Critical Autobiography

Critical Autobiography (Who You Are and What You Know Influences How you Teach)

Part One- Reflect on your own personal history. How have you learned about culture, race, gender, and social class? How did you come to hold these beliefs?

Think about...

• Experiences in other cultures (travel, living abroad, relationships with people from other cultures)
• Ethnicity (your own and your experiences with others)
• Regional backgrounds (your own and your experiences with others)
• Religion (Christian, Muslim, Judaism, Atheism, Agnostic, Hindu, etc...)
• Gender (male, female)
• Disability/difference (physical, intellectual, emotional, weight, etc...)
• Social class (wealthy, middle class, low income, poverty, homeless)
• Age (elderly, infants, toddlers, teenagers, etc...)
• Family structure (diverse, adoption, same gender parents, single parent, family members in prison, extended families, biracial)

Please bring in an artifact on Thursday that helps to exemplify one of these points.

Part Two (Follow up)

• What is present as a part of your life history?
• What is missing as a part of your own life history?
• What are the implications of these findings for your own teaching practice?
• What are the implications of these findings for the children with whom you will work?
• What kinds of goals for your own professional growth can you make based on these reflections?
• Share your understanding of why we engaged in this activity as a part of your preparation as an elementary social studies teacher.