We all experience bias. Unfortunately, we have tendencies to think a certain way. As
we are going through childhood, beliefs are instilled upon us and
whether we realize it or not, we experience stereotypes and prejudice. While
I truly believe that our society has come a long way from intentional
discrimination, we have a long way to go before we are free of
subconscious biases.
The more I go through this program, the more I am aware of my biases. The way I think and act has a direct impact upon the children in my care. If I express racism, even if it is subconscious, the families in my classroom will notice. Although
I may not think negatively toward a race that differs from mine, if I
speak differently to them than other white families, I will lose trust. Classism is an interesting issue for our field. Because of the minimal pay for early childhood education, most of us fall under low-middle class. We may not think negatively toward those of a lower class, but we might toward those of a higher class. Working for a health system, most of my children have at least one, if not two doctors as parents. This
means they are of a higher class and may not realize how offensive
talking about the size of their house or extravagant vacations might be. This is sure to lead to slight forms of classism on the teacher’s part. When a teacher has a poor relationship with the parents, it can impact our feelings about the child. Negative feelings toward a child can mean sub-standard education.
-ism’s effect each one of us daily. It is up to each individual to counteract these –ism’s through conscious effort for change.
Hi Rene,
ReplyDeleteIn responding to your post, it was indeed a very lovely one. Yes, we can attest that in doing the course we have been enlightened about the various prejudice, biases and stereotypes that we are faced with during some point in time. Nonetheless, we have been taught how we can go about dealing with thus. Once again great post.
I enjoyed what you had to say. It is hard to step outside of ourselves to acknowledge our biases, but when we are able to acknowledge them, then we are able to change. The slightest bias that we have towards others will be apparent in our demeanor, and nonverbal body language.
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