Narratives of Injustice and a Quilt of Hope
2022
2022
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Germany
Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina
University of Connecticut, USA
Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina
University of Connecticut, USA
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Intercultural Project Argentina, Germany, USANarratives of Injustice and a Quilt of Hope
All stories presented in this book are based on true personal experiences. In order to protect the project participants, no author names are given.
The narratives, the preface as well as the artwork included in this book were created by students.
Photos (story "Excuses"): Canvas, royalty-free
Because of different privacy policies at the universities involved in this project, this book only includes stories from the University of Munich (LMU), Germany, and the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Argentina.
This publication may not be reproduced in part or in whole without permission from the editors.
Project supervision:
LMU: Petra Rauschert
UConn: Manuela Wagner, Sandra Sirota
UNLP: Melina Porto
February 2022
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PrefaceNarratives of Injustice
The Daisy That Wilted
Great Enough
A Lesson on Equality and Empathy
Birds of Passage
The Odd One Out
Excuses
My Solution
Cowardly Little Lion
Ghosts From the Past
The Gray Sheep
Young Betrayal
Teacher’s Pet
A Narrative of Injustice in Osler’s Terms
The ‘Unsuccessful’ Completion
Be Sure to Taste Your Words Before You Spit Them Out
The Cancelled Schoolball
The Mystical Forest
Cultural Insensitivity
School Uniform: Another Expression of Sexism
Wasted Hours
Additional stories
(injustices in non-educational contexts)
Ipanema
Bartender
Quilt of Hope
Selected Artwork and Statements
Preface
In the winter semester 2021/22, students based in Argentina (Universidad Nacional de La Plata), Germany (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität), and the USA (University of Connecticut) collaboratively explored the research question of how trauma and suffering associated with experiences of injustice in higher education become a site of hope with transformative potential.
In this virtual exchange project, students met on Zoom and shared information via WhatsApp and Google Docs. The project started with each student writing a self-reflection of their own injustice experience in school, which was then shared with other classmates, so that students can engage with each other’s narratives of injustice to gain a deeper understanding of the concept of injustice and its influence on students. At the research stage, students were divided into small groups to conduct research and discuss the findings to learn more about the topic. Once students had better familiarized themselves with the causes and effects of injustices, they set out to look for solutions. Solutions were later presented as a quilt of hope using various artistic forms (drawing, painting, collage, video, etc.). In the end, students took different actions (social media, presentations for pre-service teachers, website post, etc.) to spread the quilt of hope to a large audience.
The goal of the project was to shed light on the impact of injustices in higher education and taking action to address them. Students' competencies related to cultural diversity, intercultural communication, multimodality, openness and curiosity, human rights, and democratic values were greatly promoted throughout the project.
Your project team
In the winter semester 2021/22, students based in Argentina (Universidad Nacional de La Plata), Germany (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität), and the USA (University of Connecticut) collaboratively explored the research question of how trauma and suffering associated with experiences of injustice in higher education become a site of hope with transformative potential.
In this virtual exchange project, students met on Zoom and shared information via WhatsApp and Google Docs. The project started with each student writing a self-reflection of their own injustice experience in school, which was then shared with other classmates, so that students can engage with each other’s narratives of injustice to gain a deeper understanding of the concept of injustice and its influence on students. At the research stage, students were divided into small groups to conduct research and discuss the findings to learn more about the topic. Once students had better familiarized themselves with the causes and effects of injustices, they set out to look for solutions. Solutions were later presented as a quilt of hope using various artistic forms (drawing, painting, collage, video, etc.). In the end, students took different actions (social media, presentations for pre-service teachers, website post, etc.) to spread the quilt of hope to a large audience.
The goal of the project was to shed light on the impact of injustices in higher education and taking action to address them. Students' competencies related to cultural diversity, intercultural communication, multimodality, openness and curiosity, human rights, and democratic values were greatly promoted throughout the project.
Your project team
The Daisy That Wilted
During my first year at university, I attended a demanding subject whose topics seemed complex to me as a newly undergraduate and, sometimes, I struggled to understand some theories or even to explain them with my own words.
One day, one of the professors who lectured on that subject asked me some questions about an important author’s theory in front of all my classmates. Of course, I did my best to answer, having in mind everything I had learnt so far. However, by the expression on his face, I could see that I was going in the wrong direction, so I tried to clarify myself - but suddenly, he began to laugh. I didn't quite understand why since I hadn’t said anything funny. He continued asking me more questions but related to topics that we hadn’t worked on yet.
By that moment, even though I was feeling so nervous and anxious, I kept trying hard to respond to everything I could. But the more I tried, the harder he laughed. I felt humiliated and couldn’t stop thinking that all the time I spent reading the materials and solving exercises was in vain. Then, disdainfully, he asked me to stop talking, making me feel like a small daisy that wilted. I didn’t want anyone to see me cry so I swallowed my tears and not until I arrived home, I let my eyes cry out.
I haven’t felt comfortable or confident enough to take part in any class since then. The fear of enduring the same situation in front of my classmates and the teacher again is palpable and making that fear disappear, it’s something easier said than done.
During my first year at university, I attended a demanding subject whose topics seemed complex to me as a newly undergraduate and, sometimes, I struggled to understand some theories or even to explain them with my own words.
One day, one of the professors who lectured on that subject asked me some questions about an important author’s theory in front of all my classmates. Of course, I did my best to answer, having in mind everything I had learnt so far. However, by the expression on his face, I could see that I was going in the wrong direction, so I tried to clarify myself - but suddenly, he began to laugh. I didn't quite understand why since I hadn’t said anything funny. He continued asking me more questions but related to topics that we hadn’t worked on yet.
By that moment, even though I was feeling so nervous and anxious, I kept trying hard to respond to everything I could. But the more I tried, the harder he laughed. I felt humiliated and couldn’t stop thinking that all the time I spent reading the materials and solving exercises was in vain. Then, disdainfully, he asked me to stop talking, making me feel like a small daisy that wilted. I didn’t want anyone to see me cry so I swallowed my tears and not until I arrived home, I let my eyes cry out.
I haven’t felt comfortable or confident enough to take part in any class since then. The fear of enduring the same situation in front of my classmates and the teacher again is palpable and making that fear disappear, it’s something easier said than done.
Great enough
When I was in primary school I almost effortlessly was one of the best students in my class. This came to nobody’s surprise. Everyone seemed to take it for granted, given that my mother was a primary school teacher. Until today I am not entirely sure what to make of this assumption. Clearly, parents do make a big difference when it comes to the academic performance of their children, and without a doubt doing well at school is a lot more difficult for those whose parents never read a book, never explain anything, never seem to care. Still, I feel like directly expecting a child is going to perform brilliantly at school because of their parents’ profession may be a bit unfair. It almost makes it seem as if instead of an angel and a devil that child constantly had its parents sitting on its shoulder, whispering the correct answers into its ear. A rather unsettling image if you ask me, but the main problem is that it lays the entire merit at the parents’ doorstep. Besides, this viewpoint completely disregards the pressure this kind of ever-present expectation puts upon the child.
Without question I was one of these children who, for one reason or another, have very high academic expectations towards themselves. At the same time I genuinely loved learning new things, which – lucky me – meant I really enjoyed going to school. This included all subjects – okay, maybe except for Physical Education. In PE I always was a bit bullied for being by far the tiniest one, which is hardly astonishing if you consider my dad’s Brazilian indigenous genes. But children that age aren’t exactly famous for considering questions of political correctness; to them I simply was the midget.
Things changed when I entered Gymnasium [1]. In most subjects I was still doing fine, but not so in mathematics, where in the very first test I got my very first 4 [2]. Even though at the time this was quite a shock for me, this in itself wouldn’t have been a disaster. (About a year ago at uni I even found out that this is a far from unusual thing to happen at the beginning of high school; nice to know that now.)
When I was in primary school I almost effortlessly was one of the best students in my class. This came to nobody’s surprise. Everyone seemed to take it for granted, given that my mother was a primary school teacher. Until today I am not entirely sure what to make of this assumption. Clearly, parents do make a big difference when it comes to the academic performance of their children, and without a doubt doing well at school is a lot more difficult for those whose parents never read a book, never explain anything, never seem to care. Still, I feel like directly expecting a child is going to perform brilliantly at school because of their parents’ profession may be a bit unfair. It almost makes it seem as if instead of an angel and a devil that child constantly had its parents sitting on its shoulder, whispering the correct answers into its ear. A rather unsettling image if you ask me, but the main problem is that it lays the entire merit at the parents’ doorstep. Besides, this viewpoint completely disregards the pressure this kind of ever-present expectation puts upon the child.
Without question I was one of these children who, for one reason or another, have very high academic expectations towards themselves. At the same time I genuinely loved learning new things, which – lucky me – meant I really enjoyed going to school. This included all subjects – okay, maybe except for Physical Education. In PE I always was a bit bullied for being by far the tiniest one, which is hardly astonishing if you consider my dad’s Brazilian indigenous genes. But children that age aren’t exactly famous for considering questions of political correctness; to them I simply was the midget.
Things changed when I entered Gymnasium [1]. In most subjects I was still doing fine, but not so in mathematics, where in the very first test I got my very first 4 [2]. Even though at the time this was quite a shock for me, this in itself wouldn’t have been a disaster. (About a year ago at uni I even found out that this is a far from unusual thing to happen at the beginning of high school; nice to know that now.)