I
would have to say that throughout my life I have not experienced that many
isms. My Walden education has opened my
eyes to exactly what isms are and how they influence my own opinions about
different issues. This week I am going
to talk about classism. “Classism is an
attitude, action or practice of an individual or institution, backed by
societal power, that gives preferential treatment to or treats as superior
those with more economic resources or higher social status and treats as
inferior or denies access to those with fewer economic resources or less social
status” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010,
p. xi). I have always pictured myself as
a working mother. There has never really
been a time in my life where I thought I would be a stay at home mom. I believe teaching is the perfect job because
you get the same holidays off as your children and I get to spend a lot of time
with them during the summer. I do put in
a lot of extra time at work during the school year but I believe it all evens
itself out. On the other hand I have
often felt like my own mother wishes and believes I should stay home with my children. My mother was not a stay at home mother while
I was growing up because financially she wasn’t able to be. There have been times when I have felt that
my mother has looked down on me because of my choice not to stay at home with
my children. This feeling has also carried
into my classroom. I have wonderful
families that attend my preschool but many of them are stay at home
mothers. I have great respect for stay
at home mothers and sometimes feel like it would be harder than being a working
mother. Even though there are times when
I feel this way there are also times when I hear stay at home mom’s complaining
about what they have to get accomplished and I think you have no idea. Try getting all of that stuff done on top of
having a fulltime teaching job. I
definitely try to not let this feeling impact my teaching and I do believe I
have learned to appreciate the challenges of stay at home moms and working
moms. I believe it is important to
remember that we all have challenges, obligations and many goals we are trying
to get accomplished whether we are doing that in a working environment, at home
or both.
Reference
Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J.
O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves.
Washington, DC: NAEYC.
Hi Courtney,
ReplyDeleteYou make some really great points. On both sides being a working mother and stay at home mother both have their ups and downs. However, it is all about time management and making time for yourself, regardless of one's situation and duties. How do you think children's lives differ from living with a working mom and a stay at home mom?
Elizabeth
I am not sure I could say that having a working mother or a stay at home mother makes a child be a certain way but one main difference I see is the child's ability to interact with others. Many times children who have mothers that work are introduced to childcare and other adults at a very young age. These children usually have an easier time coming into my classroom and starting school. Although this is not always the case because I have had many children that have a stay at home mother and they are very comfortable around others. Usually this is true because their family has done a great job getting them involved in varies activities. For example they participate in a church, have play dates with other children or participate in a local organization such as MOPS (Mother of Preschoolers).
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