Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Classism is something I see often working in a Title 1 school. Sometimes I hear teachers complaining about parents that are "lazy" or "don't care about their child's education." I have been guilty of this myself prior to beginning my anti-bias courses.  These prejudices and stereotypes can be very damaging to a child's view on his or her family and identity development. It can make the child experience feelings such as shame or discomfort. As early childhood educators, we must do our best to dispel any bias so we can develop a positive relationship with the every child's family so that we can meet the child's needs.

 As a single woman and a teacher, you can imagine (OR KNOW) that I don't make as much money as most of my peers in other professions. When talking about how much teachers make, something that really bothers me is when people say "Well you have the summer's off" or connecting my work to a babysitter's duty. Some people do not realize all the hard work, both physically, emotionally and mentally that goes into a teacher's job each day. It's not like we work from 9-5 and then we relax.I spent a lot of time outside of school filling out report cards and progress reports, making assessments, lesson planning, calling parents, and so much more. I'm not sure if you would call this a "job-ism" or "classism", but it one that affects me often. My friends around the country get upset with me when I can't come to visit them, or go out with them for a night out on the down. They think that I handle my money poorly or I need to cut-back on things. I even get this from my own father. I explain to them that my money goes to bills, groceries and my classroom. The stress that I face with living on a tight income and many bills to pay, the frustrations I get from other's stereotypes/judgements of me when they know nothing about me can really affect my mood and interactions with students and families. I can see how stereotypes and misconceptions can be upsetting for a child and his/her family and how I must do my best to dispel misconceptions in myself AND my students so they can grow up to be knowledgeable, accepting and spread their knowledge and help others to acknowledge and rid their unknown biases.

Here is an awesome and inspiring video that I watch that reminds me why I went into teaching...