Too Many Things about My Power

I'm thrilled and heartened by the public and private responses I received after sharing my Immigration Story assignment. Here is another reflection made during my time in the Teaching Credential Program where I was asked to examine my "positionality"-- how I would use the different powers I would hold as an authority figure and potential role model in a diverse classroom setting-- and make a statement.

Whitney Houston knew that the children are our future. Queen.

Written August 2018 during my first semester as a teaching candidate.

I am an able-bodied, heterosexual, cis-gendered 28-year-old Filipino-American woman from a working class, military background. As the daughter of an enlisted Navy man, I’ve been granted the opportunities to live all over the world and experience a range of cultures firsthand.  As a first-generation daughter of immigrants, I continue to struggle in identifying my true unique voice: I aim to configure and blend my cultural identities rather than “deal” with the clashing ideologies those identities hold. Being a woman of color requires that I constantly grapple with social marginalization and accepting my own self-worth. For example, Filipino Catholicism shaped my early beliefs about female subservience, family gender roles, and sexuality rooted in guilt-based teachings.

My goal as an educator is to foster an empathetic, critically conscious generation of student citizens who value diversity, respect, and human dignity. It would be dishonest and naive of me to claim that I can separate my own experiences from the work I do as an educator. I hold the beliefs that the education system is inherently racist, sexist, and ableist; I believe that achievement gaps exist because of these disparities and are further perpetuated and corroborated by apathetic teachers who do not view teaching as a privilege and public service.

While I commend the increasing acknowledgment that these inequities were founded in white supremacy and patriarchy, I view many attempts to combat and dismantle the system as unsatisfyingly performative. My goal is to fight injustice and make an impact by using my cultural capital. I believe that hard work, science-based practices/research, compassion, the pursuit of multi-cultural perspectives in curriculum, and increasing the diversity of educators are key to make meaningful progress in the educational system.

I believe in love.

"It is important to fight and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay though never quite eradicated."

-Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince