So today I have a story of my own to tell, and I think many of you who read this blog will find it interesting and instructive. Always remember: sometimes we encounter the dark side of others. But it does not have to end badly.
So here is my story. I am going to, soon, begin teaching a new online class. To do so, though, I have to take a special online training course, along with others who will be doing similar kinds of teaching. No problem; I think this new teaching will be interesting and good for me, so I'm certainly willing to do the training (which will last three weeks).
So last week it began. There are maybe twenty other trainees in the course with me, plus the instructor, who is very visible and an active presence, making announcements, being a presence in our discussion boards, and so forth. The course is "asynchronous", meaning we do not all have to be online at the same time; instead we can be in the course, do our assignments, do our discussion posts, and so forth when we choose during the week.
Anyway, one of the things we had to do was to do an "ice breaker" discussion board post, in which we introduced ourselves, wrote about our teaching experiences and our interests, talked about what we hoped to get out of the training, wrote about how we would introduce ourselves to our students when we do teach this new course, and so forth. Plus, we were encouraged to post a picture of ourselves, and embed it in our post. And all this I did. As part of the assignment, we all also were supposed to read others' posts, and to reply substantively to at least two others in the class, to write about what we liked in their posts, and to suggest improvements.
Well, as I said, I posted mine, and a bit later I replied to a couple of other posts, and some replied to me, and all seemed to be going well. But then--suddenly--the next morning, I logged on to the site, and saw there was an e-mail to me from the instructor. In it, she apologized to me. Apparently a few hours before, a fellow trainee in the course--I still do not know who--responded to my post in a rather nasty way, apparently making fun of my physical appearance in some way. In introducing myself, I wrote a bit about the fact that I had Moebius and what it meant; but apparently someone else in the class, when they saw my picture along with my post, could not stop himself from making a negative comment.
But the amazing thing about this was the response to it from my instructor. As I said, she immediately e-mailed me and apologized for the post. She took the offensive post down instantly. And apparently, the trainee who wrote it was immediately removed from the training course. The instructor then told the entire class that those kinds of posts were not allowed, and that this was to be a place of tolerance, civility, and respect.
The funny thing is, I never did see the post in question. I do not know who wrote it or exactly what was said. But my instructor really stood up for me, and for the values of respect and civility. She made it clear that tolerance and respect for diversity applied to facial difference, as well as to issues concerning race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender. And I told her in response that I never even saw the post in question, but I appreciated her response--and not to worry about me; I had faced prejudice before and could handle it. And so we moved on.
I think she appreciated that I did not let the whole thing throw me off my game. At the same time, I appreciated that she stuck for me and for these important principles, and that she realized that principles of respect for diversity and tolerance apply to all--definitely including those who have Moebius and similar conditions.
See? There are some good people out there. Remember: people want diversity? We ARE diversity.
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