The ideas that resonate are social justice, inclusion, equality and multiculturalism.

From what
I saw in the documentaries, I found that the students from both Harvard and Auckland felt
that they were being criticized for being at their chosen university of study. They felt they
needed to provide validation or be able to represent their ethnicity. There seemed to be a
need to define what it meant to be from their country of origin; like, what it meant to be an
American or New Zealander.

The students who spoke from Harvard, with diverse backgrounds, felt that they always
needed to explain who they were and where they came from. Whereas no one was asking
where the white students were from. In the New Zealand video, the predominant Maori and
Pasifika students felt they were constantly needing to fight stereotypes and explain their
position at the university. They were being met with people who were surprised that they
were at a higher education institution. They were also facing subtle racism from both peers
and lecturers. For many, this was affecting their mental health as they were internalizing the
external influences. However for most of the Maori and Pasifika students, they worked hard
to be where they are, not being privileged and being met with criticism that they got to be
where they are because of their race.

Social justice encompasses the idea that all individuals feel safe and secure as self-
determining and interdependent individuals. Therefore from what is being presented in the
videos, I believe that this is not happening. Students from whatever background they may
come from should not be stereotyped or individualized because of where they come from or
what they identify with.

As an educator, I want to make sure that I offer my students an education that celebrates
who they are. From the video, I learnt that as lecturers or any educators, I need to be very
careful how I address the class and talk about issues that may largely affect a certain race or
ethnicity. I need to make all students feel safe as I would be setting the standard and the
tone of the class when such issues are being talked about. I need to set the bar and have
high expectations that everyone is being respected about who they are, no matter what they
choose to identify themselves as.

In my community of practice as an artist, I would embrace diversity as a solution and not a

problem, through my own work and that of in my art classroom. My students need to feel
safe in creating artwork from their own cultures and I should provide them with this
opportunity with what I cover in my art classes.