An expansion on challenges I’ve been facing while abroad: I have had to take extra precautions in not projecting my own American lens onto the students I’m working with, as well as assuring that I am not drawing conclusions or assumptions regarding their thoughts regarding various issues, situations, and cultural politics. Decentering myself from the conversation, and only sharing when appropriate has been a difficult balance to achieve while working with students on the teaching guide. In addition to maintaining dialogue with the student organizations I have been working with, I have also been conducting my own background research in understanding the history of certain demographics within the UK, which has helped me recognize the contexts and missions that many of these student groups share.
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Hey Kelly! I appreciate your sensitivity to the voices your work is amplifying. I love that you are centering the people most affect by the conversation or have lived through the the social phenomena you are studying!
Hi Kelly,
This sounds like a challenge I and other students have also had to face this summer, and I really appreciated your perspective on this topic. Especially in thinking about decentering ourselves, this can be an astute moment for realizing what kinds of assumptions we carry with us as American college students. I also appreciate that you mentioned your work in background research and understanding more about the differences in the UK vs. the United States, which seems like a generative learning moment!