Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

For my master’s course this week I am to: Describe in detail the consequences you might expect for the children and families with whom you work while you experience specific “–ism(s)” in your own life. Include specific examples either those you have and/or are experiencing or ones you would anticipate.

As an early childhood educator, I could certainly be the victim of stereotyping and religionism. Christians are not viewed with respect, but are often seen as biased and bigoted. Christians are looked upon with disgust and told that our religious views are wrong. Books like “How religion poisons everything” flood the market today. I am a staunch conservative and devout, practicing Christian. Working in a setting with children would certainly cause me great tension with regard to this prejudice. If I were denied the freedom to be myself or to talk about my religion, I would feel oppression. Being unable to read my Bible freely or wear religious jewelry would upset me. If I had to conform to the norms of an anti-Christian society, this would cause great tension and stress in my own life. I may begin to experience anxiety and depression. This religionism might cause me to look at people of other religions and be biased towards them. I might suspect that all people of any other faith, or of no faith, are out to get me or are against. These thought processes would definitely impact my ability to be a joyful teacher. I would lose my passion for teaching and be unable to effectively do my job. Additionally, I might be the victim of classism, since I am considered upper middle-class. Many of my students refer to me as rich. I have been robbed four times in my home and feel that there is a section of the population that is targeting me at this time. I feel that my class is bearing the brunt of the American taxes and for many people who do not work and live off the system. It is a very negative and trying issue. It makes me look at people in a different way – especially those that are poor or out of work. While there is a term heterosexism, I do not believe in this at all. I do not have what I have because of my sexual preference. I am who I am because of where I was born, who raised me, the values that were instilled in me and because of the God that I serve. There is also stereotyping and racism against Whites in America because we are the dominant class. The media tends to want to blame us for everything. I believe that we are all the victim of racism in our lifetime: either we have been through it, we are going through it or it is going to touch us some way in the future. I am called to treat others the way I want to be treated and try to live my life that way – not because of their culture, their religion, their class, their sexual preference or their race – because they are human beings, just like me.

Observing Communication

This week, I observed a fourth grade teacher in the library with his students. What I noticed is that this teacher was yelling at children, which I find completely unacceptable. Never once did he go over and talk to a child directly or make eye contact. He simply stood across the room and yelled out people’s names and told them to be quiet and sit down. It was ironic since libraries are often viewed as quiet places. The children were not listening to him and he had to make several demands and very loudly. His communication was not effective at all. The children continued to talk and simply seemed to ignore him. The teacher should have stopped, walked across the room and dealt with each child on an individual basis. He needed to make eye contact, be gentle and voice his specific expectations. As far as I was concerned, the children were not being rowdy or out of control, they were simply talking. Talking in his own quiet voice could have resulted in his wanting the children to be quiet. In my opinion, his treatment of the students was quite demeaning. I thought about myself when I was a young girl. I would have been mortified if a teacher was yelling my name across the room, especially since there were other teachers and students in the library at that time. One girl made eye contact with me and then hung her head low. I felt that she was ashamed or embarrassed. I also thought of all the children who were not talking and doing the right thing, how they must have felt about their teacher embarrassing the class as a whole. I think this kind of treatment from a teacher gives the child a feeling of worthlessness, shame and embarrassment. I can appreciate the fact that I do walk over to children, look them in the eye, sometimes put my hand on their shoulder and address them by name. I make eye contact with children and listen to their concerns. I try to focus on the conversation or problem, without taking it in a whole new direction. I often ask children questions and try to get them to work out their concerns in their own minds. I then encourage them to do whatever it is they have resolved to do. This teacher could learn a lot from this week’s resources. Maybe I’ll put copies in his staff mailbox!

Creating Affirming Environments

My Family Child Care Home would be one of caring. It would be a place where children and adults would feel comfortable and confident to be themselves. The materials in my environment would “reflect the identities of the specific children” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010 p. 44) in the program. The entrance to the home would have a bulletin board with current activities posted. This bulletin board would also show some of the children’s work or hold photographs of children in the center as they go about their day. The entry would have a check-in and check-out station. A notebook of the children’s personal information would be readily available if the parent needed to be contacted or in case of an emergency. I would have a cabinet for cubbies where families could store their children’s things and keep a Boo-Boo Binder here as well. The binder would hold simple first-aid materials for minor bumps or scrapes.

One area in the home would be devoted to Rest and Relaxation. There would be a baby bed, and comfortable pillows or rest mats on the floor. There would be a CD player for soft music. Blankets, books and a favorite stuffed animal would be available as well.

One area would be devoted to Snack Time or Meals. Supplies would be in children’s sizes and varying colors. Foods would reflect various cultures and placemats would also reflect various themes. For instance, if I have Hispanics in my program, I would provide beans, rice and tortillas. I would work with parents to prepare foods, not only from their culture, but that are healthy and that the children enjoy.

A Home Living area would have child-size furniture, such as a refrigerator, oven, table and chairs, ironing board, dolls and doll bed. I would include a small grocery cart with plastic food and dishes. I would try to incorporate ethnic foods or have pictures on placemats from different areas of the world. The dolls would be of varying skin tones and different kinds of clothing. Children would be free to dress the babies, set the table or go shopping.

Another area of the center would have a trunk for Dramatic Play. Clothing of varying cultures and careers would be available. Clothes would be changed to reflect the themes or times of year. Children would be free to dress up and engage in imaginary play. Clothes, shoes, purses, hats, jewelry, etc. could be purchased from garage sales and second-hand stores. Families could contribute items from home as well.

I do not like to have the television on, however, there are many interesting and informative DVD’s available these days. I would have a variety of DVD’s for limited viewing time, and would also have varying music of different parts of the world playing throughout the day. I would have an open, carpeted area where we could stretch, tumble and play. I enjoy engaging children in activity music that asks us to open and shut our hands or jump up and down. A small table would offer crayons, markers and paper of varying skin tones for children to freely express themselves through drawing. I also like to keep a small table completely covered with a blank piece of paper every day. When children feel the need to scribble on the wall or furniture, they can be re-directed to scribble on this covered table.

Another area of the center would be the Book Nook. This area would also have pillows on the floor, some stuffed animals and a variety of books. I would have a rocking chair in this area. I enjoy making scrapbooks and would incorporate this into my home care center. Each child would have or help make a book about his/her family with pictures from home, pictures taken at the center and of their handprints, writing, drawings, etc. These would be kept in the Book Nook throughout their stay. The family would take this memory with them when they were exiting the program. I would also make books about the children, staff or the center itself. These small books would have photographs and state simply “This is Mrs. Peery. She is my teacher”, or “This is Aailiyah. She likes spaghetti!”, or “This is my Book Nook. I read books here”, etc.

An Exploration Station would be part of my center. This area would house toys or activities where children would be free to work and explore. A sand table, Lego table or blocks for constructing would work well. Various children’s toys that are colorful, make noise or where children put round objects in a round hole would be in this area. We might have play dough we made or things that snap together or pop apart.

The Puzzle Port would house a bookshelf with puzzles for children to work. These puzzles would reflect various themes and peoples – things like careers, construction, animals, colors, shapes, numbers, letters, jungle, ocean, etc. The puzzles would be easily accessible and age appropriate.

I am a very organized person, so my spaces would have to be organized, make sense, flow easily and work best for the children’s heights and varying abilities. My home would also reflect safety. I would have schedules to make sure that all children experienced all activities or areas throughout the course of a week. Varying areas of my home would always represent letters, numbers, colors and shapes in preparation for preschool and kindergarten. I like teaching in themes and my home would be a reflection of my love for themes and my creativity. Since “common preschool and kindergarten themes typically focus on self-discovery, children’s families, children’s neighborhoods, community helpers, transportation, work, and harvesting food” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010 p. 48), I would focus on these same themes. I would work to end stereotyping through representations of various peoples of the world and the families of the children in the day care. My home would have various posters at the children’s eye level that represented people doing the things in that area. For instance, the Book Nook would have pictures of people reading. I would send instant cameras home with families to take pictures of themselves eating, playing, reading, etc. and post those throughout the center. I would have a couple of plastic crates or baskets so that children could quickly and easily help clean up without having to know the specifics of where things go. I like animals and would have a guinea pig, rabbit or aquarium. During toileting and diapering routines questions about bodily parts and functions would be discussed and answered with “simple, honest responses” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010 p. 53).

I once had a homecare center, before becoming a public school teacher. I kept a journal on each child, everyday. This journal would simply give the parents information about what we did and when – what the child ate, where we went, playtime, naptime, the child’s mood, our daily schedule, etc. I had pre-printed forms and it was not as time consuming as you might imagine. Parents were very grateful for this extra personal touch. In this world of electronics, I would offer not only a weekly paper newsletter, but a daily e-mail to stay connected with the families. I would partner with families by providing a handbook that outlined my philosophies and commitments to their children and my center. Parents would be asked to sign a compact and encouraged to participate in my home center – such as having lunch with us, reading us a book, etc. I would also host activities for the families outside of the regular center, such as attending a concert in the park together or going on an outing to the zoo.

Strategies for Working with Diverse Children

As I begin this class, I must reflect back on the past year-and-a-half. I have been pursuing a master's degree in Early Childhood Teaching and Cultural Diversity and am nearing the end. I have gained so much knowledge with regard to diversity and anti-biased education in the early childhood classroom. As I work through my goals and strategies for working with diverse children, I hope to become a better educator. I also hope to have a positive impact in the  field of anti-biased education.

What I Have Learned

One hope that I have when thinking about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that I will be deliberate and respectful in my teaching.

A goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity and social justice is that anti-biased education will become an essential element of all early childhood curriculum in American education in the very near future.

I wish to thank all of my colleagues who have posted comments and engaged in rich conversations with regard to the many issues we were to address during this course. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Diversity-Creating Art

http://www.slideshare.net/capeery/diversity-creating-art

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

As part of my assignment this week, I am to “remember a time when I witnessed an adult (or yourself) reprimand or silence a child after he or she pointed out someone they saw as different (e.g., “That lady talks funny,” “That man only has one leg!” “Why is that man so pretty!”) and include what the child said and what the adult did or said in response. I don’t reprimand or silence children when they point out that someone is different. I simply answer their questions. I have never witnessed a child being reprimanded for asking these kinds of questions, neither has any of my friends or family members.

Children are naturally curious and wonder about many things. I have had many students ask why someone is wearing glasses, why someone is a different color or dresses funny. I teach in an all Hispanic environment. Last year, one of my students seemed overly curious and was constantly asking these kind of questions. One day, he looked up and asked me “why are you so white?” My response was that I am not white. I quickly pulled out a piece of white paper and put it up to my skin to show that my coloring is not white. It started a discussion amongst the students about the different peoples of the world and all the different colors of skin. The students wanted paper, and so I pulled out all colors so they could compare them to their own skin color. They soon began to discover that we are not all the same. Someone then pulled out their crayons and we began comparing crayon colors. It led to a rich discussion of diversity and how we are all different and all alike.  We spent several days investigating books about how people are different and began drawing pictures. The message this kind of discussion sends is just as stated, we are all very much different and all very much alike. If a child is reprimanded for curiosity, it is sending the message that there is truly something wrong with being or looking different.

As an anti-bias educator, it is my job to react with understanding. Having posters in my classroom or reading books that show a rich diversity of all kinds of people sends the message that we are all important, no matter who we are. Children are always going to be curious and ask questions. It is up to the adults in their lives to respond with caring and kindness. The only way to do this is to truly believe what you are telling children. You must know and believe that we are all created for a purpose and that every person is special in his/her own unique way. It is also important to celebrate these differences. If we were all the same, the world would be a very boring place!