My Goals!

     My hope and goal for working with children and families that come from diverse backgrounds is that we—early childhood educators- continually educate ourselves so that we can meet the needs of the population. I think this falls in line with the Goals for the Anti-Bias Teacher.  “You will increase your awareness and understanding of your own social identity in its many facets (gender, racial, ethnicity, economic class, family structure, sexual orientation, abilities/disabilities) and your own cultural contexts, both childhood and current” (ABE Goals 1& 2) (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 21).

     To my very supportive colleagues, I appreciate your encouragement and responses throughout this course and program.  You are truly amazing! I wish you much success in the future. In the event that I could ever be of assistance to you, please contact me via my personal e-mail. (yolondahonore40@yahoo.com) Best Wishes!

References

Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards. Anti-bias Education For Young Children and Ourselves. 2010. NAEYC. Washington D.C.

Creating Art!

For this assignment I chose to create a photo collage!

In this course, I did have to rethink Early Childhood Education.  There were many topics  I had not considered before this academic journey.  I first had to observe the bias within myself before I could continue in this course.  I asked myself questions like: How would I respond to a child and their family with same-sex parents?  Am I  partial to traditional families?  Am I a fair educator? How do I view the poor? The handicap? Is using the retarded acceptable? Are the class materials that I read to my students favoring one group of people and isolating another? Do I present the world to my students?  Am I portraying a narrow view of the world to my students?  Am I accepting of other cultures?  Do I accommodate students who do not speak English? This course was excellent for me because it had a mirror effect.. I saw myself.  Now I am able to admit my biases and work on it for the greater good of my profession,  student and their families.  Did this course assist you in finding your stance as an early childhood educator?  Are you diverse or are you willing to become diverse? 

Shhhh! We Don’t Say Those Words Here!

Shhhh! We Don’t Say Those Words Here!

Setting: Two 6 year olds were engaged in a conversation in the corner of the class about their teacher who had just sent them into “Time Out” for misbehaving. 

Student 1: Hey Man, did you see those?

Student 2: It was ginormous!

Student 1: What fool?

Student 2: Mrs. Lilly’s cups.

Student 1: Man, I don’t know what you talkin about.

Student 2: Mrs. Lilly got da biggest butter cups I eva seen. (While cupping his hands into his chest area)

(Both students look at each other and start to laugh.)

     I overheard this conversation while I was a junior camp counselor at the district recreation department summer camp.  I was fifteen years old and I told the boys I would tell Mrs. Lilly if they were not quiet.  I had no idea of what to do because I didn’t want to get them into more trouble.

     With the knowledge I have gained from this course, I could have approached the boys without reprimand and could be objective.  I now would say, “Guys, people come in all shapes and sizes. I have friends who have large body parts and some friends who have smaller body parts.”  Look at you two, Harry is taller than you Sam but you guys are still nice guys even though you are in punishment now.  “Do you know of people who have different shapes, maybe a different color, or talk different?” I would try to provoke the children to think about themselves and how they are different from others.  Then I would explain to them that it is all right to be different.  From the Resource video, Start Seeing Diversity Race/ Ethnicity, the author says, “The best pictures are those that encourage children to make comparisons then make connections.”  I would use this as an opportunity to compare and connect. 

    

Resource

Start Seeing Diversity Race/ Ethnicity https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2819641_1%26url%3D