"We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

I remember a time when my friend's daughter went with me to the store. We saw this woman that was walking with a limp and she had a lot of bags with her. She looked homeless and dirty. I remember my friend's daughter asking why does she walk like that? What is wrong with her leg and why does she look like she has been in the dirt? I was so embarrassed. I simply told her what I thought and encouraged her to be mindful of what she says and that it could hurt someone's feelings. I did not reprimand her because she was small and did not know any better. I simply tried to correct the behavior. I have no idea how she came to ask that question. Maybe she heard other people talking about it, but it was innocent how she asked. As an educator, they could use it as a teaching moment and highlight a person's differences. They could also let them know that difference do not make us less it just makes us different. She could have hurt herself. She could have been born that way, but this is how she was intended to be made. We could model some of those difference in the classroom. There could be pictures or other representations in the class to glorify differences. "Children's books are another important tool in an anti-bias approach. Some stories model anti-bias behavior or provide opportunities for children to think about how they can act against bias" (Laureate, n.d.).

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Physical ability and characteristics [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu