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).

What I Have Learned

When I think about working with children and families from diverse background we have to be receptive to learning about different cultures, diversity, and be open and willing to help wherever needed.  If we are not given the opportunity to understand diversity, we will always have the same mindset. We have to make sure the curriculum displays diversity. We have to be willing to make the transition for families in early childhood education a little easier.

My goal I would like to set for the early childhood field is I want people to understand that equity and social justice are reachable goals when people are given the opportunity to understand diversity.  I was reading an article and the author asked “What does it mean to have a deep understanding of diversity, equity, and social justice?” I personally believe it means going beyond the surface to find out how diversity, equity, and social justice affect people around us. As you get to know a person on a deeper level, you get a better understanding of who they really are. If we don’t get to know a person beyond the surface, we will never learn about their culture or issues that affect them personally.  If we don’t take the time to get to know a person, we will continue to stereotype and prejudge.  This way of thinking will never get us to being open about issues that affect diversity, equity, and social justice.  We must change our mindset in order to see change.

I would like to thank my colleagues for providing helpful insights each week on the topics discussed.  This really helped me see some things from a different perspective.  I wish each of you much success on your future endeavors.  I am sure we will meet again.  Take care!

"View of Reality"

The world is beautiful, full of so many wonderful people and things, but the world is also hateful, bias, and unrealistically mean.  If you are different than the circle of friends then the discomfort of those in the group won't give you a chance.  Holding on to an idea with no basis, and claiming superiority because of skin color or races.

Not many years ago a man spoke of peace and equality...."We Shall Overcome". Now looking at this countries current state, and it seems that our current president has lost his way. Bullying his way through each and every conversation and situation once more causing division in our nation.

We the people must remember why this great nation exists. We must resist the temptation to cause harm to those that hold different views, and those who to seek to be her citizen. For in the end if the constitution fails, we will all live in a very hateful and dangerous world.  Where little boys and girls will grow up where tolerance and inclusion don't exist, and love and hope fades into the abyss.

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

 I was subbing for an autism class last week.  There is an overweight substitute teacher that comes to the school on a regular basis.  Her attire is not very neat mainly because  it’s probably hard for her to find clothes that fit. The clothes she wears are always a material that clings to her body, and you can really see how overweight she is.  I was taking three of the autism students to music and all three stopped and started laughing and pointing at this teacher.  I advised them to stop because that’s not nice. One of the students covered his mouth and he was getting ready to say she is “fat”.  I had to hush him up and pass by her quickly. I started to not to have a conversation with him because of him being in special ed, but he knew exactly what he was doing.  I pulled him to the side when we got to music and said that his actions weren’t nice. We have to be mindful of the things we say and do. I reminded him that we must say nice things to people regardless of how they look.  I advised him that we all come in different shapes and sizes. As an anti-bias educator, I would support the discussion by showing pictures of people of all different sizes. However, we must accept people of all body types.

Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

Heterosexism is a topic that you have to be mindful of the things you say. I try not to assume anything about people because I really don’t like to prejudge people before I get to know them. I assume that in certain situation that same sex couples will not make good parents. The reason I say that is because I believe it’s harder to explain to a child why they have two mothers or fathers.  How do you explain that to a child?  I think that it’s just like men in the past that did not permit women to work in certain professions, because they felt those jobs where only for men.  Homosexuality and being transgender are very touchy topics.  There have been so many issues surrounding the LGBT community.  I wasn’t aware of the LGBT community until my husband starting telling me about it.  He works in social services  so his clients kept him abreast of everything that went on.  I don’t know anyone personally in the LGBT community.  However, there are always issues surrounding the LGBT community on the news.  The challenges that I know about surrounding the LGBT community is that they want to have the same rights as heterosexual.  I used to work for an agency that issued drivers license.  When the new law passed about same sex marriage that created a lot of controversy.  We had couples wanting to change their name to something that we couldn’t legally do.  We kept running into this issue but we had to politely explain the same rules apply to everyone.  We would like to help everyone but in some situations our hands are tired. I personally don’t think LGBT individuals should not be permitted in early childhood settings. The most important issue is the children we serve.  How a person live their life outside that setting is totally up to them.  This information shouldn’t even be shared with anyone for people to prejudge.  I feel like regardless of your preference don’t push that on other’s.  How you chose to live your life is totally up to you, but please don’t expect everyone to agree with that lifestyle. I may not agree with that lifestyle, but I will still speak and be respectful with you. I feel that early childhood centers should avoid any material depicting gay or lesbian lifestyles because you don't know a parents belief. It should be left up to parents whether or not they want to introduce that information to their child.  There is a time and place for everything.

Team Buidling and Collaboration, Part 1

As I think of the adjourning phase of groups, I think of leaving my last employer.  I have been apart of several groups that had an adjourning phase. The adjourning phase of each group provided closure and encouragement to move on.  I left my previous employer in August of 2015.  As with most jobs, I provided a 2 week notice because that's the norm with most employers. This employer was hard to leave because of the friendships I had developed  over 2 years.  I had also developed relationships with a lot of the customer's that I came in contact with. On my last day, I was given a going away party.  My co-workers all brought food and one of the ladies that loved to cook made a cake.  I really appreciated the going away party because they didn't have to do that.  This showed me that they really cared about me and they want to see me do well.

I feel like adjourning with colleagues in the masters program will be hard to do. I haven't met any of my classmates personally, but I feel like we have a bond just from the experiences we shared. We all share some common goals which makes us understand each other more.  I am looking forward to the adjourning phase because this means I will be one step closer to achieving my goals. Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it brings everyone together to reflect on the goal and vision. It's also an opportunity to provide encouragement and to reflect on failures and accomplishments.

Conflict Resolution

I haven't experienced any conflicts of disagreements at my current job.  I try really hard not to get into conflict situations or disagreements with other people especially in the workplace.  I have always been the person that tried hard to avoid conflict.  I normally try to make people happy or try to find the positive in a negative situation and focus on that.  However, I can think back to August of last year when I was having a number of issues with my schedule at an agency I used to work for.  My supervisor and district manager both seemed to want or need different things when it came to my availability.  I am was only a part time worker, and they wanted me to be flexible like the full time staff.  I had a meeting and expressed my concern to see if they could work out a modified schedule that would help with child care issues.  At the first meeting my supervisor was not receptive to changing my schedule.  She stated that my schedule has to be based on the needs of the business.  I understood her concern, but I told her she must have forgotten that she had young children once.   We continuously came to one wall after another each time she tried to make amendments to my schedule and find something that worked for everyone. I felt like she was trying not to work with my schedule because she knew I would resign.  Eventually we were able to find a workable solution that met everyone’s needs.  However it was only temporary, and she advised that it would last about 3 months. I ended up resigning at the end of the 3 months. I think we could have worked together to compromise and find a solution that would be beneficial for everyone.  It was important that we listened to and respected each other throughout this process or we would have never gotten to that point.

After this week’s resources I now see there were so many different ways I could have handled the situation from the beginning. The 3 R’s of communication would have helped me understand how to resolve the conflict of the conversation a little better. We both should have communicated with respect through out the conversation.  It's hard to respect someone when you feel like they don't have your best interest at heart.  As a supervisor, she should understand that you treat people like you want to be treated regardless of the situation.