Week 8

Week 8

 Hope

One hope I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is to always have an open mind and heart and to always focus on the whole child. “Young children need caring adults to help them construct a positive sense of self and respectful understanding of others (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p.11). As an early childhood professional I have the opportunity to help children flourish while finding their own unique strengths and identity. I want every child in my classroom to feel as if he/she belongs, is respected, and is valued. We can all learn from each other. I want my children to know that they are okay “just the way they are”.

Goal

                One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to be an advocate for early childhood professionals. We all should be provided with “a way to examine and transform our understanding of children’s lives and also do self-reflective work to more deeply understand our own lives” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 2). This course has taught me that self-reflection is a way to stop and look deep within our inner core to learn about our own biases and how they formed as we proceed on our journey of being effective anti-bias educators.  “Ultimately, the most important thing we bring to our teaching is who we are. Deepening our understanding of who we are now and how we came to be that person is at the heart of becoming a strong anti-bias teacher” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 22). As early childhood professionals we have the power to shape young minds. This power is a tremendous responsibility and one that should be taken seriously. “To teach is to touch a life, forever.”

Thank-you

                I would like to thank all my colleagues for sharing experiences, beliefs, and opinions during this eight-week course. I have enjoyed getting to know all of you through blogs and discussion board postings.  Your professionalism and commitment to the early childhood field is evident. Reading your blogs and discussions encouraged me to reflect on the course materials along with my own personal experiences. Thank you for allowing me to learn alongside you during this course. I wish you all the best of luck as you continue on in your Master’s program and profession!

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Week 7

Week 7

This course has taught me about anti-bias education and how to improve my classroom environment to better serve my students. “The heart of anti-bias work is a vision of a world in which all children are able to blossom, and each child’s particular abilities and gifts are able to flourish” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 2). As an anti-bias educator, it’s important to make sure all students feel respected, valued, and understood. “In an active anti-bias learning community, all children are equitably nurtured and everyone is responsible for everyone’s learning and well-being” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 125). As discussed in, Anti-Bias Education by Derman-Sparks & Edwards, an anti-bias environment is where everyone feels as if they belong, children have access to and are involved in their education, and families have access to resources.

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Week 6

Week 6

Reading the description of this assignment, I automatically thought of an incident I had with my children at a Starbucks drive-through window. “Children often notice differences in each other and often, to the dismay of adults around them, have no problem verbally identifying these differences” (Laureate Education, 2011, para 1). I was in the driver seat, my mother was in the passenger seat, my three-year-old son was behind my seat, and my one-year-old son was behind my mother’s seat. My oldest son had his window down, as did I. The gentleman helping us was someone we had gotten to know well (since we go often J) and he always talked to my son in the back. Well, for some reason this particular day as the gentleman was finishing up giving us our order my three-year-old son says, “Mommy why is he so fat?” Instantly I was shocked and embarrassed not knowing if he heard my son’s comment. He handed us the last of our order, I smiled, and we both said, “Have a great day!” then we drove off. As we left there was a stop sign and no one was behind us so I stopped longer than usual. My mother quickly responded rather harshly about what was said. I jumped in and first asked why he said what he did. He explained that he just wondered why he was so fat. I discussed with him that it was not nice to say that, it could hurt his feelings, and everyone is different and that is okay. To support my discussion we talked about how we are different from other family members and friends, etc. To be honest, I felt like half way through our conversation he was over it and had moved on and truly meant no harm by his question/observation. “By preschool age, children’s developmental task of figuring out how they are the same and different from their peers includes understanding what it means for someone to have a disability” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 125).

Reflecting on the situation and the discussion that followed I feel as if the message I communicated to my son might have come across that it is not okay to be overweight. Even though I discussed with him that it’s okay and everyone is different, I hope that he didn’t think I was saying that fat is bad.  I just wanted him to learn that we should not comment about differences because we do not know how others may take it. An anti-bias educator might have responded to the support the child’s or classroom’s understanding by first making sure everyone feels they are respected, valued, understood, and able to discuss their feelings. “In an active anti-bias learning community, all children are equitably nurtured and everyone is responsible for everyone’s learning and well-being” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 125). As discussed in, Anti-Bias Education by Derman-Sparks & Edwards, an educator needs to understand that children are inquisitive and will ask questions, they need correct details and information about the topic discussed, need to help support the child that children are curious about, and make sure everyone feels accepted. I feel it is also important for educators to remember that it is okay to feel uncomfortable too as they help young children learn about the world around them. The important thing is that we all strive to be anti-bias educators. “Becoming an anti-bias educator has a learning curve, as does acquiring any new skill or understanding” Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 21).

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Blog assignment: start seeing diversity blog: “we don’t say those words in class!” [Online blog post]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu