EVALUATING IMPACTS ON PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

The society is plagued with a lot of isms. These isms are systematic, meaning it is found throughout the society and its institutions such as education, health, housing, law, employment and media (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). These  isms such as stereotypes, biases, prejudices, racism, sexism, classism, ableism and others are sometimes overtly or covertly stated to hurt others feelings. As an early childhood professional getting these isms can influence one’s emotional and physical well being towards teaching and interaction with the children. Often times you get racist comments about a teacher not deemed fit to teach particular children from an ethnic group. If these isms come from children’s family it really would make it hard to have a good communication and relationship with such family members. For instance, I might secretly dislike particular children, or I might not get them involve in class activities or further still, I could just be passive and nonchalant towards such children and their families.

However, being educated is to be able to understand where the other person is coming and to be able to teach by example. One way is to develop a thick skin towards isms while taking actions to confront and stamp out any biases or prejudices people might have towards you. I have faced a lot of these isms in life that I do not allow them define who I am. As an anti –bias educator I would always open up dialogue with families and colleagues and strive for social justice for all a sundry in the society. Deepening our understanding of who we are and how we came to be that person is at the heart of becoming a strong anti-bias teacher (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010)..

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).