Intellectual growth
When I firstly enrolled in this Digital Literacies course, I had no intention of recording my reflective experiences/thoughts. I, though, embrace learning by a sort of enjoyment, which can be witnessed through my Enthusiasm and engagement. To be able to gather the learning outcomes in a certain period of time, I really had to thing deeply about what I accumulated. But the way I will reflect on that is by touching on those outcomes: intellectually, personally, and digitally i.e. people, the world, and the Solieya connect program .
In this course, we have been introduced to loads of themes e.g. equity, bias, empathy, othering, and much more; all of them added to my rich knowledge, but definitely, I will attempt to be selective.
In the beginning of this semester, we have been assigned the video about Trauma -informed-pedagogy, and it was an eye-opening video for me personally. This was for multiple reasons: (1) it correlated with my interest in education and pedagogy; and (2) it showed how an instructor should act towards students’ mental health. In my point of view, I believe that the video is an indirect call to educate people about caring of students’ wellbeing, and generally, wellness.
Another reading that resonated with me is an article titled The Problem of Othering: Towards Inclusiveness and Belonging. That article tackled some of the concepts that many people, unfortunately, turn a blind eye to. Such would possibly include: “othering, “bias”, “SECESSIONISM “, and “belonging”. What I however admired about this article is that it has drawn on examples from different countries and from different social groups. I must point out that it was my first time knowing about the principle of “othering” within the small communities. Therefore, it broadly enlarged my perspectives and horizons about the notion of marginality. While the article deconstructed the preconceived notions of bias, othering, and belonging, and how they impacted the full inclusions of minorities, there is still some gap that was not covered. The explanation given about the multiple lens of othering and belonging rested upon the identities and social groups, but as a reader, I was unable to see either from where, and how, such concepts emerged. At least if they have been mentioned, they haven’t been stated in a simplified manner.
In the course, we discussed “race” and “oppression”, and there are two videos that I liked pertaining to this. First, the video about race card showed me the different contexts of peoples’ perceptions about it. It was such a surprising fact to me that people would misinterpret the statement “don’t play the race card”. However, there was insufficient history/ context provided about the race card itself i.e. the definition and information. But overall, I enjoyed listening to people’s reflections on ‘race card’. The other video that goes in tandem with this one is the 4I’s of Opression. I loved it because it stated these different contexts because of which people get exposed to oppression. I also loved that they referred to the ideological one; more specifically, I believe it is the most dangerous and susceptible to us as individuals. For me, it added more to my knowledge about ‘opression’, but it would have been better if it cited experiences of each one as to illustrate more on the subject.
My self and the world
Since we started discussions in these topics, I seized any opportunity to participate and initiate different dimensions of opinions. Nevertheless, I see myself as an activist to any group discussion. Right now, I really defend any oppressed, marginalized, or at least those treated unjustly, but I also try to advocate for any right for the community. As for Solieya, I will try to mingle with different people from different ideologies; importantly however, I will make all the effort to be non-judgmental. I will try accepting others without having to set reservations and or/ judgements. Finally, I think, from this portion of the course, I became more confident, so I will use this to maximize and optimize my learning in Solieya. I always keep wondering: how to be a better – effective global citizen? Thus, I can hope that through my time in this connect program that I will grow, learn, and influence others.
Thank you for the eloquent reflection, Yasser. I truly enjoyed reading it.