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.
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.
