Bahou 1

FinalSelfReflection

WhenIamathomeduringthesummeroroverbreaks,Ibabysita9yearoldboy

namedLuke*whohasahardtimefittinginduehismildcaseofAspergersSyndrome.Luke

hascertainquirksthatotherstudentsthinksarestrange,sotheybullyhim.Athisprevious

school,Lukewasthesameway,butonereallyclosefriendalwaysstooduptothebulliesfor

him.Now,however,hisisaloneisthisdarkplacebeinghurtbythesebullieshopingthateach

daywillgetbetter,butthatisnotthecaseifthereisntachange.Byrealizinghowevident

bullyingisstilltoday,Ithinkitisimportantforus,asteachers,to[transform]educational

practicesandstructuresthatinhibitequityandjusticelikeitsaysinCalvinsStatementof

CommitmenttoProfessionalism.Thoughsomestudentsmaybeembarrassedaboutbeing

bulliedandhesitatetotellanauthority,itisimportantforustoalwaysbecautiousofbullying,

and,whenweseeit,weinterveneandpreventitasmuchaspossible.WhenIamateacher,I

cantevenimaginehowupsettingitwouldbeifstudentsweretreatedunfairlybyother

students.

InInclusiveTeaching:TheJourneyTowardEffectiveSchoolsforAllLearnersby

Peterson(foundinourPearsontextbook),ittalksaboutdifferentresponsestodifferent

people.ThefirsttwonegativestagesexterminationandsegregationapplytoLuke.

Althoughhehasnotbeenfullysegregatedbybeingsentsomewhereelsetolearn,Lukeis

segregatedfromhisclassmates,thusleadinghimatobealoner.Althoughheisnotbanished

orkilledliketheexterminationstagetypicallyis,hisvoiceissteadilybeingsuppressed,which

will,inthelongrun,endupinLukebeingvoiceless.Inaddition,IncludingSamuelhada

girlnamedEmily,whoalienatedherselffromthestudentsbecausetheyconstantlybullied
 Bahou 2

her.Althoughshehadschizophrenia,herandherparentsbelievesthatkeepingherspiritintact

wasthemostimportantthing.Peopledonotseeherasthebeautifulanduniquewayshesees

herself;rather,theyseeherasanobesegirlwhohallucinatestheseweirdanimelikefigures.

Inthisportionofthevideo,itwasapparentthatbullyingcouldseverelyhurtsomeonetothe

pointofsuicide.

InSelfReflection2,weexploredtheroles,stereotypesthreats,andjusticeinthe

classroom.Inselfreflectiontwo,weweretoldtogiveasituationinwhichwetherewas

injusticesintheclassroom.Thereflectionconsistedofatarget(theoneswhoreceiveunjust

actionthatoppressthem),Ally(agirlwhostandsupforothers),bystanders(peoplewho

watchtheseunjustthingshappen),andtheperpetrator(personwhocommitsunjustrole).

WhenIdidthis,IalsodiditonsomeoneIknewthatgotbullied,buttheirsituationwas

differentbecauseAllywastheretointerveneandstandupforthevictimbeingtargeted.

However,nowIrealizethatIshouldnotalwaysassumethatsomeonewillintervenebecause

inLukescase,heisaloneandtreatedveryunjustlybyhispeers.Yes,peopleseethis

happening,butitseemsthatnobodyorteacherismakinganattempttoputthebullyintheir

place.

*Nameshavebeenchangedforprivacypurposes