Impact of "isms"

An "ism" I have experienced is that of race. I can remember being called the n word when I was younger and even being singled out because of my race. I hope as an educator to allow children to understand that we all come in different colors and shades, but that does not mean you are less or more than because of that. I want them to understand we all are humans that bleed the same color blood.

Another "ism" I have experienced would be with ageism. Starting out young in the profession, I was often looked down on as inadequate or inexperienced. I want to ensure students in my class realize that have a voice and they can speak up for themselves. It does not matter how young or old a person is they all can share something special that someone else may not have known or experienced.

Serving as an anti-bias educator I will continue to work to foster positive relationships with the diverse children and families I have the privilege of educating and caring for.

Observing communication

I observed a mom interacting with a child on a cartoon. The cartoon was Doc McStuffins. During the cartoon I feel the mom interacted with the child in a positive way. She was listening to the child after they finished visiting an exhibit. Feedback from mom was positive and showed Doc Mc Stuffins that are thoughts was important to the family.

I learned from this week’s resources and videos how effective communication should be. Reading this week’s resources and listening to the media segment reassures me that what I have been doing in my classroom is shaping a positive environment to communicate and develop language skills. I will continue to utilize the guiding principles of having ‘teacher talk,’ expanding critical thinking and cognitive skills with ‘challenging talk’, and creating moments to ‘step back’ will be a way I continue to communicate effectively with children.

Creating Affirming Environments-My own family child care home

“Relationships and interactions with children and families, the visual and material environment, and the daily curriculum all come together to create the anti-bias learning community” (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010, p.51). Reflecting on this statement from our text helped me see what pieces are essential in the development of an early childhood setting that makes every child and family feel respected and welcome.

My Family Child Care Home will include the following, but is not limited to:

1.       Photographs, books, posters, dolls, puzzles, puppets, dramatic play clothing, and other supplemental materials that are reflective of children and staff represented in my classroom. Also other less dominant cultures so that children will become familiar with others that are different from their own culture, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, family structure, abilities, etc.

2.       Occasional snacks, meals, and music that reflect various cultures. This will allow children and families to share their culture, connect with others, and also form a way for children to notice and start respecting differences amongst people.

3.       A family bulletin board that will reflect all children and staff in our community. The family bulletin board is a way to share our personal family experiences amongst children, family, and staff to create diversity in the child care home.

4.       Notes, progress reports, handouts, etc. in child’s home language. I will respect the child and families home language and find ways to accommodate them appropriately as they transition into an English speaking child care home.

5.       Incorporate the child and families traditions and honor holidays/traditions reflected in the facility. Acknowledging and showing interest to learn something new about others shows respect and makes families feel like they belong in our school family.

6.       Incorporate a curriculum that teaches children about respecting others, acknowledging fairness vs non fairness, diversity, and ways to connect with others. A curriculum that teaches respect of oneself and others will help start the connection of creating an anti-bias education.

7.       Respecting children’s feelings and offering them a place to express them appropriately. Incorporating a safe place to feel comforted at any time of the day (drop offs, tantrums, etc.) helps teach children how to resolve conflicts and work with others in appropriate ways.

8.       “Teaching to strength” will be a principle incorporated for teacher’s to use inside the classrooms. “And if we spend as much time thinking about what kind of a learner is this child, where are their strengths, where are their interests, where are their natural motivations, as we spend thinking about where could they go next” (Laureate Education Inc., 2011).  When we scaffold for our children we start at where the child is but offer temporary support that will help build that child’s educational or social need to their particular greatest potential (zone of proximal development).

References:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children. Baltimore, MD: Author

What I have learned

My hope is that I continue to strengthen myself to be an anti-biased educator to help support all learners of any background. I will continue to support diverse children and their families to form a partnership to help their child reach their fullest potential in my classroom.

A goal I set for myself is to continue learning ways and insight about issues related to diversity, equity, and social justice. My goal is to engage in professional development, trainings, or webinars that will give me knowledge so that I can strengthen myself as a well-rounded Early Childhood professional.

Thanks to all my colleagues for your support during this journey. It has been a great experience to link up and share ideas, comments, and new knowledge as it relates to the early childhood field. I wish you all continued success and happy holidays.

Warmest Regards,

Tierra Jackson

Creating Art

I ndividually                                            

D eveloping

E xplicable personalities and characteristics

N otably

T hru traumatic experiences, biases, and discomforts

I nto

T he

Y oung child

I created this poem entitled “IDENTITY” to define how young children start developing diversity early on. As we have been learning from this course, these early experiences of trauma, biases, and discomforts will shape how we start to view the world around us. It plays a significant part on how we develop and form identities as a young child.

References:

Image from-

Rubashkyn, E.R.(2014, March 14). Eliana’s Blog.

Crossing Borders [Blog post]. Retrieved from

http://elianabutterfly.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/gender_identity_mtf_story.jpg

Start Seeing Diversity

An instance I can recall happening when a child pointed out something they noticed different was with my little cousin. We were out shopping in the mall and I can remember seeing a shorter than average person coming towards us. I was hoping my little cousin would not comment or even notice the difference, however, she did. As the lady was approaching she stated, “Why is that lady so little?” I really was in a moment of shock. I just was like “Shhh, Be Quiet!”

                The message I communicated to my cousin was that this person is different. Not only that, but that we should now respond to what we see. Now when she sees another person that is of shorter than average height, she may think that something has to be wrong with that person. Professionally, it would have been best not to just “shhh” my cousin, but perhaps explain to her that there are many different people in the world. People come in many shapes, colors, and sizes. Later, I may even share some books about differences in people.

Seeing Diversity-Gender and Sexual Orientation

“Bias related to sexual orientation, also called homophobia” (Laureate Education, n.d.). Heterosexism in my own words is the strong beliefs people have that heterosexuality should pervade in our society. I decided to observe a children’s TV. show and view children in an early childhood setting for any stereotypes or biases related to sexual orientation or gender roles. While watching the Sophia the First, I noticed that the girl characters wore lots of pink and were very well mannered. Spoke sofetly and seemingly nurturing and caring characters. I noticed the boy characters were more dominate and wore darker colors. In the early childhood setting, I noticed the boys seemed to only play with trucks, cars, and blocks. The girls tended to be interested in dress-up and taking care of baby dolls. However, there were some boys that did enjoy pretend play, but I did not seem them interact so much with the dolls. It seems as if societal views on girl’s vs boys have had some influence on our young children.

The “need to validate all the kinds of families children are coming from” (Laureate Education, n.d.) is the main reason early childhood educators should include classroom materials that depict same-sex partnered families. I think we should remember, as children we don’t get to choose the family we’re born into, so we could at least acknowledge that these types of families do exist. It helps the child not to feel bad or singled out because of the family that they were born into. For parents that have strong feelings against homosexual or transgendered individuals caring for their children. I would share the importance respecting differences in others. Also to remember that we would not want to be singled out because of choices we made in life, but maybe consider the child take part in the classroom. If there are still any discomforts I would respect the parents’ choice and just place the child in another room.

I have heard the term “tom boy” said to a little girl that likes to dress in pants, tennis shoes, and shirts vs dresses and skirts. She preferred rough play and doing more building in the block area. I think it may have caused the little girl to start thinking she was different in some way, although she continued dressing and playing the way she preferred.

References:

Video: Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Sexual orientation [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu