enjoyed all of them and learned something from each!)
Andy (First Nations and Metis issues): Andy coming to speak to us about the issues that the First Nation villages up north face was so important. I had learned a very small amount about it during high school but never in this much detail. There were things I never really thought about or even knew existed before Andy’s talk. I never realized how remote these places were and how a lot of the things we do on a daily basis they had never even heard of. There are a lot of terrible things that go on, like abuse and children who huff gasoline. We as CYWs need to be up there, and in other remote areas to help them, however Andy also helped us to understand why we would not always be welcomed into the communities, because of the way our own culture treated them in the past. All of this knowledge was very eye-opening and important to our work in the field.
Eric, Kim and Deb (LGBTQQ Issues and Anti-Homophobia): This presentation was one of my favorite parts of this entire course. I have always been very supportive of the LGBTQQ community and would identify myself as an ally. Even though I have been around people who identify as homosexual for most of my life and am not uncomfortable in the least, I still learned a lot from Eric, Kim and Deb. One of the most important things I learned from listening to them speak was how we need to work with LGBTQQ identified youth as CYWs. This was a completely different context than having LGBTQQ friends and one that I am glad I got to learn. Apart from having Eric, Kim and Deb come in as guest speakers, I also then had the opportunity to learn more about LGBTQQ issues through my blog. I learned so many new things and got to see so many videos that were really touching. The most powerful thing I learned from blogging about LGBTQQ issues was regarding how many LGBTQQ identified youth end up homeless after coming out to family and either being kicked out or having to run away.
Sandy (Working with Youth who are Homeless): Having Sandy come speak to us about youth who are homeless was great. I have always wanted to learn about homelessness and poverty and work with youth who are facing issues of homelessness after I graduate. Apart from a few assignments where I got to choose to write about homelessness, I have not had the chance to learn that out of this course. I was happy to finally get the opportunity. From speaking with Sandy, I learned just how relevant the issue of homelessness is to our field, and how much services are needed in our community. I also learned that when we work with people who are homeless we need to use a ‘wrap around’ approach. This means we need to focus on more than just the fact that the person needs affordable housing, but also work on things like career counselling, mental health counselling, obtaining health care, getting food and clothing and obtaining Ontario Works, of course this list is different for each individual.
Colleen (Working with children and youth who have disabilities): My greatest learning came from listening to Colleen. Before having Colleen as a guest speaker, I had been kind of nervous around people with disabilities and definitely had not wanted to work with after graduation. After listening to Colleen Speak and furthering my learning through blogging about it after class, I actually would consider working with children and youth who have disabilities. As I learned from my blog “We are more alike than different!”
Field Trips
Quinte Mohawk School: We went on a field trip to Quinte Mohawk School to take part in their Harvest Festival. It was really awesome to learn about the different traditions the Mohawk culture takes part in. They seem to be really big on community. I found it odd that I have lived in this area for so long and never took the opportunity to know anything about their culture. The best part about about the harvest festival was interacting with the students and getting to help them with their crafts, learning the dances from the intermediate girls, and of course the turkey dinner was delicious. I loved how they gave us so much that day yet they were so thankful to us for what we did for them with the games.
Sir James Whitney: The trip to Sir James Whitney field trip taught me so much. I never had much opportunity to interact with people who are deaf. One of the most important things that Aaron taught us was that if we are working with a child or youth who is deaf how we need to advocate for youth, whether or not we work directly with them or not. For example, Never let a child or youth act as an interpreter. I learned so much this day.  

Plan for continued learning
I am going to continue the outside of my comfort zone on a regular basis. I learned so much from the outside my comfort zone assignment and I also want to keep blogging. I will keep using people first language since it shows respect to everyone. I also will not judge anyone until I meet them

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