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

Week 3

Week 3

This week I took time to reflect on the Start Seeing Diversity video section on “Gender” and “Sexual Orientation” along with reviewing television shows and commercials, games, children’s books in my home, toy stores, and observing children in my classroom. I also took time to listen to the optional resource found in this week’s Learning Resource, “Two families grapple with sons’ gender identity: Psychologists take radically different approaches in therapy.” This interested me because this is my first year as an early childhood teacher that one of my students is working through her own gender identity. My student was born a male but identifies as a female.  Her transition has made me address such things as what to call her (he, she, they), how to handle questions from other students, and how to acknowledge parents’ comments and questions. Luckily the parent team of my transgender student and I have a wonderful relationship. This has helped with all the small and large-scale issues. I have learned a lot and have grown is so many ways from this experience coupled with this Masters’ program. This course has come in my life at the perfect time.

Some of the ways I noticed homophobia and heterosexism permeate the world of young children include books, television shows, and through observing children play. I sat down with my own six-year-old kindergarten son and looked at the books on his bookshelf. I found books representing different races and heterosexual relationships. I did not find anything representing homosexuality. I decided to look at shows that are geared toward pre-teen and teens on television. Like the books, I found shows that represented different races and heterosexual relationships. I do know that there are many shows for adults that represent homosexuality but I did not see any children’s shows. I had the opportunity to observe students, one boy and three girls (there are only four students allowed in that area at a time J) in my classroom play in the house/kitchen dramatic play area. The first thing the students started doing was role assignment. There was one girl that was the leader. She told the boy he was the dad, she was the mom, and the other two girls were the babies. I found it interesting that right away a father and mother were assigned. I have also found that even if it is all girls playing, either one of the girls is assigned to be the dad or there isn’t a relationship set. I have never witnessed a homosexual relationship. The ways that I have noticed homophobia and heterosexism really heightened my awareness that as an early childhood educator I need to provide my children with literature and discussions about gender. At the beginning of the school year I did make sure I had books of different family structures in my classroom to help all my students feel included.  I also noticed our librarian researching books on gender for our library collection. I was so excited to see this. We had a great discussion on the importance of this.

                My response to those who believe that early childhood centers should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families is that a variety of books should be allowed. I believe that gay or lesbian couples have the same rights as all couples.  Having a variety of books for children to see allows all children to feel acceptance and teaches others about tolerance.  I would also make it clear to individuals that the books chosen to be in the center need to be age-appropriate, quality literature, displaying diversity, and showing all types of family make-up. Todays society has many kinds of individuals who deserve this.

Week 6

Week 6

This week reading the five stages of team development motivated me to reflect upon my group own experiences. Thinking about the groups I have been in, ones that were high-performing groups were harder to leave.  I do feel that groups with the clearest established norms would also be hard to leave. These groups are normally high-performing groups due to goals and standards getting met. Thinking of a group that I have participated in which was hardest to leave makes me think of a group I haven’t actually left yet. This group is my teaching team. I feel I have a group and sub-group actually. The group in my entire building which is very close but my sub-group my kindergarten team is even closer. Our group has been together for several years now, so we have successfully worked through the different 5 stages of team development (forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning). Our group works effectively as a team. We are not focused on individual goals. We focus on the students, their needs, and each other’s. “The focus is on reaching the goal as a group. The team members have gotten to know each other, trust each other and rely on each other” (Abudi, 2010, para. 12). We have a relationship outside of work also which is great. We care about each other and their families. As team members, we have a respectful and trusting relationship with each other. “All members interact with each other equally creating an all-channel network” (O'Hair, 2015, p. 256). We do not have any role conflict in our group situation. “Role conflict arises in a group whenever expectations for a member’s behavior are incompatible (Baxter & Montgomery, 1996). Role conflict can make group communication profoundly challenging” (O'Hair, 2015, p. 260). I consider our group to be an effective, high-performing group, with established norms. This group will be a very difficult group to leave. “It is likely that any group that reached Stage 4: Performing will keep in touch with each other as they have become a very close-knit group and there will be sadness at separating and moving on to other projects independently” (Abudi, 2010, para. 16). Some closing rituals I have experienced in high-performing groups include recapping the set goals, having celebrations, and developing the next steps or goals that need to be reached. I have been in meeting such as my RTI student placement meetings which I discussed in my discussion 2 forum this week where these rituals have been very successful. Unfortunately, I feel my adjourning from the group of colleagues while working on my master’s degree may be different than others due to my taking time off in between classes. I have not been able to stay with a specific group of colleagues as most others have. Due to some personal situations, I have taken time off. I am hoping though that I can finish up the rest of my program with this group J I believe that adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because this is a time where a group can celebrate their accomplishments and set the stage for positive future meetings. “The team leader should ensure that there is time for the team to celebrate the success of the project and capture best practices for future use” (Abudi, 2010, para. 15).

References

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

O'Hair, D. W. (2015). Real Communication (3rd. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Week 5

Week 5

I had a disagreement with a colleague about whether or not our early childhood building should get rid of our classroom play kitchens. I felt that the play kitchen area was developmentally appropriate and critical for young children to learn from.  She felt it was a waste of time and took too much space in her room. She did not see the importance of keeping it in her classroom and wanted everyone in the building to get rid of theirs. Two strategies I have learned that might have helped manage the conflict were the cooperative strategies, compromising and collaborating. “In a compromise, the goal is to find the “middle ground” between two positions. Each party gains something but also gives up something” (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2015, p. 232). My colleague and I could find a middle ground by compromising on the amount of kitchen items in our classroom and the allotted time set aside for this type of play. “To reach a truly win-win solution, in which both parties end up fully satisfied with the outcome, requires the collaborating style. Collaborators are problem solvers who creatively work towards finding ways to meet the goals of both parties” (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2015, p. 232). My colleague and I could both win the conflict by each of us doing what we felt is right. I could keep my kitchen area and free choice time and she could get rid of her kitchen area and her free choice time. In the end the conflict really did end up this way.  Reflecting on the conflict, knowing what I do now, it may have gone smoother if I had focused on how I was communicating with her. In retrospect I think my body language and facial expressions may have put her on the defensive.  While I am glad it worked out, my new knowledge sure could have shortened the process and caused less tension.

References

O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J.  (2015). Real communication (3rd. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Week 4

Week 4

Reflecting on the similarities and differences between how I evaluated myself as a communicator and how others evaluated me one thing that surprised me the most was how close the overall scores were. The first-grade teacher that took the evaluations scored within a few points of mine. I also had a family member do the evaluations and his score was within ten points or less than mine. The results surprised me because I didn’t think they would be so close to mine. I thought the family member would be closer than my colleague. Two other insights about communication I gained this week are how significant nonverbal communication is and how listening styles vary.  This might inform my professional work and personal life by making me aware of my nonverbal gestures such as body language and my facial expressions which I know I need to work on. When in my classroom with twenty-five kindergartners, I use many expressions to communicate but have to remember when communicating with adults, my exaggerated expressions may be misinterpreted!  The other insight about communication I gained this week was the varied elements of listening styles. It was interesting learning how others listen. Taking the self-assessment and having two other people take the evaluation analyzing my listening style was enlightening. I have e few things to work on!  This might inform my professional work and personal life by making me more aware of my listening during communication interactions. I want to be sure that how I listen truly reflects what I am thinking as I listen.