In my upbringing and schooling, western perspective and values were seen as very important. My family is Scottish, they were born and raised in the UK before they moved here, and I am first generation Canadian, so my family life was very European based. In school, our curriculum and the knowledge taught were very western-based as well. The books we read in English were European based, and really did not apply to our lives, but we read and studied them anyway, despite many students not connecting with the material. For example, I read 3 Shakespeare plays throughout high school. These plays were not reflective of the time period, current struggles, or reflective of a diverse classroom. Because of how my family and schooling focused largely on western knowledge and beliefs, I grew up learning and appreciating European knowledge. However, I know this also creates some biases and lenses that I have. I come into the classroom as a first-generation Canadian, as someone whose education was largely European based and only started to learn about Indigenous culture in the university. I know that these parts of me have created biases, and as a teacher, I might take a European route for a project that could have been done in another perspective. Or I might have a hard time connecting and reaching students whose first language is not English. I will attempt my best to create a classroom where every student can see themselves reflected in it, but I am also aware that my biases may direct me to do something I am more familiar with, which is why I need to unlearn the biases I have. I think the best way we can work against or unlearn our biases is to educate ourselves. Learning why you might have a bias, recognizing what is causing a bias, learning how the bias is misguided or prejudice, and recognizing how to move forward being aware of this bias you have.
In my own schooling, the single-story that mattered was the kids riding the curve. These students are the student’s lessons are directed at, whose assessments were looked at for successes; the curriculum and activities used were aimed at these students. Students who were above the curve were not addressed; they just finished their work and had free time; the fact that they were not learning anything new or challenging themselves did not matter. On the other side, students who fell below the curve stories were not present. Students who had learning disabilities, whose first language was not English, who were struggling in their personal lives, or students who struggled with schooling were not the aim of the class either. These students might have gotten extra help, but that was the point, they got extra help for a lesson not geared towards them. The single-story in this situation is the grades, ambitions, assignments, and goals of the students riding the curve while ignoring the minorities that do not fit into that box.
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