Reflect

As a white woman, I definitely experience privilege in the world. As a woman, I also experience some marginalization. I think there are definitely things that I experience differently being a woman and things that I may be overlooked for. Looking through the history that I was taught in school, my ethnic and cultural background is definitely represented well, however, looking at history now with my own children I definitely see a lacking of representation of other ethnicities and cultures. Being a classroom teacher I can control what I present to my students to a certain extent and try my best to represent a variety of cultures and ethnicities. If given the opportunity, I would find more materials that could be presented by other teachers as well. 

I confess, like many others, I don’t usually feel all that privileged. Because I grew up relatively poor among relatively affluent people, I have typically felt disadvantaged economically. I paid my own tuition, I paid for my own wedding dress/wedding, I never went to a restaurant for dinner until college, etc. Religion is another way I frequently feel silenced. I doubt anyone in my school building knows I’m a Christian, because I never bring it up. We had a VP who was a pretty vocal Christian, and I have heard many of my co-workers bash him for his beliefs behind his back. Its like Christianity is okay only if you aren’t that passionate about it. I also feel like the very words “Christianity” or “Jesus” are totally taboo to say aloud, but we make a point of positively talking about the Islamic faith because we have so many Muslim students and we (rightly) want them to feel comfortable. Its like, why do I feel totally justified in having multiple books about Ramadan, etc., on the shelf, but I would feel weird buying a book involving Christianity?  I will say that in my library I’ve done a really good job having a diverse collection, though. I feel like any child could come in and see themselves in the characters in the stories. For an emphasis for my future orders, I feel like handicapped children could be more represented.

Being a young white female I experience privilege and marginalization. Being white I have many advantages as other white people do in the sense of being treated as trustworthy and valued. Being young white female I believe I have been marginalized. I would not have gotten my job here in SCSD fresh out of college if it wasn’t for my degree. They were nervous for me to be at Henninger, and there were even jokes made about how long I would last here. Many of my students are looked at as trouble makers, or statements are made of “they won’t make it” because they dress a certain way and look a certain way. For me, I personally will target those specific students to have them feel valued and that I want them in class. I think my other students who are white, dressed well and come to school everyday feel undervalued because I focus my attention on those who typically tend to drop off. I think the students who are view as “smart” or “well off” are given space and valued. I do think the district has done a better job of using programs that do highlight more culturally responsive ideals and situations. Do I think this is a fix to everything? No. But it is a step in the right direction.

How do you experience privilege and marginalization?

The systems of privilege exist worldwide, in varying forms and context. This is because no matter the context privilege is invisible to those who have it” for example, White people, men, heterosexuals, and the middle class. When one is privileged by class, or race or gender or sexuality, one rarely sees exactly how the dynamics of privilege work.

I experience privilege as a white, heterosexual, married person.
I am also an English-speaking US citizen, have a roof over my head, have access to health and psychological care, am able-bodied, middle-class, light-skinned, college educated, and was raised in a supportive family environment. The tricky thing about our privilege is that we often don’t even know we have it.

I experience marginalization as a woman.

Fortunately, I do not feel marginalized in any way.  Some may feel marginalized as a female however I do not. Of the few who have discounted me as a female, well, I really didn't care what they thought any way.  It never hindered me.  Statistically, males often have a harder path to travel.  Men die younger than women on average.  They are more likely to die younger as a result of illness, suicide, and as a result of accidents or homicide.  When wars break out, men have traditionally had to carry that burden.  Males don't fare as well as females in our school systems either, but more women should be in the math and science arena. Schools can definitely help there by encouraging females to join their male counterparts in those advanced classes.

I am very concerned that we are not providing enough support to our students academically.  My classroom is not always perfect, but I do reiterate to my students each day that their math and reading skills are door openers for their future. Exemplifying people who have lacked certain privileges succeeding in attaining higher level skills gives students an opportunity to see themselves succeeding.

I do my best to address the deficits that have developed over years so that students can compete. When a potential employee walks in the door with the skill levels a business desperately needs, the employer will care a lot less about other factors.  I am troubled that our District does not place enough emphasis on those skills and does not have the safeguards to assure that our students have the reading and math skills that will take them places and give them opportunities.

I spoke of some of the ways in which I experience privilege in my first post so I won't recount them here. And I eluded to marginalization as a woman, and by that I mean lesser pay for the same work in some of my careers, being talked down to by white men, and being taken advantage of in situations by men in power. Some relationships with more traditional ("old school") men have brought gaslighting and demeaning dialogue. So in using those experiences to reflect on how I can fight privilege and marginalization in my own classroom, I think the most important thing I can do as a teacher and leader of our mini culture is to allow all individuals to feel they have an equitable voice and an equal seat the table, so to speak. Listening to and honoring their opinions, thoughts and experiences in a nonjudgmental manner and affording them choice and power to affect their own educational experiences is also key. 

How do you experience privilege and marginalization? Who do we privilege or marginalize in our classrooms? Whose voices are given space? Whose ideas are elevated? Whose stories are told? Who sees themselves and their own lives reflected in our curriculum and our classroom materials? Consider how your own practices could be perpetuating systemic privilege. How might you use your own privilege to make your classroom and school more equitable?


I experience my own privilege every day and I try to remind myself of that and try to fight inequities wherever I can. Right now I am in the process of buying a home with my fiance who also has a stable career and is white. The process is going fairly easy for us, but I am constantly trying to remind myself of how much privilege we really have because of incomes and skin color. This process can be very triggering for those of marginalized groups who may be discriminated against based on their ethnicity, race or job.
In the classroom, I try to elevate voices by reading stories that reflect characters of all backgrounds and all races in addition to working with colleagues who are writing curriculum to make sure that we are using social justice standards and checking our own biases as curriculum is developed.