What I Have Learned

One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds

I want to be able to acknowledge families that come from diverse backgrounds.  I want to make them feel welcome, secure and openly to talk to me at anytime of the day.  By posting different cultural activities, such as dancing, eating, and religion on the bulletin board and talking about the different ways children live will help children realize that everyone is different and don’t need to be talked and taunted.  As we sit around in group circles, I want to allow our young ones to be able to talk openly and continue to have that respectful relationship like anyone else.  Because we all know that everyone deserves to be treated right and let’s continue to have social justice for all.

One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice

I want to be able to create social justice for children in the early childhood field.  Being able to let the families, along with their children participate in any activity that is going on related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice.  Furthermore, I want to be able to talk about the many different issues that are going on pertaining to prejudice and bias in the field of education.

A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

I would like to thank my colleagues and professor for being such loyal individuals to my discussions and blog posts.  I’m looking forward to many of your comments and hope to see you in my next class.  Good Luck and Happy Holidays!!

Start Seeing Diversity Blog:  Creating Art

Thinking about what I have learned in this course about children identities and development and the ways in which each is impacted by bias, discomfort, and trauma.

Diversity is accepting people for who they are in the light

Even though it may cause pain in another person’s eye sight

People come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors

But who’s the blame, when everyone decides to take over one another

There’s so much to see on television and through books

I guess that’s the reason why many people give us “that” look

We have been told what’s right and what’s wrong

But we haven’t been told not to leave our comfort zone

This journey is long and tough

But with trust and respect we’ll overpass the rough

So let’s continue to love and respect

Because in the classroom, children don’t see pass the neck

Continuing to bow and give our teachers a hand

The more we learn, the better we’ll be able to stand

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

        I can remember one particular incident when my son, at the age of seven was walking in the sand on a beach.  Out of the blue, here come two men, holding hands, one of the men looking similar to a woman (lip gloss, eye lashes, short pants and plenty of jewelry).   My son looked up at me and said “mom is that two men, do they suppose to be holding hands like that?”  I was absolutely stunned and couldn’t say anything at the moment.  Once I snap back to reality, I told him they was just close friends and decided to hold hands on the beach today. I also told him there’s nothing wrong with holding hands, but some individual have disagreements with people of the same sex holding hands.  This is the reason why we need to listen and be attentive to our children at all times. Even though children may not understand the full meaning of their biased comments, these can become the basis for more developed prejudice if adults do not respond to them (Pelo, 2008).

What messages might have been communicated to this child by the adult's response?  A lot of times when children see couples holding hands it’s a sign of affection for one another.  When I looked stunned at my son, the message that probably was communicated to him was “this just doesn’t look right”.  I wanted to reply to him with a short and comfortable answer because there are so many forms of miscommunication taking place every day in the world.  We all know that children observe everything at home, school, and on outings and we love our children.  But we also know that society has changed since their upbringing, so we must be honest and open with them when communicating. 

An example of how an anti-bias educator might have responded to support the child's (or classroom’s) understanding.  Many children are unaware of the different basis of gender, but they learn from the environment in which they live.  As an educator, having an anti-bias approach help children learn to treat everybody the same and with respect.  We cannot eliminate prejudice, but we can help a child respect the ability to work together with different viewpoints and have the commitment to act against bias relationships.

                                            Reference

Pelo, A. (2008). Rethinking Early Childhood Education.  A Rethinking Schools Publication.