Week 6:The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The memory of incidents that depicts bias /prejudices that I witnessed and could recollect because of the ironical nature of the situation. It happened when I went home on holidays two years ago. I went to Lagos, Nigerian for a month holiday, a friend of mine; a teacher invited me to come visit her at work place. The day I went there, there was parent -teacher meeting going on. My friends said I could join, acting as a parent. I sat there and as I was listening to their conversations and issues being discussed, then an incidence struck my attention; a  parent stood up, and complained about a teacher  for not being watchful of her child because she noticed that her child in preschool was beginning to speak little bit of  Yoruba language at home and even though they were Yoruba but they never spoke Yoruba to their child because they wanted her to speak English language .The mother further said, that she did not want her daughter mingling with children that spoke Yoruba, because they would make her child not speak English language correctly. The teacher attempted to defend herself, saying that, it would not be right for her to select friends the kids chooses to hang out with, the parents was angry with the teacher, stating that she was not doing her job well. The headmistress intervenes stating that she has told parents that they should start speaking English language with their children from home.

When I reflect on the incident I feel the principal’s judgment was not objective but bias .The school population of families consisted of families who were educated and could speak English and the uneducated ones who could not speak yet the principal concluded that parents should speak English to their children ones they start communicating. What about the parents who could not speak English, would parents like the one who raise the issue continue to discriminate against them by saying they should not relate with her child so has not to affect how her child communicate.

I feel this is wrong and not fair to the families whose kids came to school speaking their mother tongue. The principal is making those parents feel inferior in terms on how they raised their kids by telling them to teach their children English from home. The principal could have address the issue from that particular parents point of view and not generalize the solution based on a parent way of life. She would probably had made the parents understand the advantages of a child being bi-lingual; that the child speaking another language would not make her speak English language poorly, also the possibility of the child picking from other sources is inevitable, but they would continue to support the child in ensuring she speaks good English rather than out rightly blaming other parents for not speaking English to their kids from home

I believe the school system and structure should promote equity by respecting each family’s way of life and child upbringing and not attempt to force a particular type or way as being better.