The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I have a fairly recent memory that I experienced of bias and prejudice. I recently started a new job as an early preschool teacher about a month ago, and I really loved it. We had four children transition from the toddler room to our class, and all of the children did well except for one little girl. I always made sure to keep the parent informed of her daughter’s day and that she always had great normal days, just a little bit of a rough time during morning drop offs. The parent complained to the office about me and said I was not nurturing enough, which is false, but what hurt is that my job I loved so much let me go because the parent did not accept me for me. Come to find out, the parent did not like me because of my size, and that made me feel oppressed, sadness, and unfairness.

The school had no real grounds to let me go but that of a parent who did accept me. The director said I left on great terms, which was crazy to me because I felt that the director did not stand up for me, and did not tell the parent the truth about how great her daughter was doing in our class. The parent even pulled the child and insisted that she stay in the classroom she just transitioned from. The parent felt I wasn’t capable of being a good teacher because of my size. The diminished equity because this was not fair and equal treatment, and this incident was questionable with ethical and moral concerns, and no one took the time to way them out before making the decision to let me go. I felt so bad when this happened. It made me feel as if I am not a human being because of my size, and that I cannot be extraordinary in any form if I am bigger than what society feels is normal.

The director of the school needs to change, as well as the viewpoints of the parent because this incident is going to fester into my psyche, and I will be a victim of internalized oppression. Also, this incident is not allowing for an educational environment where differences are accepted and being taught to the children. It is allowing them to not get the anti-biased learning environment that they are entitled to. Greater equity would be established with making sure that all facts are presented; truth of character and actions brought forth, as well as moral and ethical concerns when making a decision to let employees go, as well as allowing a parent to make accusations on another teacher or person.