Entry #2:CSU Community Principles
February 6th, 2022
#Socialjusticeisrespect
​
I am constantly reminded that our CSU community does not occur in a vacuum, our teacher education program is not an island, and that cooperation and collaboration is necessary to succeed. The principle Service has shifted from a low place on my radar, to one of the highest goals I value now. Sometimes it feels like students are expected to push through on their own, and that success is based on your own choices. However, many of my best courses and most fulfilling activities have been centered around building a better community and working with other students to make stronger mental connections to the materials in class. In my own past, I would shy away from asking classmates for help or offer my own assistance. After several years in college, I have to push myself past my own avoidance or anxiety, and make connections with my peers. The same goes for asking for help from professors. I think most students just give up, or fall behind when they are struggling, but almost all of the times I’ve spoken privately with my instructors, they’ve been able to help me catch up or figure out what I’m doing wrong.
Social justice is also a principle that I value immensely, and I find that Respect can do a lot of the work in ensuring that someone is acting in a way that promotes justice and equity. I think that respect is not just something that you give to others, but it is just as important to respect your own self. Respecting your time, effort, mental and physical health, influences the way you treat and show respect to others. Level of respect has a direct link to level of learning and having meaningful experiences. If you don’t respect the time of people that are helping you learn— instructors, doing group-projects with classmates, friends or coworkers, you miss out on quality time and conversations. If you don’t respect someone by showing them your full attention, they might not continue to want to work with you. No one likes people that blindly demand respect, and I think most people agree that when you show someone that you value them, they feel more inclined to respect and value what you have to say. This is one of the most important pillars of education. Showing respect to our instructors and classmates is great practice for when we are working with students that might be challenging our patience or temper.
The drawing below demonstrates how all of these community principles function as a whole. I tried to think of a way to visually describe a group of people working together, communicating and listening— meanwhile embodying “Respect, Service, and Social Justice. I think that having a round table of people working together is a decent way of capturing that concept.
As I think back on the construction of this journal entry, I know I’m not perfect, and I think self-reflection is the best way to check if I am living up to my goals. Am I giving this person the respect they deserve? Is this person respecting my time and effort? If not, how can I reach them and show/explain how I want to be treated?
