What I Have Learned

       When I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds my hope is that each individual feels that they belong and feel that they are part of the program’s community. My hope for is children not to feel different or think that they don’t fit in. My hope is for everyone to embrace and respect the differences that make us unique and special.

       One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that educators take the time to understand to benefits and importance of anti-bias education. It is the time for all educators who work with diversity to become knowledgeable about how to create environments where all children feel safe, respected, and supported.

      It is that time once again to show my gratitude and appreciation to everyone for sharing your thoughts, knowledge, and support. The discussion boards and Blogs gave me the opportunity to learn through the experiences you shared each week. I am grateful to learn from so many caring educators who only want the best for children and their families!J Dr. Klein, thank you for your continued support, encouragement, and feedback that you provided for us on a weekly basis! I appreciated your weekly announcements with words of encouragement…they helped to fuel my thoughts each week!!

I wish everyone continued success!!! We are almost at the finish line

Take care,

Stephanie

Creating Art

      

       Throughout this course I have had the opportunity to not only learn more about diversity and anti-bias education, but I have learned so much about myself. This week we were asked to create a piece of art representing what I have learned, so I decided to write two poems. The first poem I wrote with my children and the second one I did on my own using my reflections about this course!

This is a poem called, “Diversity” written by myself and my two children

(Maggie age 11, Ben age 13, and my age???)

Diversity

D is for our differences that are so great

I is for inclusion so no one is left at the gate

V is for variety where no one is the same

E is for embracing everyone so there is no shame

R is for respecting the different races

S is for seeing that people come from different places

I is for individuality where everyone is different from the rest

T is for great teachers who do anti-bias work the best

Y is for the “YES” to ending bias, prejudice, and discrimination!!

                     

                                                           Stephanie, Ben, and Maggie

A child’s drawing of diversity

Diversity

Who am I? Who are we?

We are seen so differently.

The way we dress and the food we eat

Should not matter when we meet.

What I know about prejudice makes me sad

Because treating other unfairly is very bad.

We need anti-bias teachers to make children smile,

But remember changes seem to take a while.

Don’t give up as we must be persistent

As we need to teach people who are resistant.

We need to respect the differences we see

So children can say, “I am happy to be me!”

                                                                                                                     Stephanie Ray

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

Why do we “Shh” children when they ask us questions or make a statement when they see a person who looks different than they do? Children use their observations to learn about others.

They ask us questions or make statements because they are curious not rude. Think of the message that we give children the we stop them from asking questions or shh their curiosity!

I have experienced many times where I have witnessed an adult silence a child after they pointed out someone who looked different.  One example in particular occurred when a child I worked with noticed one of the educator’s body type/size. The educators and children were having lunch in the lunchroom and a child who was sitting at my lunch table looked over at the other table that was beside ours and she looked at the educator as said, "Sandy, your bum is too big for that chair. You are fat like Santa. Why is your bum so big?" Well, what do you think went through the minds of all the educators that were in the lunchroom? This comment made us very uncomfortable, uneasy, awkward, and feel other range of emotions about what this child had just expressed. The child did not say this to mean; she said this because she made an observation about how this educator was different. I did not shh this child, but my reaction was not any better as I sat there in silence for a few moments. Two other educators told her that what she said wasn't very nice and that she hurt Sandy'a feelings. 

What did our messages communicate to this child? My silence and the other educators' comments gave this child the message that what she said was wrong, when in fact she did not have a malicious intent. According to Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards (2012) we did not use this opportunity to help this child have a better understanding of differences. Children pick up on cues and can formulate conclusions about issues that adults do not talk about such as; body type/size and can feel emotional tensions from adults (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards 2012). Our reaction may have given this child the message that we shouldn't make comments or ask questions when we see the differences that surround us. 

  

What I found interesting about this situation was that Sandy was the person who not only responded appropriately, but she handled the situation beautifully. She responded instantly and explained to this child about how everyone is unique, special, and different. Sandy said to her that everyone is made differently and she talked about different heights, color of eyes, skin, hair, shapes of noses, etc. She asked this child, "How weird would it be if we all looked the same?" It was great that Sandy did not pretend not hear what this child said. This was a learning opportunity for the rest of us as we understood the importance of talking about our differences and how lucky we are to be surrounded by diversity. She also taught us to answer children immediately and honestly so they don't feel tension or uneasiness when they ask questions regarding diversity. How Sandy handled this situation is a great example of how an anti-bias educator might have responded to support this child's understanding. 

Reference Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (201). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

How many times have you heard a child say, “That’s so gay!” Do they know what they are saying, the meaning behind it, or how harmful it can be for the person receiving the message? Maybe some children do, but there are many children who are saying what has been modeled to them. It is important to sit with children whether individually or as a group when we hear them using inappropriate language such as, “You are so gay” or “Fag” or “What are you a sissy?” and talk about how these words, statements, and comments are harmful to the person receiving these remarks. It is also important to create an open forum for children to discuss the meaning of the word, “gay” as many children say the word, but don’t really have the understanding of it context.

I remember quite a few years ago when I was doing my practice teaching in a school age program there were a couple of children who were giving me a hard time. I remember it was time to go inside and little girl who was in grade one took my hand as we walked. One child who had been challenging me bumped my arm and said, “Gay!” I was shocked by his comment, not because of the word, but the shock was more related to the negative way he was using it. My on-site supervisor of my placement heard the comment and when we were all inside, he held what he called a community meeting where we discussed the situation and the word gay. This educator handled this situation beautifully. He didn't sweep this child's comment under the carpet and let it go, rather he used it as a learning opportunity for all the children!

Where does this homophobia and heterosexism come from? Both homophobia and heterosexism can be learned as children can take on the values of their parents. I remember hearing a child at the park tell another child that he could not play with him because his dads were gay and that if he played with him that he would catch the “gay” disease and become gay. I heard the child tell hem that it was not true, but the child responded, “My dad said that being gay is wrong and that I can’t play with you.” Children learn early on that to for a family to be created there needs to be a mom and a dad. When they think about love, they think that there has to be a girl and a boy. Looking beyond the values and beliefs that are passed on to our children, take a moment to think about the array of Disney movies and books. Think about the “Happily Ever After” which usually includes a princess marrying a prince. This message gives children the notion that in order to get their happily ever after, that they have to marry their prince!

Our programs are flowered with diversity and part of the diversity that we see is an array of family structure.  Diverse families need to be represented throughout our early learning programs through books, puzzles, pictures, and posters. The video, "Start Seeing Diversity: Sexual Orientation” explained that we also need to talk to children about the ways families are similar to and different from one another (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.).  This video made me realize that it is still important to acknowledge families with gay and lesbian parents even though our environments may not include gay or lesbian families. Providing children with this information anyway will better prepare them to be respectful when they do meet a family with gay or lesbian parents (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.).  Many people may argue the fact that including materials such as books and pictures depicting same-sex families is wrong; however, if we want to provide environments where all children and families feel included and have a sense of belonging, then their families should be represented in our programs. Educators who have different beliefs need to try and help children develop a positive self identity, regardless of their own beliefs (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.).  Children need to feel that they are not alone and providing materials in our environments that better represents all families will make them feel included not excluded where they feel different and where they don't belong.

Reference
Laureate Education, Inc., n.d. Start Seeing Diversity: Sexual Orientation. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

(EDUC-6164 Diversity) Professional Hopes and Goals

When I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds, my hope is that ALL children feel confident about who they are and what makes them so special and unique. I hope that they don’t have to experience the resistance that diversity can bring, so that every child and family can experience the same privileges and never have to experience or witness discrimination or prejudice. My hope is for all children to be able to embrace their diversity and cherish you they are!

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is for educators to continue on the path towards being better prepared to work with diversity. I want educators to feel comfortable working in diverse programs so ALL children feel included and where each child’s individual needs are being met. My goal is for educators to think about how they would answer this question from Louise Derman-Sparks,

“Do I recognize, understand, acknowledge, and respect each child’s individual cultural and learning styles?”

My goal is to get educators to think about this question and think about how they will then turn it into an action statement!!

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for sharing your thoughts, knowledge, and experiences with diversity and culture. The discussion boards and Blogs gave me the opportunity to learn through the experiences you shared each week. It is wonderful to know that there are amazing people like all of you who share this passion for equity and social justice for children and families. The children and families that you work with are very lucky that you care the way you do! J   Dr. Parrish, thank you once again for your constant support, encouragement, and feedback. The questions you pose and the "food for thought" comments that you posed challenged me to think deeper and reflect even more! When I first began my journey, my specialization courses were going to be “teaching adults” but for some reason I changed my mind. After taking this course, I am so happy that I chose diversity instead. As I head towards my specialized courses in January, I know I made the right decision! I wish all of you continued success with your studies!!

Take care,
Stephanie

(EDUC 6165 Communication) THANK YOU!!!!

The last couple of weeks we have been discussing team building and the collaboration process and that is exactly what we have been doing for the past eight weeks!! We came together voluntarily as a group with a shared goal and vision which is to complete another course towards our Master’s degree. Our professor Dr. Darragh who took the leadership role not only supported but valued our ideas, thoughts, and questions. As the leader in our group, Dr. Darragh not only kept us focused but also kept us on track towards our learning. She used her knowledge to not only support and guide us, but to pose questions so we could expand our thinking.  I thank her for that!! Everyone involved in this class became a valued member of the group where we shared our thoughts in the discussion boards and our Blogs. Everyone’s encouragement and positive feedback each week made me feel like a valued member of this team and I thank you for your support! 

As we move off into our specialization courses, I look forward to when we can enter the adjourning stage where we might meet at our graduation so we can take the opportunity to congratulate everyone on their successes. Until then, I wish all of you continued success with your courses to come. My specialization courses are taking me down the path to diversity, so I hope that many of you are on the same path!!

I wish you ALL the best and what it is to come!!

Take care,

Stephanie J

(EDUC 6164 - Diversity) Welcoming Families Around the World

This week we were told that a new child will be joining or group in a few weeks and that this family is from Botswana. As soon as our team received word that this child and family will be a new member of our early learning program, we began to discuss how we could prepare ourselves so we could be truly culturally responsive towards this family. We realized that this meant going above and beyond just having the surface facts about their country of origin, so we knew that we would have to think deeper about how we could really be culturally responsive so they would feel welcome.  We wondered about the language they spoke so we found out that although the national language of Botswana is Setswana, English is the second most language used and this family did in fact speak some English. We were also informed that this would be their first time leaving their country, so we wanted to try our best to make them feel that this was a safe place to be when they arrived. The mother sent us this picture, so this gave us an idea......................

.................We still had lots of time to prepare ourselves and lucky enough we had their contact information and e-mail, so we began our process by taking pictures of the educators, children, and the environment and sent them to the family so they could get a feel for our early learning program. The children really got involved and began writing this child letters of how they are awaiting her arrival. Now that we began the process, we thought that we better come up with some concrete ways that we could prepare ourselves to be culturally responsive towards this family.

My colleague and I talked about how lucky we are that I am enrolled in a diversity course and that we can apply what I have learned to our situation. We realized that we will need to learn about the country of Botswana and some of the culture, customs, and traditions that you would find there. Although it is important to learn about their country, we knew that we could not rely solely  on that information as this family will have their own distinct family customs and traditions; however, we knew that we would only be able to learn this when we actually get to meet the family and have time to connect with them. Their arrival will enable us to get to them know them on a more personal level.

Once we knew that the family spoke a little English, we thought that it would be nice for us to learn some common words in their native language such as; hello, good-bye, eat, bathroom, etc. We also wanted to ensure that we were familiar with how to communicate with this family with regards to greetings so we are being respectful. We don’t want to assume that we can shake hands, so this was something that we thought was important to find out. We also thought it would be important to look for images and materials that we could include in our program that would represent their culture as this would make the environment more inclusive for this child and her family. We thought that it might be helpful to find out what types of food is most common in Botswana and see if we could incorporate some of the food into our program that would be familiar to her and this would give the rest of the children an opportunity to be exposed to food from a different country. We also thought that in order to be culturally responsive, we would need to think about our curriculum. We will need to be prepared and ready to implement a diverse curriculum which will encourage her to become an active learner in the environment that that she will be part of. This will also help to make her feel included and respected for who she is and what she brings to our program.

Our goal as a team is to hope that the preparations we made together will create an environment where this family feels that they belong. I know that it will take some time as this will be a new experience and environment for this family. Being respectful, greeting them with a “hello” spoken in Setswana, providing materials in the environment that represent their culture, I hope it will make them feel welcome. These preparations will let us know that we did our best to make an environment where everyone feels included and that we tried to make a peaceful transition from their country to a new one. Once the family has time to settle in, we will continue to get to know this family so they remain on the path towards a sense of belonging.