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What Should a Teacher Look Like?

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, March/April 2024 Issue

By Rabia Khokhar

Ever since I was four years old, I dreamed of becoming a teacher. I would come home from kindergarten and “play school” with my stuffed animals and siblings. Whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I knew the answer deep in my heart: a teacher!

However, I never really saw any teachers who shared aspects of my identities (Muslim and South Asian)—neither in real life, nor in the books I read. In many ways, even though I did not have the language to verbalize or make sense of this at the time, I internalized that people like me did not belong in this profession.

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Rabia Khokhar is an elementary teacher, PhD student, and Teacher-Educator in Toronto. She is passionate about social justice education and representation in children’s literature.

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Rabia Khokhar
Rabia Khokhar
Rabia Khokhar is an elementary teacher, PhD student, and Teacher-Educator in Toronto. She is passionate about social justice education and representation in children’s literature.

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