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The conflict I faced most at my previous job brings to mind an overbearing supervisor who liked to micromanage everything my team and I did. This individual was more concerned with what people thought they did as oppose to what they did. They were also more concerned with smoothing things over at the higher levels than actually being efficient and successful at the mission.

I managed this conflict in various stages and would step through different conflict management strategies based on how important the issue was to the team and how much of my pride I was willing to sacrifice that particular day. Most of the time, I answered with confrontation based on how the individual made me feel. I did not want them to win. This individual also would not cede any ground and would hardly compromise what they wanted to meet me halfway. Another thing that made this more frustrating was we were of equal rank, but they held positional authority over me. However, they saw me as less of a peer and more of a subordinate.

Despite the example above, I try to communicate first and establish what the issue is and how it makes the other person feel, as well as explain how it makes me feel. From there, I try to collaborate with a solution, but if there is no solution to collaborate with, I will begin to compromise with the individual. Depending on the issue and whether or not it is time-critical, I am usually willing to give up some ground to meet someone in the middle. The only time I use confrontation is when I feel disrespected, and the only time use the circumvention strategy is when I don’t respect the other individual and know they will try to undermine me. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for the conflict, and one has to be flexible and adapt to whatever the current issue is and be willing to use whatever strategy will be most effective for the issue and the individual.

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ALCON,

This behavior is unacceptable, unprofessional, and inappropriate on the company network. Your activity on a business computer violates the terms of use you signed before being assigned an account. This type of joke creates an unprofessional environment within the company, and you may not realize it, but you have just harassed someone who feels they aren’t equal based on who they are or what they believe.

Aside from that, your sarcasm is blatant, and it is apparent you are attempting to discredit the legitimate struggle of a wide range of people in this country who feel ostracized from mainstream society. The term “political correctness” reveals your hidden motive for sending this inappropriate joke. The term political correctness is routinely used and co-opted by those who have not faced discrimination and shows you don’t empathize with those who struggle every day in this country to be seen as equals.

Those of us who are considered mainstream America has a responsibility to advocate and be an ally for those who are treated unfairly. Instead of using your voice to tear these individuals down further, use it to build those individuals up who have no voice, or have a diminished voice because of who they are. Before you think of saying or sending a joke like this again, think about how it makes others feel when you laugh in the face of those who struggle daily in this country. Put yourself in the shoes of those you are mocking and I bet you won’t feel too good about it anymore.

Do better.

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Facebook Activity Log

1)      I liked my friend’s meme she posted while sitting in my computer chair at home. The interaction took about half a second. The topic was a political meme and I liked it because it made me laugh and there was truth to it.

2)      I commented on my grandfather’s page while sitting in my chair at home. The interaction took about 30 seconds.  The topic was his birthday and I wished him a happy birthday. It made me feel good and blessed that I have older family that utilize social media to stay in contact.

3)      I commented on another friend’s page while sitting in my chair at home. The interaction took about 30 seconds as well. The topic was a birthday again and I wished her a happy birthday. This interaction didn’t really make me feel anything.

4)      I liked and commented on my friend’s page at home. The interaction took half a second. The topic was her induction into the Senior enlisted tier of the United States Air Force. This interaction made me feel proud of my friend, as we have known each other for a long time.

5)      I liked my grandfather's picture he posted thanking people for birthday wishes at home. The interaction took half a second. It made me feel good to know that he felt appreciated and loved on his birthday.

6)      I liked and commented on a friend’s post at home. The interaction took about a minute because I had to think of a snarky comeback. The topic was about the Eagles and Cowboys, and as an Eagles fan, I had to defend them against the Cowboys fan by saying at least our Super Bowl Trophy isn’t old enough to drink. This interaction made me feel proud of my time and laughed pretty hard. The Cowboys fan hasn’t replied yet…

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The expectations listed in the syllabus make me feel apprehensive about taking the class in the first place. I feel this way because the expectations make it seem the classroom is not a place of learning and asking questions but instead a place of obedience because the teacher says so without any healthy debate or discourse among the class.

My cultural background relates to my feelings based on my experience in classes I have taken in my personal and professional life. I have never attended a class where the instructor told students not to ask questions or even look at the instructor when they teach. Students asking questions is one of the core foundations of learning, as it helps the student attain clarification; and ensure they understand the content and context of the lesson correctly. This kind of feedback for an instructor is crucial to adapt our teaching to ensure our students successfully transfer the learning.

However, I know this is unique to the Western culture, and the cultures of schools in other parts of the world are much different. While I do not know any individuals who have gone to school outside the United States, I did conduct a quick internet search and found an article describing how other cultures' students act in the classroom. Many cultures outside of Western influence believe it is a sign of disrespect to make direct eye contact with the teacher or any other person with authority.

Additionally, many students of these cultures are instructed by their family members to avoid eye contact because they see it as a sign of someone looking to challenge them. (Alrubail, 2016) Similarly, asking questions is encouraged in Western society, but in other parts of the world questions asked by the student can imply the teacher did not teach well and is considered impolite or even an insult to the instructor.

As mentioned previously, asking questions can also be seen as challenging the teacher's knowledge and is always discouraged (Alrubail, 2016) If I had not done a Google search, I would not have understood why a classroom would have rules like this, but now I understand it changes based on the culture of the students.

Resources:
Alrubail, Rusul, 2016. Being Mindful of Cultural Differences. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/being-mindful-cultural-differences

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Assessing the Six Areas of Diversity Consciousness

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Assessing the Six Areas of Diversity Consciousness

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First, I would assess how the individual identifies themselves and their world by asking the following four questions: What about your personality makes you unique? What motivates you? What kind of learning experiences are meaningful for you? How are you different from other members of your family?

Secondly, I would ask the following questions to see if they are capable or willing to expand their knowledge to learn about other cultures with the following questions: Do you seek opportunities to learn about other cultures? Would you immerse yourself in a different culture than your own? Do you believe everyone has a unique story to tell? Does diversity make us stronger or weaker?

The following questions would see if the individual can step outside of themselves and put themselves in other people's shoes: Do you see your truth as flexible or can it be changed based on other people's experiences? Do you believe assumptions about a group of people can change? Do you find stereotypes accurate? Can you judge someone just by looking at them?

Next, I would assess if they can gauge whether the playing field is level and admit some groups and cultures have a leg-up on others inherently with the following questions: Do you believe everyone has the same opportunities in life? Do you believe in equality or equity? Is institutional racism real? Would you describe yourself as privileged?

After that, I would assess their ability to check up on themselves and self-exam their assumptions with the following questions: Who do you tend to include in your social networks? Do you make snap judgments about people? What is your body language when talking to people who are different? Are you more comfortable around certain types of people?

Finally, I would assess their ability to follow through and pursue a diverse mindset with the following questions: Will you try to put yourself outside your comfort zone regularly? Do you believe someone can change their mindset easily? Are you willing to put hard work into changing the assumptions you have? Can someone eliminate bias from their thinking?

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Teaching through only one modality can negatively affect the delivery of the material you are teaching because you will be alienating a portion of your students while also sending the message that their learning style isn’t valid in your eyes. I wanted to take a couple of learning styles inventory quizzes to identify my learning style biases. I took two tests and will discuss the results in this brief reflection essay.

The first test I took from a website called Education Planner and was a 20-question test giving me the result of being biased toward tactile learning, which is a surprise to me because I have never gotten this result from any other test like this I have taken. The second test I took was from another website called How to Study and was a 30-question test that gave me the results of a predisposition towards visual learning, which is more in line with what I knew beforehand.

However, I agree with both tests and believe I align with the visual and tactile learning styles because I like to watch people do things first before I attempt them myself. The military uses this approach for teaching procedural knowledge for hands-on tasks. The instructor does whatever the desired procedure is first, then we do it together with assistance, then we do it together and use other students as a resource, and finally, we do the task alone and get evaluated on whether or not we successfully know the procedure or not. The military calls this the crawl, walk, run approach.

Additionally, when it comes to the lecture style of learning and the knowledge piece, I prefer to see and read textbooks, slides, whiteboards, or whatever audio-visual resources the instructor uses. I have a hard time in lecture-only classes with no audio-visual aides and feel like I lose track of where I am more easily during audio-only lectures.

Knowing your predisposition to your learning style is helpful as an educator because it lets you know what your bias is and how you will naturally teach if you don’t actively work to incorporate other learning styles into your teaching methods.