Peyton Barr

Cultural Autobiography
INTRODUCTION: I have always been drawn to education because of its belief that human
beings can be more as we pursue knowledge. Consequently, I define multicultural education as
inclusive instruction that a teacher must utilize in order to give disparate students an equal
opportunity at bettering themselves. It is a form of teaching in which varying races, nationalities,
genders, sexual orientations, social classes, languages, etc., are viewed as advantageous, because
they help educators engage diverse learners. It is a form of education in which identity and
learning are not separated, because our cultural background defines who we are, and who we are
coincides with how we learn. With this definition of multicultural education, I will analyze my
own cultural identity in order to determine what type of teacher I will become. In the end, I hope
that my experiences have helped me become closer to instructing in an all-inclusive way.
RACE: With attention to the various aspects that have shaped my cultural identity, I believe that
race has been the most influential. I am a Caucasian individual. However, I have multiple family
members who are of mixed backgrounds, which signifies that I am not a person who has felt the
need to only surround myself with people who are similar to me. I attribute this comfort of
getting to know diverse people back to the racial composition of my own family as well as my
experience at Crestview Elementary School in Indianapolis. I attended this school for about five
years alongside the majority of Hispanic and African American students. As a result, the majority
of my early socialization involved regularly interacting with racially diverse peers.
While my ability to form strong relationships with racially diverse individuals has made
me more appreciative of other races, I must realize that this does not mean that I know what life
is like as a minority. I have lived my life comfortably wrapped in the security blanket that is
white privilege. I have watched and stood up for my loved ones as they were discriminated by

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overtly prejudiced individuals, but I have never personally experienced this discrimination. My
lack of experience with racial discrimination stems from the fact that we live in a society that is
dominated by white individuals. A society that is consistent in its overt representation of whites
as more capable than racial minorities.
I believe that I truly started to learn about white privilege when I moved to Carmel,
Indiana. I would not be as accepting as I am now if I had not experienced schooling outside of
Carmel, because I was not able to interact with many diverse peers while I was there. The
Caucasians around me spoke about minorities in a way that I did not understand by labeling them
as ghetto and poor. While I was not and never will be comfortable with this type of stereotypical
mindset, I have to admit that I often took the path of least resistance. As mentioned in class
discussion, people often do this in order to avoid the repercussions that would accompany
challenging those around them. Therefore, I continued to surround myself with people who did
not seem to realize that their white privilege is what made it possible for them to speak so
negatively about other races without facing serious consequences. While I never stood up for
others while I was there, I am glad that I moved to Carmel, because the experience solidified my
belief that humans deserve to be treated equally. As a future educator, I have the ability to
contribute to this equality, which requires that I resist taking the path of least resistance in order
to prevent discrimination and promote acceptance.
When I think about how my life experiences have changed me, I often think about the
children at Ross. I started my cultural journey as a young child who never gave skin color a
second thought, but as I grew up, I found that my surroundings and the media encouraged me to
label minorities as less-worthy. When I am at Ross Center, I see children who are able to enjoy
each others company regardless of their differences. While many of them are white, there are

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two children that are Hispanic. I am delighted to say that I have never observed these children
being treated negatively by other kids, or volunteers because of their status as minorities in this
specific environment. On the other hand, I often wonder how these interactions will change over
time, and if systemic racism and the influence of peers, family, teachers, and the media will
hinder these childrens ability to collaborate despite their differences.
As a future educator, I hope that I am able to take my appreciation of other races and
pass that on to my own students. I hope to influence children to see character over skin color, and
I plan on doing this by consistently using racially-representative examples. In addition, I will
encourage students to partake in dialogue about racial relations in our country. I am aware that
the school environment can be a huge factor in students views of other races, so it is my
responsibility to help students fight against their prejudices while I continue to fight against my
own.
CLASS: My social class is an additional aspect of my cultural identity that has drastically
affected how I view others who are different from me. I was raised in a lower middle class home
by a single mother. Despite facing many obstacles, my mother worked extremely hard to ensure
that I attended one of the top schools in the state. The fact that I had to move from a
predominantly minority school to a predominantly white school in order to receive a better
education says a lot about white privilege and access to educational resources.
When discussing social class, my transition from Indianapolis to Carmel was an
additional turning point in my life. I went from living near families of similar social class to
living near families that had an exponentially greater amount of money than my own family. In
addition to feeling ostracized by peers because of my class background, I also felt that teachers
had lower expectations of me. I struggled from the first day of fifth grade, due to the fact that the

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curriculum in Carmel was held to a higher academic rigor as compared to the standards of my
previous school. As the research suggests, I felt as though I often lived up to my teachers low
expectations. It was as if I did not want to do well, because I did not have anybody in my corner
telling me that I could succeed. As mentioned in class discussion, this is a reality for many lowerincome students, because educational resources as well as high expectations remain faint. In
addition, the majority of these lower-income students tend to be minorities, which shows how
educational resources continue to be geared toward wealthier, white students. In other words, the
relationship between racial privilege and class privilege is apparent as it continues to favor one
type of student.
Furthermore, I have witnessed societys low expectations for poorer students while at
Ross Center. I often reflect back on orientation day, because a few volunteers overemphasized
the negative aspects associated with the impoverished children we would be working with. I
remember hearing about how some of them smelled as well as how the majority of them were in
special classes. After volunteering, I have indeed observed how much potential these children
have in a society that tells them otherwise. I have seen them build skyscrapers with cups, catch
imaginary butterflies, and contribute ideas to help make Ross Center a better place. These
children do not lack the drive or creativity necessary to succeed, but low expectations and little
resources are realistic obstacles for them in life. This can be attributed back to the inequity in an
education system that relies on property taxes for educational funding.
LANGUAGE: As a native Standard English speaker, I have lived my life comfortably behind
the linguistic privilege that I receive every single day. As mentioned previously, I attended an
elementary school that was composed of primarily Hispanics and African Americans. As a result,
I watched as teachers told ESL and bilingual students to stop speaking Spanish in the classroom.

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Differing languages seem to be rejected as English remains the standard in our country as
established by the culturally elite. This often pushes others to believe that those who speak
differing dialects and languages are unintelligent. As a child, I lacked empathy for these peers,
and I did not like the idea of them speaking a language that I could not understand. As I reflect
back on previously held ideas, I realize that the negative outlook I had of these students is
extremely common in our society, because of linguistic privilege. In addition, these views were
validated by my teachers low expectations of these students, which shows how influential
teacher behavior can be on students beliefs and values. As I acquire this knowledge, I recognize
that I cannot be a multicultural educator without utilizing native languages as an educational
resource instead of a barrier.
My beliefs and values regarding linguistic privilege changed when I started learning
Spanish in high school. I was finally able to understand how hard learning a new language is
when my Spanish teacher told me that I could not rely on English during class conversation. I
felt a high amount of anxiety and embarrassment when it came to speaking Spanish, which
prevented me from actively participating. As discussed in course readings, this is a reality for
bilingual and ESL students who do not feel like they can fall back on their native language when
studying English. As a result, participation is often low in these students, because society has
stigmatized speaking English with a discernable accent. In addition, the ban of any language or
dialect other than Standard English in schools continues to hurt the students that speak them,
because they realize that such a huge part of their identity is not accepted.
With attention to differing dialects and languages, it is important to talk about the
children at Ross Center. As mentioned previously, there are two Hispanic boys at the center that
talk English with a noticeable accent. In addition, many of the Caucasian children speak with

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rural accents. In a society that associates Standard English with intelligence, I am sure that
these students will face numerous obstacles because they lack linguistic privilege. It is probable
that they will be seen as less intelligent in schools, which often leads to lower teacher
expectations. After getting to know these children, I am certain that they are not less intelligent
because of their differing pronunciation of words. Consequently, I do not believe that this aspect
of their identity should be wiped away in the school setting. As a future educator that hopes to
rely on my personal definition of multicultural education, I see the value in utilizing native
language to build an inclusive curriculum, because language is a huge aspect of ones identity.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: As a bisexual woman, I have experienced the societal
discrimination and unacceptance that surrounds the LGBT community firsthand. Although I am
openly bisexual today, I have been impacted by internalized oppression, or internalized
homophobia throughout a huge portion of my youth. As discussed in class, this type of
oppression made me feel ashamed of myself, because I was exposed to societys negative
opinions of the LGBT community. These intolerant perceptions were further engrained in me as I
watched movies and TV shows in which fags were ostracized and harassed. Consequently, I
behaved in a way that was very hateful towards sexual minorities in order to convince others and
myself that I was heterosexual. After imperative personal growth, I determined that this
internalized and systemic oppression is in place so that heterosexuality can maintain its role as
the dominant sexuality in our society.
After finally understanding how systemic oppression had encouraged me to hate who I
am, I decided that it was time to come out as bisexual. Now that I embrace my sexuality, I no
longer hold such abhorrence for myself and others. As an LGBT member, I could never act in a
discriminatory way towards students on the basis of sexuality. In addition, I plan on habitually

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utilizing representative examples of sexual minorities in order to help LGBT students feel
validated and recognized in my own classroom. Although society has definitely progressed in its
acceptance and recognition of LGBT members, there is still a lot of work to be done. I have
heard the word gay and faggot used as an insult several times from the children at Ross
Center. I often partake in discussion with the kids there when I hear them use these types of
negative words, because I do not believe that the education system does a good enough job of
encouraging dialogue about this subject. Thus, it is imperative that educators speak out against
these derogatory terms in order to educate students on sexuality and the importance of respecting
those who fall outside of heterosexual norms.
GENDER: Moreover, as a female in a male-dominated society, my gender has had a huge
impact on my life experiences. For example, I have faced the discrimination that comes with
being a female rugby player. I was constantly told that this was a mans sport, and even had to
watch as the boys team received more funding than my own team. I am able to relate my
previous experiences with this type of unfairness back to societys ongoing dependence on
gender stereotypes as truths. One of these stereotypes includes the false idea that womens sports
are inferior to mens, because males are stronger and more athletic than females. As mentioned in
class discussion, male dominance and dependence on stereotypes is a huge problem in society,
especially in schools, because it can lead to unequal education of males and females. More
specifically, women and men are encouraged to pursue certain occupations and interests because
these jobs and interests are seen as gender-exclusive. As an educator that plans on utilizing the
multicultural approach, I will not allow these stereotypes to hinder my students pursuit of
whatever interests them, whether or not it crosses these gender appropriate lines. In order to
make my classroom gender-inclusive, I plan on regularly representing both males and females in

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all professions. Furthermore, I realize that I may need to gear gender-equity more towards female
students, because mens dominant role in society has oppressed women for centuries.
When discussing gender, I am glad to report that I have never witnessed any type of
gender discrimination at Ross Center. The male and female students are encouraged to do what
interests them, and I have never observed others force them to partake in gender stereotypical
activities. For example, I often work with a child named Kaiden, who loves to draw when the
other boys play sports. His love for drawing has never been seen as effeminate, or abnormal. The
kids and volunteers at Ross Center all respect his wishes to draw even though it may go against
our societys gender norms. Consequently, I am glad to have witnessed this type of respect at the
Ross Center, and it is an experience that I hope to apply in my own classroom so that all student
interests are supported regardless of if they are seen as gender appropriate.
RELIGION: Although I do not consider religion to be an integral part of my identity, it is an
additional factor that has shaped who I am today. I was raised Christian, but after experiencing
religious homophobia, I eventually distanced myself from faith. In addition, the religious
representations I tended to see in the media preached out against homosexuality, which made me
feel as though I did not belong in the church as an LGBT member. On account of experiencing
this, I did not practice religion throughout my adolescence. However, my outlook on faith
changed after I took multiple collegiate religious courses, which encouraged me to look at
religion as a subject instead of a reflection of my own beliefs. With this approach to faith, I
learned how to appreciate other peoples religious motivations.
It is important to realize that my previously held belief that religion and its followers are
hateful stems from my inability to move past stereotypical representations. As mentioned in class
discussion and content, humans often base our views of social groups on the interactions we have

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with an unrepresentative portion of these groups. As a future multicultural educator, I am glad to
have been able to move past these stereotypical representations, because I know that religion will
be an integral aspect of many of my students identities. While it is not my duty to believe what
my students believe, it is my duty to respect their religious beliefs and opinions as long as they
are not utilized in a way that disrespects others.
With this in mind, I have discussed certain religious aspects with the children at Ross
Center. Specifically, there have been instances when children were curious about my religious
beliefs. I drew upon their curiosity in order to have a discussion about religious tolerance,
because the majority of the children come from a Christian background. In addition, I was
capable of discussing how Christianity is not the only faith despite its dominant status. As a
person that has studied many religions, I see the value in teaching about them in my own class. It
is the case that several students have never studied religion outside of practicing their own,
which is detrimental due to the fact that we can not begin to respect diverse identities until we
open up our minds to understanding the ways of others. Furthermore, discussing religion helps
culturally diverse students realize that they are similar, because all faiths share the characteristic
of meeting human needs despite the various ways in which these needs are met.
CONCLUSION: Above all, I believe that my life experiences have opened me up to accepting
and appreciating those who are culturally diverse from me. As a future educator, I realize that
this type of empathy is necessary in order to consistently create a curriculum that feels allencompassing to students differing perspectives, beliefs, and values. While I do believe that I
will be this type of educator, I am committed to improving upon my ability to accommodate
diverse cultures by regularly partaking in professional development opportunities. What I do as
an educator is about my students, and I cannot do what is best for them if I do not continue to

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learn how to best validate who they are. Therefore, I will continue to stress the importance of
getting to know students as individuals instead of reflections of my own values and beliefs.