Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Since taking this class and from previous classes I have grown much when it has come to diversity. I never knew just how much that I did not know about diversity and learning about how many ism’s there are. I have always accepted and respected people for whom they are. To be able to do that is first you must know your self-identity, “The better you know yourself, the better you can understand your responses to children and families you work with,” this is what Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010) suggest. When it comes to being an educator, it is important for individuals to understand their self-identity to flourish and to lead others in the right direction. 

An ism that I feel that I see not only in the classroom but everywhere is racism; children have been learning that from the very beginning of their life. They hear their parents talking about and seeing it in the news every day. Teaching children to know that being mean or saying mean things about or to someone is not good thing. As educators we must teach the children that we are all equal, and the color of a person skin or where they come from doesn’t mean that they are much different than them. Our focus should be on teaching them to being kind and understanding to everyone. When I hear a child saying that they can’t play with certain people because they are of a different race, I find that to be a good time to talk about how that can make someone feel bad.

In my classroom I expect every student to respect me and their classmates. Children learn from adults and others so I must treat them and others with respect.  Being the teacher I set the tone for the way I want things to be in my classroom.

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).

Observing Communication

My observation took place in a classroom with children that have different disabilities. The grades were kindergarten to second grade.  I was watching a teacher’s assistant working with a child age six with ADHD and the mind of a three or four year old. They were working on learning how to spell their name and to draw a picture of their family. Well with child was not paying attention and not doing what he was supposed to do.

The assistant was talking to him and asking questions about his family who he lived with, any brothers or sisters and if he had any pets, he was answering her questions. In the video Lisa Kolbeck also mentions that children have to have to feel listened to and seen (Laureate Education, 2011). So by her asking him about his family he felt like she cared and he enjoyed sharing the information with her. I believed that by her getting to his level and asking him questions it helped him to connect with what they were doing, he drew his family even though it wasn’t very well she told him how wonderful it was and he became very excited about it.

I work with children with disabilities every day and my grandson is ADHD and is on the autism spectrum and she handle it just has I do with my class and grandson. By showing them that we care about how they feel and we are interested in the things they do will make a happy child. As Stephenson points out, through observation, “I learned that each child has a different style, and is likely to talk in different ways and in different contexts. I needed to find ways they could communicate that were enjoyable for them” (Stephenson, 2009).

 Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Communicating with young children. Baltimore, MD:

Stephenson, A. (2009). Conversations with a 2-year-old. YC: Young Children, 64(2), 90-95. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=37131016&site=ehost-live&scope=site

 

Creating Affirming Environments

My Family Child Care home will be displayed in a way to show parents that they are welcome and their children will receive the best educational experience in my care. I would do that by hanging pictures of all the families and some things from their culture. The environment will be a positive and welcoming environment. There will be a lot of multicultural pictures and I will conduct project in which families send information about their cultural.

   “Relationships and interactions with children and families, the visual and material environment, and the daily curriculum all come together to create the anti-bias learning community" (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p.51).

My daycare will have a reading area with books on diversity, people who have jobs in the community, and how there are different types of families. I will have a dramatic play area which would have will have costumes, puppets and dolls from all forms of culture and diversity. With these things the children can not only use their imagination, but also play out many characters regardless of their gender. For instance, we will have dolls with different skin colors, gender and dolls that represent different disabilities such as being on a wheelchair or having a hearing aid. I would have a music area and that would have music and instruments from different cultures.

"The toys material and equipment you put out for children; the posters, pictures, and art objects you hang on the wall;  and the types of furniture and how you arrange them all influence what children learn”(Derman (Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). I would have posters and art work from different cultures hanging on the wall. I would ask parents to bring in some type of food from their cultures to have the children try. I would want my daycare to be a welcoming and safe environment for all the children who come.

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).