THE DIVERSITY OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE

The Diversity of Human Experience: Students will enhance their appreciation for and understanding of the rich complexity of the human experience through the study of differences in ethnic and cultural perspectives, class, race, gender, sexual orientation and ability.

Me: My philosophy paper on education best relates to the Diversity of Human Experience goal. About six years ago I reached the level of understanding on how life’s complexities shape the way we live, learn, and behave. I wouldn’t say that I totally understood the world but enough to realize my place in it. Entering college has opened a whole new door to that realization. I have become conscious in which ways I learn best and which ways are least affective. Writing the philosophy paper on education gave me the chance to express these ways of learning compared to the ideology of Paulo Freire. It also gave me a reason to reflect on how others around the world live, learn, and behave, based on the resources that are accessible.


My Philosophy
Society has set standards that shape our lifestyles, whether we are consciously aware of them or not. But not all humans match up to these “standards”. One huge example of this would be the learning standards on education. Paulo Freire believes that one will not engage themselves unless they have the capabilities of thinking independently. Columbo knows that our surrounding culture shapes the way we think. So who is to say how we, students, learn. There is no methodology that is perfect.
“Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiqués and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. This is the banking concept of education…”(Freire). Paulo Freire, author of the Pedagogy of the Oppressed felt that this teaching style, this learning style, was dysfunctional. I, as the student, and with my experiences, agree with his dislike. For me, I prefer the hands on experience, the one-on-one communication with the teacher. I can relate this concept when I think about the Pre-Calc class I took my senior year in high school. All the teacher did was preach. Preach about this formula and that formula, and repeat. I tried to take notes that I could later reflect on, but every night I sat down to do homework and I felt like I didn’t know a thing. I felt like I had learned nothing. It being high school I did have the chance to go in after class to get help, but this still didn’t help. He would say what he said in class, with no justifications. I disliked the learning style so much I dropped the class 4 weeks in. In my opinion, this learning style shuts down the human’s creative capabilities. It makes us robotic. On another note, it creates those who want change, new standards, and new inventions.
Who do we base these standards off of? The answer is our surroundings, our culture. “Culture shapes the way we think; it tells us what “makes sense”…We live enmeshed in this cultural web: it influences the way we relate to others, the way we look, our tastes, our habits…but as culture binds us together is also selectively blinds us” (Columbo). As we grow up we tend to pick up the norms of our parents/caretakers who inturn picked them up form their parents/caretakers. From them we learn what is right and is wrong. What tastes good and the way we should present ourselves to the world. We begin to grow into this tunnel vision sort of thing, where we think we know what is right and what is wrong. What is realistic and what is fictional. If we all have separate cultural standpoints, then it’s obvious we all don’t learn the same. So here I am, age 18, trying to answer a question from my sociology book, asking me to think critically about a tribes cultural norms. The close minded person I am, finds the text to be vulgar. Why would people torture themselves like that I ask myself? What the question really wants me to do is let down my barriers, and think about other perspectives, the tribes’ perspective. “Instead of focusing on dates and events in history…she probes for motives, causes – an explanation of how things came to be” (Columbo). However this is difficult for me because my culture did not teach me this. Neither did or has any of my other classes. Sure I was raised to be opened minded and accepting, but when it comes to thinking outside the box, we all have a challenge to overcome.
““How do students learn?” Psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists have been debating this question for decades” (Krantz). I know from personal experience, whether my own studying habits or helping other people, that we all learn at different levels and at different paces. I have friends with reading disabilities but it doesn’t make them any less of person. I myself, have a slight comprehension issue, especially when it comes to reading topics I lack interest in. I know there is no one-way of teaching. All teachers have different styles with different goals in mind. There also is no one-way to learn, no one style that suits everyone. I would, and I am sure you would too, be bored of learning if we were doing the same routines everyday. But this style of teaching and learning does exist. “It is important that we continue to explore new methods to teach…” (Krantz). I couldn’t have said it better. With how fast the world is growing, new discoveries occur every day, in every society and in every culture. So why should we continue with the same old learning styles?
I as a human do not match up to societies standards. In fact, I don’t want to. I want to challenge to world and see if it can understand me. See that there are many independent thinkers out there. There doesn’t need to be “one’ method that works for everyone.






Works Cited

Freire, Paulo. "Pedagogy of the Oppressed." Chapter 2. New York: Continuum Books, 1993.
Krantz, Steven G. "How to Teach Mathematics." How Do Students Learn. 23.
"Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths." The Power of Cultural Myths. 3-4.

Me: I would like to relate to my Self bio to this goal. When the class was completed with their Self bio’s we were to pair with someone in out mentor session. After we paired up we got the chance to read over each other’s bio’s. After reading we got to ask questions, while trying to relate to what they had written. This activity gave us the chance to see something about life in a different light.


Self Bio
I am a friend, an enemy, and a lover. I am a student and a teacher. I am what the government considers as “its” future. I am only human. I am Charlene Marie Harshman.

I am a firm advocate of individuality. Whatever fashion you possess, whatever color you are, whatever your opinions are, I will respect that. Only to hope to have the same kindness granted in return. I was raised to believe that anyone could get what he or she wanted out of life if they worked for it. Whether it is a college education or that kitty I always wanted, but never had. I have learned that in order to make others happy, you must first make yourself happy. All this
has helped me be the person I am today.

I am the kind of person to look at someone and say “No man, that glass is half full, not empty!” However, I will admit some days the glass does seem half empty. But that is only life. It has its ups, and its downs, and in the end it always works out. I have been a hardheaded person for as long as I remember. I speak what is on my mind.

My friends consider me the “mother” of the crew. My friends have come and gone over the years but I have finally found some keepers. Music = Life. Whatever mood I am in, when my friends and family are not around, I can always find a song that sooths the soul. My family is my main support system. My boyfriend is a priceless gift. These four things make up the difference when I have a frown on my face. These four aspects of my life are what get me out of bed every morning.

But I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for my father. I wouldn’t know how to be the friend, or the enemy, or the lover. If it weren’t for the life lesson my father taught me, I wouldn’t be the student I am or the teacher I have become. I don’t know who I would be, or where I would be. But I am sure glad to be me. Thank you.