What I Have Learned

As I come to the close of yet another course, I can’t help but think about the many media presentations that I have listened to, the articles that I have read, the interviews that I have conducted and how these have all helped me as I think about children, their families and diversity.

I hope that I can be that teacher that helps families feel welcome and secure. I want them to know that I value their ideas, their culture and their backgrounds. I am already looking in to adding books to my book collection in my classroom that reflects differences in race, ethnicity and ability.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to diversity, equity, and social justice is more learning opportunities for teachers where you can seek knowledge in learning best practices for communicating with parents and children who live with parents that are LGBT, incarcerated, alcoholics, drug addicts, and disabled. My experiences thus far with the children that I have encountered have been difficult because they do not know how to share their “family” with others. I want them to feel comfortable with sharing and discussing their families and things that they get to do with not only me as the teacher but with their classmates as well.

I want to say thank you to all my colleagues who have helped me throughout this course. Your responses have been most helpful and encouraging. I wish you all the best and hope to see some of you in our next course!

Creating Art: Embracing Diversity

As I desire to become an anti-bias teacher, I believe that it is important to recognize how we can support and embrace diversity. Diversity is defined as differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and other human differences (Green, Lopez, Wysocki, Kepner, 2013).

E is for Equity - we are all equal
M is for multicultural – we learn from each other
B is for Building – relationships and trust
R is for Respect – everyone is important
A is for Acceptance – no matter who are what we are
C is for Communication – an important factor
E is for Educate – learning to appreciate our differences

D is for Differences and Disabilities – we are all unique
I is for Identify – with the perspective of others
V is for Value – valuing diversity is important to who we are and who we want to be
E is for Ethnicity - relates to cultural factors such as nationality, culture, ancestry, language and beliefs
R is for Race – physical appearances should not matter
S is for Sexual Orientation and Stereotypes – be careful that you do not disregard any diverse groups
I is for Inclusion – all should feel welcome, respected and valued to participate
T is for trustworthy – You can be trusted with what you say and do!
Y is for You – You have the ability to make a difference!

"The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences." – Embrace Diversity

References

Green, A., Lopez, M., Wysocki, A., and Kepner, K. (2013). Diversity in the workplace: Benefits, challenges, and the required managerial tools. Retrieved from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu

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

I can remember taking my son to Wal-Mart when he was about two years old. My husband is a pastor and has a friend that is an African American pastor. As we were walking in to Wal-Mart, we ran in to Mr. Rue. We all spoke, and my son looked at him and then back as us and said, “Why does he have that dirt all over his face?” Of course I was absolutely petrified. I could not believe that my son had said that. I apologized and Mr. Rue kept saying it was fine and not to worry. I never had thought about it, but my son had probably never really seen anyone that was African American before and certainly did not know any better. I grew up playing with African American children; therefore, I thought nothing about it. After we said our goodbyes with Mr. Rue, I turned to my son and proceeded to explain that God makes us all different colors. Some people are white, black, and brown, and we are all made in our own special way.
He initially thought he was in big trouble because of my verbal and my nonverbal cues. He knew right away that I was concerned about what he had said.
An anti-bias educator might have used books or pictures to show and talk about people of different colors to a child that made a comment like this. I love the idea of having dolls that are both white/African American as well as girl and boy dolls. These are great ways for children to learn about diversity. I knew there was a video on television called Little Bill, and I chose to show him that video, just to make a connection to Mr. Rue. He loved the show, and as he has grown up, he has learned to be more careful of what he says to and about people. Although race and racism are difficult topics, it is important to educate ourselves and discuss them with children in an age-appropriate way (Winkler, 2009).
References
Winkler, Erin. (2009). Children are not colorblind: How young children learn race. High Reach Learning.
Retrieved from http://www.4uwm.edu