Persona Dolls

Persona Dolls   

     In this observation, the adult is Mrs. Emile, the persona doll is Maria, and the two other students are Joey and his best friend Jill.  Maria, Joey and Jill are all 4 year old white students of Mrs. Emile.

     The setting of this observation is a beach.  Mrs. Emile introduces Maria a four year old white student to two other four year old students.  The problem in this observation is that Jill is afraid of going in the water on the beach.  Maria, with the help of Mrs. Emile, is going to help Jill feel more comfortable about getting into the water.  Joey is her best friend and he has been trying to encourage her to not be afraid of the water.  Mrs. Emile is the teacher that is facilitating the communication with the persona doll.

   Good evening friends, we have Maria joining us today on our swimming adventure.   She is a 4 year old student little girl that loves spending time with her friends and eating snowballs.  Persona dolls are dolls but not toys. These dolls are made and dressed as real people with a real-life history. Each one has a name, gender, race, and personality. (Laureate Inc.) Last year Maria was afraid of the water.  However, this year Maria is doing much better.  She is not afraid of the water like she was before.  Maria has spent several months with me overcoming her fear of the water. It is a lot like introducing a new student to the class, because each doll comes with a complete identity, including abilities and perhaps a problem or challenge (Laureate Inc.).  After Maria was introduced to the kids and during the conversation, Jill admits that she is afraid of the water also.  She continues  to share that she thinks the water will swallow her up.  While Jill is sharing her fears, Maria tells Jill how she became comfortable in the water a little at a time.  Maria told Jill that she could do the same thing.  Jill’s friend, Joey tells her that he could hold her hand and help her while she becomes more comfortable in the water.  In the video Strategies for Working with Diverse Children “Persona Dolls”,  Eric Hoffman Instructor, Cabrillo College Early Childhood Educator; indicates that it helps when the students in the group see that the persona dolls are brought to life and are a part of the group. Eric Hoffman further states “That when a persona doll is used, a sense of interest and inclusion as a whole person addressing a need are important in the scheme of things”.

     As stated in the article ‘Communicating with Babies’, babies should be included in the communication. The goes on to say, “maybe it has not occurred to you to use language to include the babies in communication. When you ignore babies, you tell them they are not valued. When you do not talk to babies, they are unlikely to understand what is happening with them.” (Talking about babies instead of to babies discounts them as individuals. Babies need to be part of the communication process. (Laureate Inc.)The article goes on to state that “Language provides a model for babies about how to communicate, and it serves as a vehicle to convey thoughts and feelings.”

     In order to make the communication more effective and affirming, Mrs.  Emile could have included more children with the same fear and explanations how they overcame those fears.  In addition, Mrs. Emile could have asked all of the kids to get in the water together with Jill so she would feel she wasn’t alone. While reflecting on the use of persona dolls, the article states that persona dolls are creative, interactive tools that allow children to productively express their emotions and solve the problems that come up in everyday life. Teachers can use persona dolls to help a timid child speak up or to explore diversity. Early interventions such as the use of persona dolls may bring about changes that will benefit young learners for a lifetime. (Laureate Inc.)

     In my opinion, the communication was relatively successful in that Jill felt like she could try to get in the water a little at a time with the help of her friend.  

     As it relates to the adult-child communication that I am more familiar with, this method is really effective because it includes the kids in the conversation. 

     From the information I learned this week, there are more effective methods that can be used to communicate with children that will help them participate in the discussion more freely.  I learned that the method that I am accustomed to can be more effective with the use of persona dolls.

References

     Laureate Media Presentation, Communicating with young children. https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3396868_1%26url%3D

    Laureate Media Presentation, Persona dolls. https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3396868_1%26url%3D

Kovach, B., & Da Ros-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with Babies. YC: Young Children, 66(2), 48-50.

           Pierce, J., & Johnson, C. (2010). Problem Solving with Young Children Using Persona Dolls.  

                      YC: Young Children, 65(6), 106-108.