A Retrospective Look at the Learning Logs, Essay Example

Taking a retrospective look at the learning logs I submitted during the present course, I can find some progress in understanding the nature of parental involvement in the life of school, and the lives of teachers and students. In addition, I see how important the cultural and racial issues are even in the smallest classrooms with no ethnic minorities present; people who grow as culturally sensitive, aware, and tolerant people have more chances to accept diversity, which means survival and full-scale participation in the modern life. It is obvious that cultural diversity is a normal trait of any social activity of the 21^st century; hence, small children, as they grow up, have to get accustomed to the abundance of cultures, religions, worldviews, and values surrounding them at school and everyday life.

When I was reviewing my previous learning logs, the idea of the overarching impact of globalization has come to my mind. The two central concepts I repeatedly discussed were the use of technology in the classroom and out of it for stimulation of parental involvement, and the importance of cultural sensitivity and cross-cultural literacy in all issues related to education. Thus, as I can infer, these are both issues brought about to the forefront of modern theoretical and practical attention by the trend of globalization; when nations began to cooperate, and when the communication tools enabled people to cross all distances instantly, people were confronted with the diversity of cultures, religions, ethical values, and other features they used to comprehend only in theory. Thus, people started to move from country to country to receive education, to work, or just to have fun. Representatives of various cultures that used to be isolated several centuries ago may now live in one building, or may have dinner in one café, or may work in one department of a large company. Cultural diversity is everywhere, and now accepting it reveals many challenges for successful life and work of students.

The issue of culture is very complex, and it encompasses a great number of aspects, shades of meaning, manifestations, personal reflections, and collective memory of a nation or a group of people preserving a certain culture as their legacy. Representatives of some cultures have suffered oppression and deprivation due to certain historical periods in their countries, so they may need more time and more attention to open up for American students, or representatives of other cultures whose experiences are not so traumatic. Thus, both students and teachers have to be open towards new cultural experiences in a culturally diverse classroom. Parents should also be involved in the learning process; here is the task of a teacher to show how interested he or she is, and other students are in finding out what their culture can teach and tell them.

However, the focus on cultural literacy should be made not only in classrooms where representatives of various classrooms study together. The focus on cultural studies is necessary even in the classroom where only native-born Americans study, since neglect towards cultural studies may raise racist views in them. There are many Americans who live with a sense of superiority transferred to them by their family or environment; this feeling and attitude is outdated, reactive, and discriminatory, as the times of opposition, fight for equality, and bitterness of segregation show. My role as that of a teacher indicates that I need to show the backwardness of these feelings, and to teach students cultural attention, curiosity, and acceptance. The reason for this is that even if the school deprives students of the chance to get acquainted with other cultures, this will obviously happen in future; hence, students have to be ready for all sorts of cultural encounters for the sake of their ability to play diverse social roles, to be flexible and adaptable, which is highly valued nowadays.

The second issue brought about by globalization is the speed and diversity of communication tools. I surely understand that they are the by-products (or even the main products) of the overall technological progress aimed at erasing the existing physical and virtual boundaries. However, with the introduction of technical advancements, children and adults have faced the whole world’s presence in their phone or computer, which might have been at first striking and frightening, and then – thrilling and involving. I do agree that nowadays, people have become more equipped with technical knowledge so that to use the miracles of technological progress reasonably. However, taking into account the young age at which children start to master computers and phones, Internet and social networking nowadays, I think it is essential to teach students the digital literacy skills, the issues of privacy and confidentiality, the possibility of digital fraud, and the opportunities offered to them by the programs and tools of technical origin.

I believe that the Internet is surely not only fun or informational garbage; as I have recently found out, the Internet network offers practically unlimited opportunities for studies in any subject, at any age, and in any form, which can expand the boundaries of my classroom essentially. In addition, the Internet and other communication tools offer innovative, collaborative means of communication that simplify access to information for many members of the school community. So, I have discovered a realm of communication tools that can help me involve parents in the educational process, making them more involved and informed about the life of their children at school. As I previously noted, parents are very busy, and even despite their wish to give the best to their children, they often miss the most important issue – parental attention and participation in the child’s life. Hence, I believe that technological developments of modernity can empower both me and parents, will make their participation (even though it may at times be tele-participation, through a web-conference or a recorded podcast) more frequent and more comfortable for all stakeholders of the educational process.