During the first course in this program, I helped to establish and become part of a learning community. As the course progressed, I and my colleagues have been studying together and supporting each other's goals with regard to taking on and mastering the challenges of this MS Early Childhood Studies program. As I prepare to move on to my final course before the specializations, I am thinking about my orations with regard to diversity, equity, and social justice, the different ways in which my colleagues have supported me, how I supported them, and what I wish for my colleagues as they continue on their professional path.
One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is to continue to establish collaborative, flexible, committed, relationships. Family is central to the life of every child (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). It is through this earliest relationship that children come to view themselves and others and find their place in the world (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). Thus, developing a flexible attitude will allow me to build and sustain open lines of communication and an understanding of families and children I serve everyday, and to be able to continuously offer culturally relevant and responsive environments to both.
One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to develop conferences or workshops for new comers to the early childhood field in order to share the value and importance of anti-bias education. Often it has been my experience that many new comers to the EC field lack experience in working with families and children from diverse backgrounds. So, providing an open forum to converse and hear the experiences of seasoned professionals will provide them an understanding of how to address, celebrate, empower, and meet the diverse needs of children and families they will serve. Therefore, when we participate in the larger activism work of creating a more just society and world for all children not only do we help change the world but also we deepen other people's understanding of the unique needs of young children and their families (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).
Before I go, I would like to take a moment to thank my colleagues, bloggers, and professor for such an inspiring, insightful, enriching 8 weeks. I have learned a lot about myself, diversity, equity, and social justices through self reflection and in reading my colleagues stories. Thank you to my professor for the challenging questions and for pushing us all to a deeper level of learning and understanding. The last 8 weeks have been a pleasure. As I move forward in the EC field, I feel confident about the information and knowledge I have gained about diversity, equity, and social justices and for that I thank all of you!
Emily~
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Welcoming Families From Around the World
- About 195 different countries exist in the world today.
- According to the U.S. census bureau, the Unites States' population includes individuals and families from 150 different countries.
I will imagine that I am working in an early childhood child care setting. I have received word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from Denmark, a country I know nothing about will join my group soon. I want to prepare to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, I am enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated I need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin (Denmark). Five ways I intended to prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family is to:
1. Contact local child care resource and referral agency's or any major officials about any pressing child care issues or concerns in the country.
2. Inquire about how families are engaged, supported, or encouraged in child care settings.
3. Investigate how child care settings are organized and set-up.
4. Investigate what early learning activities or educational philosophies are being practiced in child care settings.
5. Inquire what the work culture is like.
The five inquiries allow me to gain a richer insight about Denmark's educational views, practices, and philosophies that the family may align themselves with. In early childhood programs and in pre-school and primary classrooms, it is critical for teachers to address injustice and develop equity-based pedagogies, because children form ideas about fairness and their own sense of identity within the larger world during these early years (Boutte, 2008). Thus, the prior preparation will allow me the opportunity to acquire the knowledge to construct a culturally relevant environment and an open mind where the family and child may feel welcomed and embraced.
References:
Boutte, G. (2008). Beyond the illusion of diversity: How early childhood teachers can promote social justice. Social Studies, 99(4), 165--173.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Academic Search Complete database.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression
A few years ago I was enrolled in the childhood education program at a local college in my area. This particular college teamed up with the district with which I was employed, and offered teacher's assistant an opportunity to gain their teaching degrees at a slightly lower rate. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity and eagerly began my journey towards earning my degree. Throughout my time at the college I saw many familiar faces, and along the way met many new ones. many of the professors were helpful, encouraging, and approachable. it wasn't until my final semester that I ran into some challenges.
In my final semester I was preparing to student teach. Finally the moment I had waited for had arrived. In preparation we (those preparing to student teach) had to chose schools in which we would student teach. We were allowed to pick three in total and the professor would review them and approve only two. Having spent a few years in a less affluent district, I thought this would be a great opportunity to expand my experience and chose to student teach in a more affluent community and school district. So, the time had arrived to hand in my choices to my professor and I was excited about receiving my approvals. I never would have imagined that I would walk away with more than an approval. During my meeting with my professor, a professor that was new to the building, she began to question my choices. From the moment I entered the room she asked me twice what my name was. Might I add we had met twice before briefly. I proudly said, Emily. She looked my way and said, "really, you don't look like an Emily", I immediately sat up and kept a serious face. I thought to myself, "what is an Emily suppose to look like?" I thought about it briefly, but I was so engrossed with wanting to know what schools I'd receive approval for that I left it in the back of my mind.
However, the rest of the conversation did not go as smoothly as I would have liked. To make a very long story short, I never did receive approval for the schools I had chosen. I was given two schools that were in less affluent communities, and was told that I would be able to handle being at both because I could connect a lot easier with the population "they" served. it wasn't until I got home that I began asking myself a list of questions. Was it because I was Hispanic? What does an Emily look like? What did she mean by, I could relate to the population better? Why wasn't I given the opportunity to expand my experience? These questions invaded my thoughts for days, until one day another student asked me about my assignments. I explained where I would be going and I asked the same question back. Funny thing was that this other student was Hispanic. Apparently the professor had given her the same lecture.
It was clear to me that this professor was biased. Her actions, words, and statements allowed me to see how she felt about me and other Hispanics. Apparently we knew how to connect with others from less affluent communities, apparently my name didn't fit the look of a Hispanic woman. I was hurt beyond words, and shocked that a professor of education could be so biased. The concept of equity was so far out of the window that it was unattainable for me. Once my hurt had subsided, anger began to brew. I wanted to answers to my questions and I wanted to know why. So, I went to the Deans office with the other Hispanic woman and we shared our story. An investigation ensued and after a few semesters she was dismissed form the college for reasons I was not made aware of. I can only imagine that they were because of her biased attitude, because it had been brought to my attention that she had continued such behavior and expressing unnecessary statements in other classes as well. Had her attitude changed after she was initially addressed in my case, equity may have been available. But, it had become available once the school had dismissed her because they did not approve of her behavior or allow for it to continue.
When a teacher acts out of unexamined internalized privilege or internalized oppression, that teacher runs the risk of unintentionally undermining children's development (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). The same stands true for adult's! It is important as educators to be mindful of how we treat one another because we set the standards and bar for our little future resources. Everyone unique qualities and backgrounds need to be celebrated and embraced in order to build strong foundations for tomorrows children.
References:
Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
In my final semester I was preparing to student teach. Finally the moment I had waited for had arrived. In preparation we (those preparing to student teach) had to chose schools in which we would student teach. We were allowed to pick three in total and the professor would review them and approve only two. Having spent a few years in a less affluent district, I thought this would be a great opportunity to expand my experience and chose to student teach in a more affluent community and school district. So, the time had arrived to hand in my choices to my professor and I was excited about receiving my approvals. I never would have imagined that I would walk away with more than an approval. During my meeting with my professor, a professor that was new to the building, she began to question my choices. From the moment I entered the room she asked me twice what my name was. Might I add we had met twice before briefly. I proudly said, Emily. She looked my way and said, "really, you don't look like an Emily", I immediately sat up and kept a serious face. I thought to myself, "what is an Emily suppose to look like?" I thought about it briefly, but I was so engrossed with wanting to know what schools I'd receive approval for that I left it in the back of my mind.
However, the rest of the conversation did not go as smoothly as I would have liked. To make a very long story short, I never did receive approval for the schools I had chosen. I was given two schools that were in less affluent communities, and was told that I would be able to handle being at both because I could connect a lot easier with the population "they" served. it wasn't until I got home that I began asking myself a list of questions. Was it because I was Hispanic? What does an Emily look like? What did she mean by, I could relate to the population better? Why wasn't I given the opportunity to expand my experience? These questions invaded my thoughts for days, until one day another student asked me about my assignments. I explained where I would be going and I asked the same question back. Funny thing was that this other student was Hispanic. Apparently the professor had given her the same lecture.
It was clear to me that this professor was biased. Her actions, words, and statements allowed me to see how she felt about me and other Hispanics. Apparently we knew how to connect with others from less affluent communities, apparently my name didn't fit the look of a Hispanic woman. I was hurt beyond words, and shocked that a professor of education could be so biased. The concept of equity was so far out of the window that it was unattainable for me. Once my hurt had subsided, anger began to brew. I wanted to answers to my questions and I wanted to know why. So, I went to the Deans office with the other Hispanic woman and we shared our story. An investigation ensued and after a few semesters she was dismissed form the college for reasons I was not made aware of. I can only imagine that they were because of her biased attitude, because it had been brought to my attention that she had continued such behavior and expressing unnecessary statements in other classes as well. Had her attitude changed after she was initially addressed in my case, equity may have been available. But, it had become available once the school had dismissed her because they did not approve of her behavior or allow for it to continue.
When a teacher acts out of unexamined internalized privilege or internalized oppression, that teacher runs the risk of unintentionally undermining children's development (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). The same stands true for adult's! It is important as educators to be mindful of how we treat one another because we set the standards and bar for our little future resources. Everyone unique qualities and backgrounds need to be celebrated and embraced in order to build strong foundations for tomorrows children.
References:
Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
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