This past week my husband and I were at another couple's house having lunch. We were discussing our friend's job search and she was telling us about her recent interviews. She was very excited that one of the interviews went particularly well stating that the school has a "high population of Indians and Asians, which are the best kids to try and teach." I was shocked by her statement which implied that the children in other cultures are not as apt to learn. If teachers go into classrooms with the assumption that some children are more able to learn than others than it is quite possible that the teacher only focus their attention on the supposed more able learners, thus disadvantaging the rest of the class.
Before this week I would have been "put off" by my friend's comment but I may not have realize how the assumptions behind the comment could affect her teaching. Now I am able to hear comments such as these, decipher what is being implied, and begin to point out the effect of these implications to others.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that experience. I agree that microaggressions are passed down to children whether or not adults are aware of it or not. It is easy to find this in shows, radio, conversations with family and friends. I believe it is something that we must be more mindful of. As educators we definitely have to be mindful of this because when we are not than it can lead to unfair treatment of students. I use to only want to work with title 1 students because I didn’t want to be bothered with other children because I felt they already had it good. I had to give myself a reality check because that’s not fair to the child, just because they are not living in poverty does not mean that they will not have problems learning.