Creating Affirming Environments

Looking at my Family Child Care Home, there are many things I would like to do and have to create an anti-bias learning community. The first thing is do have plenty of anti-bias materials such and books, music, DVDs, wall hanging, puzzle, drawing materials etc. (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010). By having these items and stations, children will be able to learn about different cultures and see that everyone is different, but we should still treat them equally. In the dramatic play section, having clothes that both genders can wear is important as well. Since children love books, having books from different cultures will also help the children learn about different cultures. Also, within my Family Child Care Home, I want to teach the children about holiday traditions and celebrations to help the children learn about different celebrations that happen in their culture and in different cultures (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).  In my Family Child Care Home, children will be required to try all activities, even if they don't think they will like it, and I'll play right with them. By doing this, I can help answer questions children may have and help support their discussion in an anti-bias way (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010). I hope all these steps will help my Family Child Care Home become an anti-bias learning community.


Reference:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

What I Have Learned

Wow, can't believe that this class has come to an end. There are some many new things I learned in the past eight weeks it is crazy. Out of everything I have learned about anti-bias education and how to foster and promote it, one thing I hope that I will think about when working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds will be that I need to keep an open mind and get to know the children and family before I judge and make assumptions about them. I have learned that creating an anti-bias classroom starts with the teacher getting rid of their biases, so hopefully I remember to think that when dealing with children and family from diverse backgrounds.

One goal I have for myself for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to continue to not form biases towards groups and to promote diversity in the classroom. I feel that if i promote diversity in the classroom, then the children will be able to see that everyone is different, which is okay, and maybe learn that we should treat everyone fair and equally.

I wanted to thank all of my colleagues for their continue support throughout this class. This was a pretty challenging eight weeks for me with starting a new teaching job, planning a wedding, and doing this class, but your support gave me motivation to keep trudging along. For that then, I thank you all!

Start Seeing Diversity

Thinking about everything I have learned through the media segments throughout this class, the collage I have created above looked at all the issues we talked about throughout this course and that were addressed in media segments. This collage shows that throughout this class, I have learned to be accepting of everyone even if I have bias against them, such as homosexuality. It also shows what I have learned as well. I have learned that trauma can be very impacting to a child, and can be a lasting effect. I feel in order to really have an anti-bias classroom, I need to get rid of my personal biases, help children through traumatic experiences, and promote diversity in order to help children develop an anti-bias mindset.

Children Curiosity

I remembered one time after my car accident in college, I was at work at the local grocery store, when I heard a child ask her mom what was wrong with my eyes (I took a lot of impact to my face during the accident, and one eye was about completely blood shot and bruised pretty bad and the other was about half blood shot). The mom quickly told the daughter that she shouldn't ask those questions and that they were rude to ask. I wasn't surprised that the child noticed it, because it was something that a lot of people noticed, and it was a question I had been getting a lot since I went back to work. I told the mom that it was okay, and that I knew my eyes looked weird. I remember telling the little girl that I was in an accident and hit my head, but the eyes were getting better everyday. The mom apologize that I had to say it, but like I said, I was use to it by them.

I think the message that the mom communicated to her daughter was that it's not nice to ask what is wrong with people, and that it is rude to say something like that. Even, though the little girl was just being curious, and noticed something different. Instead of the mom reprimanding her, she could have said something along the line of not being sure why my eyes or different, and sometimes people have accidents that hurt themselves.

I think an example an example of how an anti-bias educator might have responded to support the child's understanding is to explain the truth. If the anti-bias educator doesn't know why someone is different, in this case my eyes, then maybe encourage the child to ask the question. Instead of yelling at them for their curiosity, which is very common for young children, give them the chance to ask and find out for themselves, especially if the anti-bias educator is unable to tell the child why.

Start Seeing Diversity

Looking at all the topics we covered this week related to gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation, I feel I have learned a lot about the issue and my views have changed. However, I feel that there are still many people in our society that still have negative views and biases towards these topics.

If I had to respond to someone who thought that early childhood should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families, I would explain to that person that times are changing, and we can't control them. We can't control the issue of gays and lesbians, and we have to stop wearing blinders, and realize that the issue is not going away. I would also explain to them that in order to have a society where we treat everyone equal, we have to be accepting, and that these books are the first stepping stones in showing our children that it is okay that children come from same-sex parents, and that they are just the same.

If I had to respond to a parent/family member to informed you they did not want anyone who is perceived homosexual or transgender to be caring for, educating, and/or interacting with their child, I would explain to them that I hired the person based of their knowledge, skills, and education in the early childhood field and not because of their sexual orientation. I would also explain to them that I feel this employee is exceptional qualified in teaching young children, and would receive the same education if they were in a different room or center. If the parents/family member doesn't agree with that, then they have the right to remove their child from the center.

Personal Thank You

I want to take the time and thank all my colleagues for their support throughout the class. I enjoyed learning about your communication experiences, and how you over came communication roadblocks. I know the knowledge we learned in this class will be successful as we continue on this journey and in our professional lives. I wish nothing but the best for you! Good luck!

Adjourning

The last stage of team development, is adjourning. I think groups that are high-performing and have the clearest established morns are the hardest to leave because you all worked so hard together to achieve the goal and probably became pretty close to each other in the process. I remember in high school I was a part of the FCCLA student organization. I became great friends with many of the girls in the group, and some are still my best friends today. My senior year in high school, most of my friends and I were the officers. At our end of the year awards banquet, we always have a ceremony where the officers hand over their position to the newly elected officers. It was a bittersweet good-bye because the organization taught me so much, and I was leaving some friends behind when I went off to college, but it was nice knowing I helped build the successful group, and we were handing over the reigns to a new group of officers/leaders.

I feel I have gotten to know a lot of my colleagues throughout this journey. Some I have been with since I started this journey. Its nice knowing that I am not alone in this journey, and have colleagues to help me and support me through this journey. I will owe a huge thank you to everyone at the conclusion of this program because you all have taught me numerous of different things in many different ways, and have made me a better person. Overall, I think adjourning is essential stage in teamwork because we all get a chance to say thank you for all the work we have done, and for the help we gave and received.