The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I remember a time when I was a witness to a biased/ prejudice situation.  There was a teacher who I use to work with who had a thing about girls. This particular teacher also picked a male when they needed help. Girls were never chosen to help because this teacher thought girls were not strong enough or capable to help.

This situation diminished equity because females are just as capable as males to help. I could understand if what this teacher was asking to do was too dangerous for a female or it really was a job for a male, but the things this teacher wanted help with were jobs for both males and females.  

This situation caused me to make a conscious effort to find things for females to help me with. The difference between what I did and what this teacher did was even though I was purposely trying to find things for students to help me with, I called upon males and females to help.  This allowed the females to have a sense of worth and felt welcomed in the classroom. Children do not understand at a young age what is going on, but they do know when things become unfair and when the same people are picked for everything. They then begin to ask questions, in which they never receive the proper answer for.  When things are not done fairly and children are not spoken to in a way they understand, I become frustrated. I become frustrated because I look at my students as humans and I talk to them as I would anyone else and in a way they understand what I say.

Looking at this situation, I feel the teacher would have to change in order to allow an opportunity for greater equity between males and females. I feel that I could change too by lending a few suggestions to this teacher and maybe making them aware of the situation that is being seen by other staff members as well as the students. It was also be nice if the males of the class maybe offered to the females to help instead, that way the teacher is hearing it from students and staff together.