Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

For my master’s course this week I am to: Describe in detail the consequences you might expect for the children and families with whom you work while you experience specific “–ism(s)” in your own life. Include specific examples either those you have and/or are experiencing or ones you would anticipate.

As an early childhood educator, I could certainly be the victim of stereotyping and religionism. Christians are not viewed with respect, but are often seen as biased and bigoted. Christians are looked upon with disgust and told that our religious views are wrong. Books like “How religion poisons everything” flood the market today. I am a staunch conservative and devout, practicing Christian. Working in a setting with children would certainly cause me great tension with regard to this prejudice. If I were denied the freedom to be myself or to talk about my religion, I would feel oppression. Being unable to read my Bible freely or wear religious jewelry would upset me. If I had to conform to the norms of an anti-Christian society, this would cause great tension and stress in my own life. I may begin to experience anxiety and depression. This religionism might cause me to look at people of other religions and be biased towards them. I might suspect that all people of any other faith, or of no faith, are out to get me or are against. These thought processes would definitely impact my ability to be a joyful teacher. I would lose my passion for teaching and be unable to effectively do my job. Additionally, I might be the victim of classism, since I am considered upper middle-class. Many of my students refer to me as rich. I have been robbed four times in my home and feel that there is a section of the population that is targeting me at this time. I feel that my class is bearing the brunt of the American taxes and for many people who do not work and live off the system. It is a very negative and trying issue. It makes me look at people in a different way – especially those that are poor or out of work. While there is a term heterosexism, I do not believe in this at all. I do not have what I have because of my sexual preference. I am who I am because of where I was born, who raised me, the values that were instilled in me and because of the God that I serve. There is also stereotyping and racism against Whites in America because we are the dominant class. The media tends to want to blame us for everything. I believe that we are all the victim of racism in our lifetime: either we have been through it, we are going through it or it is going to touch us some way in the future. I am called to treat others the way I want to be treated and try to live my life that way – not because of their culture, their religion, their class, their sexual preference or their race – because they are human beings, just like me.