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.

“Start Seeing Diversity Video” Blog:

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

       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 would help engage children in learning and knowing about gay and lesbian individuals. In today’s society there are so many individuals that are coming out the closet and living together and getting married.  Many of our children are becoming confused, seeing women engaging with women and men engaging with men.  As a parent, I would sit down and let my child know that many children have same sex families and even though they may experience discrimination, they are still considered a family.  As stated in the media segment, many families consist of two women, single parent, two men or foster parents, but they still care and nurture their child/children just like any other parent.  They are always there when you need them, a shoulder to lean on and an arm to carry you.  Many children are explore to this a school, mall, movies, radio and even television shows, that’s the reason why we need to sit our children down and let them know what’s happening in the world and what to expect. As stated in the text, some states recommend high schools to establish policies protecting gay and lesbian youth from harassment and violence; teachers and counselors being able to receive professional development to respond to the needs of the students and also establish a support group, so topics can be talked about (Pelo, 2008).

       My response to a parent/family who informed me that they did not want anyone who is perceived homosexual or transgender to be caring for, educating, and/or interacting with their child is to let them know that it’s all about the job and not about the person’s beliefs.  I live in a fairly small community and the school district does not discriminate a person of who they are, it’s all about what you can teach my child and your qualifications.  I would love to sit down with this family and listen to what they have to say and explain to them it’s all about education and we need to support our children.  We need to find out why so many families fall out with individuals that are perceived to be homosexual/transgender, if we would listen, we’ll probably learn something.

Reference

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

                      Professional Thanks and Support

       Taking a minute to let my colleagues know how they have supported me through this course.  It gives me great courage to say, I enjoyed reading and sharing stories about families and heartaches through discussions and blogs.  I have a passionate for early childhood education and I have a ton of love for children.  I want you all to continue to promote diversity in the classroom and care for the kids as though they are your owns.  Let’s continue to have that solid foundation through communication and encourage them daily.  If we continue to allow our children to practice educational skills and don’t forget about a little fun, we can make a difference in their lives!

       Thanking my colleagues for taking the time to read my blogs and supporting them.  I hope they have been enlightening to you and I wish you all the best! May God bless you and I as we continue this journey together.  For those of you that are going in a different direction, continue to reach for the stars.

                                                    ADJOURNING

 

We have successfully made it through the five stages of team development, from introduction in the student lounge to reading each other inspirational discussion posts and blogs.  Now it’s time for the adjourning stage, a time to come to an end and go our separate ways, this is where we should be able to reflect on our accomplishments and failures.  Our group will split up and go on to other classes or jobs and this will be a thing of the past.  This is all a part of life, as you enter into another class continue to use the skills you learned in this class and it will make you stronger.  In order to make effective decisions you have to work hard as a team and be able to accomplish tasks.

        I have participated in many groups in my life and it was easy for me to adjourn them, the simple reason I enjoyed them and the time we shared together.  There was some groups that wasn’t good in working with, always wanted to give out orders or wasn’t there to work towards the goal.  That’s why the team leader should ensure that there is time for the team to celebrate the success of the project (Abudi, 2013).  That’s why it’s likely we as classmates will meet again in another class or via facebook and be able to say “I remember you”.

        Once you have developed a close relationship with team members, the break up can be hard.  Many members also feel a compelling sense of loss because you have worked so hard to get things done and get alone.  As leaders, one should be able to emphasize valuable lessons learned and pass it alone.  The breaking up of a team can be one of the hardest routine.

        One closing ritual that I experience was on an outing with my church.  We went into the mountains and meet other church organizations.  At the end of the two-week stay we gathered around and held hands and each one was allowed to say a short prayer.  We acknowledge the end of the time together and mark the transition point, because the closings should provide time for personal farewells.  This was a very exciting times in my life, because the reflections generated energy through the group.

        This is time in my life in which I have to accept the adjourning from the group of colleagues in this class at Walden.  Some of my classmates, I have seen come and go and others is my first time meeting.  I enjoyed reading your stories about your conflicts, families, and concerns.  I applaud you for continuing your journey towards your master’s degree and hope you accomplish what you are reaching for. 

        Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it’s all about being and working together.  Once you have worked together as a team you must separate and go your separate ways, which is hard for some people to do.  May God bless you all!

 

                                               Reference

Abudi, G. (2013). 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

                Disagreements/Conflicts

 I recently experienced a disagreement with a co-worker, who happened to be a close friend at work about taking orders and giving demands.   Even though she’s much older than I am, she expects me to stop doing my job and help her with her unfinished work.  I know there are different ways to handle conflicts, but when it comes down to not respecting each other, it’s considered to be power dynamics.  This is when one person has power over another and handles the conflict unproductively (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012).  On the job, the discussion became so heated; our supervisor had to come in between us. 

 The two strategies I have learned about what might help me manage or resolve the conflict more productively is to analyze and focus on the source of this disagreement.  We need to center on a surroundings on how we can express our concerns and be able to compromise, because if these emotions continue there will always be debating issues.

 I always believe compromising is a good substitute to resolving disagreements in your work environment.  We all know that everyone do not like to compromise about particular issues, which leads to an argument, which leads to being written up.  One advantage of compromising is that it lets you and the other person quickly resolves a conflict by agreeing on a decision-making method (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012)

  Nonviolent communication offers powerful skills for compassionate giving and receiving.  I would be able to apply these principles during this disagreement to inform my co-workers of the consequences we could tolerate.   So in order to work together, we must avoid the blame and try to improve the situation.  Therefore, we must be able to increase our communication skills and push our responsiveness towards what we are working towards (Center for Nonviolent Communication, 2013).

                                         
                                                       Reference

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real Communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

The Center for Nonviolent Communication. (2013).The center for nonviolent communication. Retrieved from http://www.cnvc.org