The Culturally Inclusive Educator Preparing For A...

Reflections on the reading The Culturally Inclusive Educator: Preparing for a Multicultural World by Dena Samuelson Developing an inclusive behavior necessitates the exclusion of oneself in the process. Acknowledging that others exist as they are without my own knowledge or interpretations of who they are appears to be the foundation of cultural inclusiveness. We should not be subject to the trappings of our own existence as to rely upon our own knowledge, biases, and limitations in recognizing others. The process is a moving out of oneself – the ability to view perspectives in the eye of another. We should not define or impose definitions on others for we may be limited to provide the knowledge to comprehend what we cannot see, have not seen, and may have failed to understand. Accepting that other people see things differently, go through life differently, and develop meanings about these things differently begins a multicultural perspective. Personally, this is an aha! experience to see that others’ being and becoming are not dependent on how they are perceived by others, by me. Pe ople are as they are themselves are capable of defining their existence. People should be recognized as able to choose their own meanings and purpose. They should not be as they are because I exist. As a future educator, I feel it is important not just to practice this behavior in my dealings with students and the society at large. The consciousness for embracing the differences of humanity,