Courses at UC Berkeley Extension

Angelika My courses (photography course, course on African American families) were a complete success and enriched me greatly, bringing me a lot of joy. Both courses were at a high level and attended by very interesting people. I also had to work hard for the courses (literature study, final photography project, thesis on working with African American families), which earned me the title of "overachiever" from Michael. The photography course was structured in such a way that we had to tackle a different task each session, which was discussed in class beforehand (e.g., portrait photography, night photography). The following week, we would look at and discuss the photos together. So, I spent a lot of time with my camera in San Francisco. Michael often had to accompany me, which he did without much grumbling. It was only when he was supposed to be my subject for the portrait photos that he protested. I then photographed the children from my facility. To do justice to the photography course, we, of course, took the photo for our Christmas card ourselves.

The course on African American families dealt with the topic of racism in America and the living conditions of black families. What I really liked was the practical approach, for example, what I, as a white teacher, should consider when working with black families, how I can reduce distrust, how to deal with my own prejudices, etc. It must be kept in mind that the topic of black versus white is very emotionally charged in the USA and that racism is deeply rooted in American society (as in other countries as well). In my thesis, I then focused on what should be considered when working with African American children in a preschool setting. Initially, I was quite nervous because I had to write the paper in English. Thank God Sylvia corrected it. And the effort paid off, as I received an A (which corresponds to a German grade of 1) and I must say that I am very proud of it. In January, the new classes will start. I plan to take three (one on child development; one on so-called patchwork families, meaning families where children from different marriages or relationships live together; and one on multicultural families).