Creating Affirming Environments

It’s very important to create learning environments that reflect the diversity of the children and families we work with.  It’s equally important to expand and deepen the understanding and respect for diversity. The understanding of diversity helps promote strong family-teacher relationships.  My vision for an anti-bias child care center would be one that displays diversity throughout the center as well as in the curriculum.  The creation of affirming environments are important because it will make all families feel welcomed.  At the beginning of the year the children would do a project titled my family and me.  They would use a poster board/construction paper to put pictures of them and their family. This project would be displayed around the classroom to represent all the families.  There would be pictures of Good Morning, Please, and Thank You in different languages posted around the classroom to represent family diversity.  To help understand different cultures, I would invite family members for a show and tell day at school.  I would also sets up days to do food tastings from around the world to show the different cultures presented in the class.  There would be pictures of all ethnic backgrounds posted around the classroom.  There would also be a wall that has different words and phrases in several languages.  The dramatic play/housekeeping area would have dolls of different ethnic backgrounds.  It would also have common items that different cultures use.  The book/literacy area would have pictures and words that reflect different cultures.  This area would also have books representing different cultures.  These books would be used to celebrate different ethnicities in the month they occur.  The play accessories would be universal.  I wouldn’t want any that depict a particular culture.  I would also like to celebrate a different culture each month by having a potluck with food exclusive to that culture.  The curriculum would cover various activities and have music in different languages.  The students would also learn numbers in Spanish during math time.  The steps toward anti-bias education will constantly mean the center will have to try new things to meet the diverse needs of learners.  However, every step in the right direction will bring me closer to pushing more people to become anti-bias educators.

Reference

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).