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I come from Hong Kong. My parents were born in Hong Kong. My father currently works as a  lecturer at Vocational Council; he specializes in teaching business law there.  My father provides English notes although he teaches his students in Chinese during his lecture. When I attended a Grade 11  English class at Coquitlam Learning Opportunity Centre, I struggled with English. Before I came to Canada, I learned the United Kingdom English Curriculum.  After I came to Canada, I learned Canadian English Curriculum. English writing was new to me at that time because I never learned thesis statements in Hong Kong before.  St. Clair (2015) mentioned something that someone learned the best when someone did something was one of the examples of sociocultural learning approaches.  I faced a writing barrier. I remembered when I learned how to write a thesis, I asked my  English  11 teacher to provide answers by providing a reference book that specialized in teaching learners how to write thesis statements.  I learned the best when I got a reference book that specialized in teaching learners how to write thesis statements.  I also faced a reading barrier. I did not know English vocabulary well. My English 11 teacher also allowed me to bring an English dictionary with me while I completed in-class written assignments. I even asked my father for assistance at that time. Unfortunately, he never learned it before.

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I am a male, visible minority and my parents immigrated from India shortly before I was born. My parents’ families are massive with 14 aunts and uncles and my generation is the first to have any post-graduate education. I was raised primarily by my grandparents and despite being born in the country; I didn’t speak English until I was about 5 years old resulting in a weak comprehension of the language for years and instead even now I find myself often times conversing in one of Hindi or Gujarati out of habit. My mother never finished high school and my father has some credentials that were involved in the trades that he rarely utilized. As a result of their lack of education and poor English, we grew up in poverty with a large family in a modest house (18 people in a 3-bedroom, 2 washroom home) and the work ethic my parents had allowed them and my family members all to succeed. Although none of my immediate family members were educated, it was extremely important for my grandfather that we all accomplish above and beyond what his own children could not afford and as he wished everyone has done well for themselves. I grew up with expectations of success and education was extremely important then as it is now. I enjoyed and found some parts of education more enjoyable than others and as a result I would find myself lagging in some aspects and excelling extremely well in other subjects growing up and once again the same in university and college.

Barriers

Being a person of color had very little impact. Toronto is extremely gentrified as a city and by the time we finished moving around I was in University once again in an environment that is wholly accepting of everyone. The fact that we grew up poverty was a greater factor in going to school. By the time it was time to make a choice, I was forced to go to the closest option and meant going to school for post-secondary education would result in a substantial cost that would not be something that would have been possible without being in Ontario and having access to loans. My parents were unable to afford going to school in India and that would have carried through here if I had been born and raised there.

Privilege

As a male, regardless of my skin colour, I have found some semblance of a success in the field of work that I do. In the program for paramedicine, we were informed that despite the female to male ratio being higher, women in first response will always have skeptics. My partners who were females would get “but how can a little girl like you lift someone”, and nobody would question the same sized male standing beside them. I can confirm with some certainty that my partners can outlift me in the gym and they can lift patients just fine, but by simply being a male, that type of interaction never creeped in. Similar arguments persisted when I worked for the Hamilton Police, even the instructor there was aware that most dispatchers are females and would have a harder time than the male trainee’s would and let me know it was an advantage. Breaking down the barriers that exist between the genders is a bit baffling to me especially within the job. I have never met a female paramedic that couldn’t do the same job as me without restriction and while that is one of the simplest interactions to break down those older mindsets that still exist within the field.

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Diversity Story- Alicia Moffat (Group 1)

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Diversity Story- Alicia Moffat (Group 1)

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When I reflect on my learning career, it is filled with many changes in direction and many different paths.  I never truly knew what I wanted to be when I "grew up", and for this reason, deciding on a post secondary path was a source of stress for me.  I took a year off and then landed into Early Childhood Education because of my love for children.  It wasn't long into that career that I realized that I couldn't work front line, especially when I had my own children, and made the decision to return to school as a mature student.  I registered full time in the Child and Youth Studies program, and at that time, was probably 8-10 years older than my classmates.  I was the oldest in my classes and was also married and after the first year I got pregnant.  I went back to finish my degree, this time with a 10 month old, which was very challenging.  I had wanted to pursue more education, but was pregnant with my second child after completing my third year, so put it on hold to raise my kids.  12 years later I returned as a very mature student to complete my 4th year.  It had been a long time since I had been in a University setting, and now I was 20-25 years older than my classmates. In summary, my degree took me 15 years to complete. While in school during the first 3 years, I got married, bought a house, had a child, lost both my parents, sold my house and moved again.  When I returned, I had 4 children and came back at the end of covid to mask rules and online learning.

I believe age was my biggest barrier during my University experience.  It is hard to be part of group work, study groups, etc... when you are much older and know no one outside of school. I feel my age and life situation put me at a disadvantage for some things that could have enhanced my education and grades.  Overall, most people were great, but it did present an added challenge to me.  I also had to ask for extensions and had absences due to my conflicting responsibilities, which I don't think all professors understood.

My situation as a caucasian female in a female dominated field was for sure a privilege. I am also privileged that I had the means to return to school the multiple times I did. My husband lost his job while I was finishing my degree and my family went through financial hardship as a result. I did not qualify for OSAP because of our previous year's T4, which I feel is an unfair evaluation process. I am here doing another degree though, even if it is slow and steady, so I do feel like I am still privileged.

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My learning career started in 2012 in The Dominican Republic. I started working as an elementary Music Teacher. I obtained a bachelor’s degree in music, and I wanted to pursue a career in the music industry.
I was working as a call center agent back then until a saw an advertisement online regarding a vacancy for a music teacher at a school located nearby. I finished my first school year as a teacher in 2013 and was later contacted by an international school to work as an Elementary and Middle school Music teacher. In 2018 I started my master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction, and I was appointed to teach Social Studies in Elementary School. I was also holding a part-time teaching position to teach English to adult learners at a public university.

I have been privileged enough to have been given the opportunity to work for the public and the private sector in The Dominican Republic. I have seen the differences that exist in both education systems. I am a female of color and Latina in Canada. I am also fluent in 3 languages, and completing my second bachelor’s degree. In the Dominican Republic, there is a public education system and a private one. I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to experience both and observe the differences that exist. While students who attend private k-12 schools and university benefit from rooms with air conditioning, classroom technology, and better security systems, students who attend public schools struggle with the heat, small classrooms without a computer, and security cameras in the hallways.

As an immigrant, that experience back home has opened my eyes and has made me reflect on the inequalities and differences that exist in the world. Those experiences have shaped the teacher that I am today.

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After reading St. Clair (2015), I have a more genuine appreciation of my learning story. I believe my learning line is straightforward, with some darker sections.
I am a Caucasian female from Canada with an English and French-language-speaking household. My generation is the first to graduate from university in my immediate/semi-immediate family.    Although my parents were not working in healthcare, there was a subtle (maybe not so at times) push for me to find a healthcare career; perhaps it was the most stable job market at the time.

Despite my direction, my support always encouraged me to pursue more as the phrase “the more tickets you have, the better off you will be” was always present despite financial strain. Perhaps needless to say, my adults were mainly tradesmen, farmers, and stay-at-home parents who wanted more for me.

Privileges

I feel I have lived a privileged life. Although money was always tight, my parents ensured I never went without necessities and sometimes wants. Despite the waves of low financial status, I feel honored that I could enroll and complete three college diplomas and one university degree (not including Brock).

Barriers

As a first-generation university student, I found my supports did not always understand my stressors, and therefore they could not fully relate to my situation.

Another barrier was deciding which school I was to continue my studies after high school. I have a twin sister, and although we could choose what we wanted to study, we needed to be in the same city (preferred same school) for housing purposes. The expenses would have been too significant if my sister and I had studied in different cities.

Lastly, being from a small northern Ontario town, my accessibility to additional education (especially in childhood) was minimal. Socioeconomic status was the driving force to who could access the limited education in this town. This was a factor in my narrow vision of what I can accomplish educationally speaking.

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Brenda Reardon  - Group 4: Learning Story and Privilege

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Brenda Reardon  - Group 4: Learning Story and Privilege

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Although I am a Caucasian female born and raised in Canada, English is my first language, raised by both parents in a catholic religious home, I should have been on paper at least statistically more  'privileged"  than people of colour or immigrants; however,  most of my life was met with barriers. I am a first-generation university student. Higher education wasn't important in my family home growing up as my parents were from two different small towns on the east coast. My mother's education was a high school diploma and my father's grade 8. They owned their own business. Although my parents are financially healthy now, they were not when I was growing up, so I grew up poor receiving only the bare minimum. We moved every two years, so I never felt like I belonged or was stable, but I did meet a lot of different people, which helped me to have diverse thinking about people. I never liked school or enjoyed learning, so I barely listened or learned much in school. On top of this, my mother was very sick most of my life, so I always felt very sad and lonely as a child. I believe this had a lot to do with why I struggled to pay attention in school.

I did go to college for Nutrition and Aesthetics and worked for some years in the fields. I began riding motorcycles in my 30s then started teaching others how to ride and realized I had a gift for teaching and began to have an intense desire to learn.  I decided in my 30's that I wanted to be a registered nurse and I wanted to go to university. I did and my first year of university was the hardest academic struggle I had ever experienced.  I had no idea what it meant to go to university and being a first-generation student I had virtually no help around me. After an intense academic struggle, that barrier did lift and things got easier. Nursing is amazing but I knew I needed to teach as it's a self-expression for me, so I applied to Brock for the Adult teaching. I loved nursing and teaching so much, I could not decide which one I loved more, so I am doing them both! My goals are to be an RN and an adult educator. None of my barriers were able to stop me from success. I definitely struggled because of them, but If anything they helped me grow and be more confident. I feel privileged to have overcome my barriers and offered my children a privileged life.

Moving forward in both careers my barriers and privilege both help me to have empathy and understanding for my sick patients in the hospital and their families from my mother and my own lack of interest and learning in school with my students.

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My learning career was atypical because I was atypical, and the traditional school system had no place for me. Without getting too technical, I have a learning ability -- a version of synesthesia where I see colours and associate them with letters and numbers. I also process and absorb information differently, yet quickly. When I immigrated to Canada from the UK in first grade, I was quite advanced compared to my peers. The system in England encouraged, embraced and challenged my mind, and the curriculum here couldn’t keep up with me. The legitimacy of my abilities was constantly questioned – In Grade 2, a teacher called me a liar and wouldn't believe I was reading the thick chapter books I was taking from the library. In Grade 4, I had to take our standardized tests twice: once in the classroom and once proctored to prove I didn’t cheat. Many other incidents occurred that made me question myself and my mind. It was a humiliating, miserable experience. Eventually, after a few bumps and bruises, I was allowed to enter high school as an adult at our local Adult Education Centre, where I met instructors who let me customize my experience and work at an accelerated pace.

Though I am a Black woman, I am privileged. I have never been hungry or without something I truly needed. I come from an educated family who could afford to supplement my learning activities with tutors and private lessons throughout my public and secondary education. I was able to go to university and find a place of intellectual acceptance. I have been physically, mentally and spiritually nurtured my whole life.

As you've read, I have faced educational barriers. I dropped out in Grade 9 and swore never to return because of them. If I hadn't met an Adult Educator who showed me an alternate way to conform, I might never have graduated. I have been discriminated against, both socially and intellectually. Many obstacles I met in my early education were rooted in racial bias. However, I’ve been able to achieve and thrive despite it all. I am keenly aware this is not something every person of colour can say.

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Unlike the diversity of learning careers described by St. Claire (2015), I find that my learning career has been quite linear. I’v just been in formal education forever from kindergarten to my last year of my PhD (now), with just one year off between. But although my formal education career has been quite linear my motivation to learn and engage has been variable. I remember in my undergrad vowing to never come back to formal education. After I took a year off and came back for my MSc and PhD and my motivation was different. The approach to learning was very different and this engaged me much more then my undergrad.

Privilege

I have definitely reflected on the privileges I have enjoyed being raised in a family that was able to pay for my undergraduate education. I was fed and housed by my parents for the entire time. This made focusing on school much easier then others who are not as privileged. I was also raised with English being my first language which made school, which puts much emphasis on communication skills and vocal participation easier and natural. The Johnson-Bailey & Alfred (2006) article describes very well how much of a privilege this is - to just be able to step into tutorial and easily participate.

Barriers

The one barrier that I reflect on a lot is that I was the first person in my family to attend university in a field none of them could help me with. My family was always extremely supportive of me, but I felt that navigating university life, applications, grants, writing, and science in general often felt like I was “going it alone”. As much as my family wanted to help, they couldn’t. Although now this is less of an issue, whenever I TA or teach I ALWAYS give a whole 15 minutes lecture on how if my students need help with ANYTHING, or just advice on anything that I’m here. Iv actually been able to help a lot of students in similar situations by making myself available to them which has been quite a rewarding experience for me.

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Group 4 - Diversity Stories Jinkyoung Ro 

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Group 4 - Diversity Stories Jinkyoung Ro 

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I am a female Asian from Korea and I have many barriers and privileges. When I first came to Canada, I was 21 years old and was an international student. In Korea, I was going to university for arts and I decided to take a year off to study the language. It was a privilege to be able to take a break and travel to Canada to learn the language. After studying for a while, I felt that the Canadian education system could be better, and extended my studies and went to college. There was the language barrier, obviously, and also cultural barriers - I had to learn many things about the culture and the country, and I am still learning about Canada. The multicultural aspect of Toronto is different from what I was used to back in Korea. It was fascinating and confusing at the same time. With people from many countries, I had so much to learn and so many great experiences. I believe this was a privilege and I am lucky to have met many amazing people along the way. However, even with many years of residence in Toronto, I still have questions and confusions about the culture which may stay with me for the rest of my life and it is a barrier and a privilege in a way as I have something to learn and it widens my horizons and helps me become the best version of myself. In terms of education, I am privileged as with a background in arts and design, I was able to get formal education in the field as well as business, and now adult education. Back in Korea, I was in university and had a great start in my education which I consider a privilege. All the classes I took in post-secondary were helpful to shape my career. Another barrier was getting my permanent residency and after receiving it, I guess it was a privilege as well as an accomplishment. To obtain permanent residency, I worked hard to get a job in the field of study, and as a bilingual, I was able to secure a position as a student advisor at a public post-secondary institute. All the people I have met, and the barriers with language and culture helped in a way where I was able to have a wider view on diversity and the valuable experience is a great asset in helping students find their career paths and get the most out of their post-secondary education. There were a few barriers that turned into accomplishments which became a privilege.

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I have a learning disability and a speech impediment—though you wouldn’t see it unless I pointed out! I struggled severely in elementary school between grades 1 through 5 with a severe stutter, to the point where I didn’t feel comfortable talking in class (and I still don’t). My grade 7 and 8 teachers, Ms. Spensere and Ms. Ruffalo really saw potential in me and saw past my speech impediment and learning disability; they “scaffolded” information in a way that helped me build my self-confidence in the things that I learned but also helped me shell out of my quiet, reserved self (St. Clair, 2015 p. 29). They are educational geniuses who wanted to encourage learning but also provided us with some autonomy in how we learned it; though elementary school teachers, some adult education theories can be seen in how they interacted with us (St. Clair, 2015). If it wasn’t for past teachers looking for the signs of my speech impediment and learning disability, I wouldn’t be where I am today. These teachers were able to help provide different avenues for me to participate in class, which included doing presentations only in front of the teacher or taking time after class to review theories or math problems, again practicing “legitimate peripheral participation” to a certain extant – they were there to guide, be inclusive, and understanding that simple structures were needed in place for me to succeed (St. Clair, 2015 p. 27). The notion of being labeled as someone who had a disability also made me a bit of a target to school bullies until completion of high school, which also toyed with my confidence and moving away from home so I wouldn’t be reminded of words or things tossed in my direction. Attending university allowed me to rebuild my confidence again as I learned what I wanted to learn, having that independence, and knowing someone wasn’t going to judge me for the questions I asked but it also helped me “gain a reservoir of experience that can be used in learnings” I received in my courses (St. Clair, 2015).

As a white female, I had little to no barriers. I reside in a safe neighbourhood with a loving and caring spouse; I was privileged to have the help of speech therapists in school and therapy when needed under my health care benefits and through the school’s benefits program. With anxiety sitting at my bedside table that puts me to sleep and wakes me up an hour before my alarm every morning, I have faced challenges in being productive on the goals that I set on a daily and weekly basis for me. I am currently working on using and setting calendar reminders and checklists to help keep me on track. Even at work, having a manager who has my back and reassures me that I am doing something correctly helps with balancing learning and do by walking through problems as they come up. Through this, I want to continue to apply compassion, understanding, and thinking about facilitating as a whole to those who have disabilities or trouble with public speaking. I want to make sure that I am sensitive to certain traumas and stories and how people portray them; people learn through various ways and can be audio learnings, visual learners or musical learners who need to have information presented to them in certain ways for information to stick. I hope perusing this degree along with my Masters propels me into the future.

St. Clair, R. (2015). Creating courses of adults: Design for learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Group 1- Diversity Stories Mikayla Astgen

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Group 1- Diversity Stories Mikayla Astgen

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Upon reflection, a large part of my learning career involves an occupational identity I share with my mother, who is a dental assistant. When I first graduated high school, I wasn’t quite sure of what I aspired to be in life. I knew that I had a passion to work within the healthcare field someday, as I was highly interested in the sciences in my early years of learning. I did a few co-op placements, to explore my options, at a veterinary clinic and dental office. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed my experience at the dental office. Initially, I thought that it’d be an easy experience volunteering at my mom’s place of work, but was unexpectedly impressed by Daniella, the dental hygienist at the office. She was someone, I realized, I aspired to be someday. I went back and forth on my decision to go to university versus college. My perception of college, at the time, was inaccurate, as I assumed it was less prestigious or valuable than going to university. Ultimately, I chose to go into nursing as I felt like it was my best option, not to mention a few of my friends were enrolled in the program. After 2 years I realized it wasn’t quite for me, and changed career paths, after applying and getting accepted into dental hygiene at Cambrian College. This was the best decision I made for myself, as it opened up so many opportunities, I was unable to comprehend at the time. I spent 3 years at Cambrian, learning about the dental profession, in both formal, and nonformal settings. Throughout the three years, I began tutoring, which enhanced my learning career by serving as a mentor for several students, and offering my personal guidance and strategies for success. This was my first time in an educator role, which further peaked my interest in facilitating learning. I had several impactful professors who taught me within the three years, who inspired me, as I realized my newfound passion for teaching. I am now teaching in both formal, and nonformal settings at the college, and continuing my learning through this course as I learn new skills and knowledge that will strengthen my role as facilitator.

I am a Caucasian female, and for the most part I feel like I’ve experienced minimal barriers in my learning. A specific barrier that comes to mind that could potentially impede on my access to educational opportunities is financial limitations. Unfortunately, in a common-law relationship, it is not so easy to access student loans as they consider both parties income. This enrages me as I feel as though they aren’t considering other expenses like bills, a mortgage, groceries, etc., as inflation continues to rise as everything becomes more expensive. This is a large barrier for many, including myself, as I must take breaks from completing my degree between semesters to work fulltime in hopes to save for my courses. At the same time, I am hoping to continue my degree while starting to build a family of my own,. Therefore, in order to complete my degree, it is only possible to lengthen the amount of time it takes to complete it. This can also be a stressor on its own, due to the prolonged academic demand and anxiety involved in just being in school alone. Personally, intense academic stress can impact my mental and physical health. It can contribute to my already present anxiety, sleep, and healthy lifestyle, which can further impact my overall health and academic performance. Although, this is a personal barrier, I also feel like it is a privilege at the same time, as I am fortunate enough to still attend, as some may not be able to afford it at all. - Mikayla

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Group 1 - Diversity Story: Patricia Bell 

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Group 1 - Diversity Story: Patricia Bell 

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I hope I have posted properly... I wasn't sure where our group space was...
My learning story is not quite as exciting as any of the examples. I grew up as a middle class white female and I went to French immersion from kindergarten. I did well in languages but I was terrible at math and science. My earliest memory of grade school is of doing speed drills for out multiplication tables and never knowing the answer… dreading when it was my turn to stand up for our team because I never had the answer and my teacher making the comment to the whole class that I never knew the answer. I felt stupid and carried that feeling of stupidity with me for most of the remaining years of school (high school, university, etc.). I did go to university after high school but finished with very low grades and confidence. I will fast forward 20 years when I went back to school for a social work degree and then a masters degree- what a different experience. While I started off with no confidence and feeling like I didn’t belong (as well as feeling stupid), I learned (from some great instructors) that that was completely wrong. Going back to school as an adult has been hard- it is a lot more work to juggle school, work, and family but it has been an amazing experience and has changed me incredibly.

Regarding my social location, I am aware of the many privileges I have experienced and will continue to experience because of it. I am a white, cisgender, middle class female with a university education. While being a female has led me to experience some barriers, I have experienced many privileges because of my social location. One of my parents has a university degree and there was never any question of whether I would go to university or not- it was expected. I was able to go to university as a young person and then again as an adult to finish my master’s degree. The road for life for me can be a little bumpy but overall my privilege allows it to be fairly smooth.

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When thinking of my diversity story I decided to make notes on a line as suggested by St. Clair (2015, p. 35). What I realized is that even during times I would have considered my learning at a pause or stand still I was still learning informally.

I grew up with a single teenage mom, so money was tight for most of my childhood, I was even bounced around from family member to family member at some points. After high school I was strongly encouraged to go to university, although my family could not afford to help me financially and I was unable to qualify for OSAP. I worked in a factory during the summer and on weekends while my peers enjoyed the freedom of financial freedom and had more time to focus on their schooling as well as enjoy the typical lifestyle that comes with being a university student. After my first year I had realized that I was struggling and wasn’t enjoying what I was learning and switched to a college Pharmacy assistant program. During my second year of college, I was due with my first child, so I decided to take a year off to take care of her, during this year I was learning how to be a parent, be responsible for another human life and ultimately who I was going to be now that I had a tiny human depending on me. I went back to school the following year and finished my diploma and worked in my career path for a few years before having my second child. I stayed home for a couple years with my kids before re-entering the workforce taking a position as a pharmacy assistant instructor at a local private college. While my role here is to be an educator, I spent the first couple years learning how to take my experience and turn it into teachable material. I learn from my students every day whether it is relevant to course material or cultural differences, and how they can relate their own experiences to course content, this forces me to realize my privileges daily. This year I decided to start the journey to achieving my BA in Adult Education and the barriers that I faced the first time I attended post-secondary school are no longer holding me back.

As a white cisgender female, I have not experienced many barriers to learning except for the financial struggles straight out of high school and the lack of guidance being the first one in my family to attend post-secondary school. Being that I experienced these struggles and am now able to complete my education barrier free I realize that I am very privileged. I do not experience racism or gender discrimination in my education. I live in a nice neighbourhood and can now give my children a life free of the barriers that I faced when I was a child.

St. Clair, R. (2015). Creating courses for adults: Design for learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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I had a really difficult time with this post, because of my background I have immense privilege and minimal barriers. I have grown up in a smaller town that was predominately white, in a nuclear family. Both of my parents have attended post secondary, mid-income and work in very different fields. I don’t have any neurodiversity and I am a Cisgendered straight white women. I don’t have any barriers that I could identify, I am privileged where I stand, However, I have a serious partner of 10 years who is from a marginalized group. Since I have had the freedom of developing relationships with his family and welcoming him into my life, I have noticed more discrimination. Older members within my family don’t think my partner is the person I should settle down with strictly because they believe it will make my life more difficult. My partnership has made me seen or be more cognisant of racism in family members and friends. Within the last few years, I have seen a lot of hidden racism. There is some socio-cultural judgment from people who feel they need to correct my relationship; this has led to me having to set personal barriers in my family and remove people from my inter circle. This has affected our shared ability to get a loan from the bank to own our home, he had to provide much more paperwork and some letters of recommendation prior to being accepted as a co-owner despite having a better credit rating and a higher earning then myself.  Issues of discrimination affect him disproportionately but can cause impact to our health and abilities as a couple at times.

Where my partner has faced more barriers being a black man, developing our relationship has unfortunately created additional barriers, with some of the relationships we carry with others. Where I don’t experience day to day racism, my partner does; but i am also affected by biases’. I hold a lot of privilege in my life and have not experienced many barriers. My parents have generational wealth that had helped me to achieve post secondary education, and many other opportunities that I have had access too. My parents lived in an affluent neighborhood, so I had access to good schools. When I struggled my parents had the financial stability to provide me with tutoring as a child, that allowed me to continue in school and develop skills that I had a hard time picking up in traditional classrooms. This allowed me to continue with my education and grow to receive my college accreditations and university accreditation as I had gotten older, my parents helped with the financial burden of education, which allowed me to graduate with less debt which gave me more financial freedom as I became an adult. I have never had barriers or access to my education which I am grateful for and recognize. All these combined pieces have put me in a position of privilege. I had a lot of support as a child and younger adult, and now as an adult less so, not just due to growing up but because my lifestyle isn’t accepted and has created barriers to family support and engagement. We have also faced hostility and stereotyping in our day to day lives, we have had to ignore or disengage with external forces on our relationship. I keep in mind I am more in a place where I need to learn from others barriers, others have many more barriers or hardships then I will ever encounter as a person and as a facilitator, so it is my job as a facilitator to listen to the shared experiences that I am privileged to hear and try to keep open lines of communication to assist where I can, Whether that be understanding of someone’s position and providing lenience to assignments or being told curriculum needs to change to be more accessible or diverse.

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“Learning Career”

Wow!!! Looking back, I have come a long way with my learning, especially from a poor background. However, please be mindful that my education may differ from some of you, who may have more resources than I did growing up. Growing up as a child, my learning career didn't begin until I emigrated to Canada. When my learning career started, I had no choice but to be resilient and determined to work hard to be where I am today, and as I grew older, I have always pursued learning opportunities. Nevertheless, never in a million years would I have thought I would be where I am today, then St.Clair (2015) said, "Quite often, it can help to underline the point that an individual's history may not be a barrier to learning. There can be a sense that if the learners with the most complex histories can be here after all the challenges of their life and be successful, then other folks can be too" (p.35).

In January 1996, I emigrated from Jamaica to settle permanently in Canada to live with my mother and little sister. Growing up in Jamaica was extremely difficult, especially from a poor background. For example, when I lived in Jamaica for nine years with my grandma and cousins, I hardly ever attended school because my grandmother could not afford to pay our school fees. Because of that, I struggled academically; when I first started school in Canada, I was way below my grade level and the Canadian curriculum. As a result, I had to relearn from JK right up to high school. I was also placed in an ESL class to learn English and integrate the Canadian curriculum. In addition, throughout elementary school and some high school years, I was always put in a special learning class with a minimum of five students. Initially, I never had a problem being in a special class, but the more confident I felt about my reading and writing, the more I thought I no longer wanted to be placed in a special category. After a while, I started to feel embarrassed and ashamed that I had never experienced being in a regular mainstream class with my peers since beginning school in Canada. Grade eleven was when I first experienced being in a mainstream class with my peers. As a youth, I was always open-minded and eager to learn when I lacked basic academic literacy. I asked questions when unsure, and because of that, my choices in my learning now have a long-lasting impact on my career. However, my eagerness, dedication, determination, and discipline in wanting to learn the Canadian curriculum to succeed have helped me develop the lifelong knowledge and skills I have today.

Privileged

As a woman of color, I am beyond humbled and grateful to have migrated to Canada and call Canada my home. As mentioned earlier, life in Jamaica was rough regarding education. However, living in Canada, I have had the privilege of attending elementary and secondary school for free, which is impressive because, in Jamaica, students must pay for their education. Coming from firsthand poverty, I feel most privileged that I had the privilege to attend college twice as a woman of color and now to be in my first year of university; we cannot pretend that systemic discrimination doesn't exist here in Canada; being where I am today is an honor and a privilege. The only barrier that I have ever faced was intersectionality; when I was working at McDonald's, all my managers were predominately Caucasian. I worked at McDonald's for six years and never once called in sick, and I was always available each time I was called in on my days off. I was a dedicated worker who knew all the positions there were to learn. However, each time I asked to be moved up to become a manager, there was one excuse after another, and each time they would promote an individual to a manager position, they were mainly Caucasian. However, I voiced how I was feeling, and the management team assured me that it wasn't because of my skin color and that racism was unacceptable in their place of employment. They apologized and voiced how much they appreciated me as a great worker.

Nevertheless, not long after graduating from college, I ended up quitting, and again, having the privilege as a woman of color to attend college has opened many doors for me. As we know, for many years, and even living in the 21st century, there has been racism and discrimination predominately against Indigenous and people of color. Therefore, achieving all I have today is a privilege I am most grateful for.

Q: As future Educators, how will you use your platform to promote equity, inclusion, and diversity?

Reference
St. Clair R. (2015). Creating courses for Adult: Design for learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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My Learning Story

I graduated from high school in 1986 with a non-academic diploma. My general high school diploma lead me to work in hospitality and retail rather than attending university after high school. I completed a community college diploma from the Culinary Institute of Canada in 1989, and since then, I’ve held many different jobs and owned a business for twenty years. Throughout my career, I’ve taken university courses on and off since 1991 and have completed two years of credits in subjects including Environmental studies, Feminism and Sexuality, and now this program at Brock. A few years ago, I became a Certified Sexual Health Educator through Options for Sexual Health in Vancouver.

Opportunities and Barriers

I’m a 54-year-old queer, cisgender, white woman and the daughter of a Northern Irish immigrant mother who worked in retail and a father who was born in Canada and was an officer in the military until he retired. English is my first and only language. I am not currently living with any mobility issues or other physical disabilities.  I live with a loving wife in a two-income home in a relatively safe neighbourhood. I can afford the technology I need to learn and nutritious food, dental care, and the other essentials of life that impact learning and health. I see myself as benefiting from an abundance of privilege.

There have been some barriers related to education and being a queer woman. I’ve recently been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and ADHD, which has been a blessing as I now have the information and support to understand my learning history and meet my learning goals moving forward. However, these two challenges have interfered with my ability to learn and achieve academically since I was in grade 4, which has taken it's toll on my self-confidence. Being a woman means feeling limited in the world in a physical way related to safety. Being a queer woman, especially at this point and time where forces are working hard to turn back the clock on rights, doesn’t feel particularly safe. I limit my movements when things flare up as they did during the convoy occupation near my home in Ottawa last year and during large gatherings such as on July 1 or sporting events. The rhetoric coming out of the States reminds me of the horrible things I heard about queer and trans people as a teenager.

One final note, I partly chose this program at Brock because, as an older student, I find attending classes in person challenging. I’ve experienced ageism in the classroom from fellow students and instructors. Something I love about this program is the diversity of learners (age and otherwise) and the relative autonomy of asynchronous and online learning.

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Group 4: Learning Career/Diversity Story (Ali McKee)

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Group 4: Learning Career/Diversity Story (Ali McKee)

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I consider myself to be quite privileged in where I have been situated in my learning history overall, but this exercise has made me realize that we often learn most from different hardships/barriers, so that has been quite interesting to explore as well.

I am a Caucasian female, born and raised in Canada which is a great privilege on its own due to our access to education from a young age. My first language is English, which has been very beneficial for both learning and teaching in this country. I was expected to go to university after highschool and I did so, graduating with a general BA. Since then, I attended college to study massage therapy where I did quite well and have been working in the field for 7 years now, and teaching at the college level for 3. I consider these all to be privileges in my life and I’m grateful I have had the opportunity for formal post-secondary education. I have also benefitted greatly from being involved in sports from a young age – another privilege granted to me when my parents saw value in enrolling me in competitive soccer. This is an area where a massive amount of informal learning took place. I remember looking up to my male coach, as I didn’t have a close relationship with my dad at that time. Looking back on those formative years brings up some emotions about how impactful that male role model was for me, and I still carry a lot of what I learned through sport with me in life and in teaching.

Some personal barriers I have identified are that I am a first-generation university student. Neither of my parents attended university, although I was still encouraged to go, primarily by my mom. I would classify my family as middle-class, but perhaps on the lower end of middle-class. We could afford one extra-curricular activity, but we were not able to go on vacations or travel, and if our vehicle or home needed repairs, it would be months and months before we could afford to do so. It was very evident that money was more of a stress than an abundance in our household, which meant that pursuing my university education was difficult financially, and I required many loans to make it happen. I can remember my mom saying that she wanted me to have more educational opportunities than she did, and this was why it was so important to her that I attended a post-secondary school. Although she was very encouraging, the entire university experience was foreign to everyone in my house, so we were unprepared for things like tuition deadlines arriving before OSAP came in, and even how to navigate the learning management systems of the university. I can remember not even knowing I should be looking at the course syllabus to learn about deadlines in my courses, and when the syllabus was mentioned in class, it took me a long time to understand what that word meant, as many profs assumed the students already knew. I couldn’t afford all my textbooks in first year and was embarrassed to ask questions in class. I often didn’t go to class if I felt like I would be singled out or ‘found out’ for not knowing the content. For this reason, I struggled academically in my first few years at university. Things gradually improved as I learned to navigate the student life, applied for bursaries, and took some ownership over my grades and outcomes. I got a part-time job to help with my expenses, but I consider this a small barrier as well, since I couldn’t focus solely on academics like some other students could.

I try to keep an open line of communication with my current students, and always tell them to ask if they need more time for assignments, a copy of the text, recordings of lectures, or extra help with the content. It isn’t always easy to recognize learners come from very different backgrounds, but it should be made a priority in all learning situations to get to know your students to better serve them. I realize in the grand scheme, my privileges greatly outweigh any barriers I have experienced in life and education, and I will always be grateful that I'm able to continue my education and become more mindful as a person and teacher. I do believe that some of my small barriers have served as motivation to do well, particularly in the last 5-10 years of my educational journey, because I want to prove it to myself that I can achieve some of the harder to reach goals that I have set out for myself, so in that way my barriers have acted more like speed bumps, and have propelled me forward in my education and in my career.

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Ooooweee Sharmaine, you are really getting us vulnerable here!
When thinking about my learning career I was brought back to the exercise mentioned by St. Clair (2015) on page 35. In this exercise, learners drew a line on a piece of paper to identify their learning careers. I thought this would be an excellent way for me to explore a dimension of my own learning career, and so I have shared it with you all here.
I made the line thick at the start of my life because those early years in life involve a huge amount of learning. My line stayed thin and straight for the years from K-12 because in terms of a learning career I see it has a fairly boring and straight forward time in my life. I attended school because that's what you do during those years. I did well in school and continued into post secondary studies after finishing high school. As you can see, those four years of post-secondary education were a rollercoaster - to be explained in the second paragraph. In explaining this exercise, St. Clair (2015) said, "you will perhaps be struck by how much learning can be associated with difficult life events" (p. 35). From my perspective, no truer words have been spoken, and you can see this in my extremely thick dark line corresponding with a difficult life event. The amount of learning that has come from that event has been truly transformative.

I feel that I am aware of the amount of privilege I enjoy, and that I continue to become more aware. I am, and always have been, situated well in terms of socioeconomic status. I was expected to go to university when I finished high school, and I did. I did not struggle to pay for my education or the costs associated. I am fortunate to be able to do the same now.
I am a caucasian female, and while I have felt the constraints of my gender at times, for the most part I have experienced life with minimal barriers. I say minimal because that part of my learning career, where my line goes for a loop, is where I experienced barriers most. At the time, I struggled with the realization that I was gay. Today our universities fly rainbow flags proudly, permanently paint their concrete with rainbow crosswalks, have walls adorned with LGBTQ2+ support group posters, and rainbow triangles on faculty doors. At that time, they did not. There was very little,  to no visible support at an extremely disorienting time of life. As St. Clair (2015) notes, "sexuality is not necessarily visible or audible, but it can be a powerful force in the classroom" (p. 45). I felt this force in a seminar on the topic of gender studies. To begin our round table discussion, the TA asked individuals in the group to raise their hand if they identified as other than heterosexual. Although I realize now that I could have chosen not to raise my hand, at the time I felt the power dynamic between student and instructor and felt as though I had to identify my sexuality. I was centred out and later, during the round table discussion, a student made several derogatory comments about homosexuals. I never returned to the seminar. My academic performance suffered during a time where I could not figure out where I fit in.
I have carried this experience forward as an educator. I can without a doubt say that I am not perfect in terms of recognizing/reducing barriers...this is something I am always working on. However, my experience always keeps me mindful of what the learners in my classroom could be experiencing.