Stereotypes In The Classroom

As an international teacher, I am constantly worried if my stereotype will play negative roles in working with families and children who are from different cultures. For example, in my culture it is regarded as the parents’ fault or responsibility if their child needs special education. If a child is born with a defect, we immediately try to find which parent or ancestor had the potential impact. We spend more effort on figuring out whose fault it is rather than finding a way to help their child. This way of thinking was instilled into my mindset at an early age.
Having said so, I just recently experienced a moment in the classroom that made me deeply ponder about how culture played a significant role in determining ways of thinking. This …show more content…
Obviously flustered and in a panicked mood, it turned out that the teacher came to the boy’s home for a home visit, but there were no adults present when she saw three little children playing by themselves. It was a situation where mandated reporters should play their roles; the other teacher brought a folder that contained important information such as the address, parents’ contact information, and occupation. I was shocked when I looked at the father’s place of work; he was working at the clinical center in a state university. The majority of the clients at the clinical center were children who needed support like his son. Without myself consciously knowing it, I immediately found myself being judgmental of the father’s parenting. Later when I did realize that I was influenced by my way of biased thinking, I understood that I could not build trustful relationships. Throughout my life, I have been nurtured into thinking and being judgmental, even without me knowing it. To change this mindset that I have grown up with would definitely be a challenge, and given the circumstances, it would be extremely hard not to make hypercritical connections. How can I not judge the father when his son has speech delays, even though his primary language is English? How can I not criticize the father’s parenting if he works at the clinical center that provides services for children with special needs? Ultimately, we found out that the father was sleeping at home and the mother who was not proficient in English, came to school not knowing that it was a home visit. A simple miscommunication had led me to think poorly of the boy’s parents, and to this day, I feel extremely guilty about