Race, heritage, ethnicity, skin color- all words people use to describe the way people look or where they come from or what kind of people they are.
There was a staff meeting yesterday where the "divide" between white & black students came up. A staff member made a comment that really has me thinking about myself. Do I treat students differently based on the complexion of their skin? Do I give better education to my fair-skinned students and less to those of darker complexion? I really don't think so. I am really trying to wrap my brain around this.
As much as I put myself down, critique & criticize myself, I would think I would have caught this in myself if it were happening as well as any number of administrators I've had. But then again, it is a "white world," and maybe I'm just blind. So I'm trying to be very aware of the ways I treat my kids. The problem is I really don't look at my kids and think "black, white, Asian, Mexican, girl, boy...." I just see my kinderkids and see their individual personalities, strengths and weaknesses. I sure hope I'm not a closet bigot!!! That's the last thing in the world I'd ever want to be and if I'm guilty of treating African American (or any other group) of students worse, than I need to quit teaching before I do any damage!
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