Evaluating impacts on professional practice

Three years ago, I worked as a teachers aid in a small Montessori preschool. Everyone who worked there was white, American, and were related. I am Middle Eastern-American, but feel that I fit in everywhere. Due to the lack of knowledge, I was judged a lot by coworkers and the families at the school by stereotypes that they heard of. I happened to get engaged to my now husband, and when I announced it to the people I worked with, one person said, “have you met him yet? “. To me this was shocking and also insulting. I could not even sort out my feelings and thoughts. A month later, I left that job to continue my education and told myself that I would never work with a group of people like that again. As time went by, and with the knowledge and information that I have gained from my courses in this masters program, I understand that bias can be worked on and education can help one to overcome and work through “-isms”. I also came to the realization that, just like my coworkers had biases and stereotypes against others, I as well had the same thing. With taking the time to learn about and understand the different “-isms”, I can now anti-bias and create a classroom environment that is also anti-bias.