a) When looking back upon my time in elementary and high school, I can see the attributes that it formed for my world view. Major contributors to this would mainly be my friends and teachers. I like to think of my friends to a high caliber, but looking back, many made choices and believed things that I would disagree with today. Some even to the degree where I feel that it could change our relationship. Growing up in a small town, I understand that world views are not very diverse, and people tended to gravitate to the one that was the most popular. This ‘contest’ of opinion is something that I feel has allowed me to attempt to look for more than one story, as I never wanted to conform to one side (although this obviously happened). Teachers also were a major impact in shaping how I see the world. I feel as if everyone has had some really bad teachers, and as bad as they were for me at the time, they proved to be beneficial for me. Bad teachers allow me to see the problems with the education system and society today. They reflect the ignorance for the future, as they don’t feel the need to ensure the next generation is properly educated. Conversely, good teachers are what I remember as being the most influential to me. They reflect the change that is being made in the world, and in terms of how see the world, this is one of my highest priorities. 

    Biases have formed as a result of my upbringing and education. My entire life up to university had followed a line that is very stereotypical of a white male. There had been very little diversity in my life, and I think without prior knowledge of the importance of diversity, my biases would most definitely follow me to the classroom. Primarily, my knowledge of what is ‘normal’. I continue to find it challenging to see other ways of life being what others consider to be normal. I embrace the value in learning new things and understanding other perspectives, but I still find an unconscious bias towards believing what I believe to be right. I want to make sure that my students are secure and comfortable with their environment, and unlearning this bias will have a great effect on this. One way I feel could result in unlearning this unconscious bias is to stop generalizing ideas, people and the way people think. This is something that I feel is an incredible task, as generalizing is just something that people do and is virtually unavoidable. However, to work towards being the best educator I can be, I will need to work at avoiding making assumptions. 

b) Single stories were a major contributor to what I knew in high school. Things such rumors were the most prominent to me. Due to the small number of students in my school, when something was said, it really made no difference if the truth came out. Not everyone knew the specific person so their side of the story was seldom heard. This resulted in whatever they said having little to no chance of diffusing. In essence, the only truth that mattered what was originally said, as the full story never reached everyone. This led people to be continually impacted as rumors were often associated with labels. Single stories also allowed for ignorance in my school. Many conversations with those who I knew did not have a big effect on what they thought, as they believed their one-sided opinion was the only opinion to be had. The result of this was prejudice spreading in its own miniature cycle, one that probably started long before I was in school and will continue if educators do not influence students to deter from single stories.