What I have Learned

 

 

One hopes that I have when I think about working with children and families that I can teach them to respect and to treat everyone equally. I would hope that I could teach the children that even though we do not look, act, or have different ways we live that we all are and want the same thing in life, to feel accepted for who we are. That being different is what makes them and others unique. I also hope that just because someone comes from a different background that I do not judge them unfairly. Children are the hope for the future and I want to be the one who starts them off in the right direction.

 The one goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that all educators especially teachers in the ECE field is that they all should have taken classes on all these issues. If we can learn and teach ourselves how to deal with these issues than we can teach these to our children the world would be a better place.  I would like for the whole Early Childhood field to accept people for who they are and to urge them to promote anti-bias curriculum equality for all.

Finally has these 8 weeks come to an end I would like to say Thank You to Dr. Kein and all of my colleagues. You all have made this course a very informative learning experience. I have learned much about myself and how to work and teach anti-bias and diversity to my students. I could not have made it through this course without all the encouragement and the wonderful ideas from the discussions and blogs. I wish you all much happiness and luck has you continuing your life journeys.

 

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Seeing Diversity Art

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

I can remember a time when I was grocery shopping and had my grandchildren with me. My grandson William saw a man from Burma and he asked why the man was wearing a long sheet. I quickly bent down and told him to please not say that to someone. I told the gentleman that I was sorry for what he said. Than he did something that totally surprised me, he explained to him why he wears clothes like this sometimes. He told him that was how men in his country sometimes wear these garments. My grandson looked at him and said that he was sorry and thanked him for telling him that.

I think that the person responded very nicely and did a great job of not making my grandson feel like he totally did something wrong. Later I talked to him about not saying things or making fun of people who are different because he would not like someone to make fun of him.

As an anti-bias educator I would talk to them about the different cultures and how people dress and do things differently than we do. We are all the same; we are all different understanding more about feeling proud of their own culture and learn respect for others” ( Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 67). I would do this by picking a different culture to teach about monthly so they could get a good understanding. I would also do this about people with disabilities.

Sparks-Derman, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. Washington: National Association for the Education of Young Children. p. 67.

 

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

Homophobia and heterosexism have permeated the world of young children in several ways. In our culture it is implanted that the traditional family that consists of a man and female has the norm. In the early childhood centers and schools you have many books on families in which have a mother and father that live in a happy home usually with a pet. When it comes to toys of families it is the same way.  When watching movies in the classroom you never see one where the couples are of the same sex.

I believe that has an educator childhood center should not exclude books that depict gay or lesbian individuals especially since we live in a world that allows them to be a married couple. In our world there are many same sex couples that are raising children and they will be going to these schools so it means we need to teach the other children this can be counted has a family too.

If I were in a situation where a parent didn’t want their child in a classroom with a homosexual or transgender person I would tell them that we have a curriculum that we follow and that the sexual orientation of the others should not be a problem when it comes to their child’s education. But after explaining all this and they still feel that way I would tell them maybe they should look elsewhere.

I cannot ever remember using any of these terms but have heard people use them. My nephew called his uncle gay along with friends even singing a song. This made him horrible because he is gay and he thought that his nephew cared about him. When children hear this from an adult or parent they will do the same and more than likely they do not know what the word means they are just repeating what they hear. This can lead the child to being prejudice to others. This can have a negative effect on a child and make a child feel bad. I have a boy in my class that is being raise by his gay grandmother and her partner and a child ask her if she was a man or woman. This was because he had heard someone else made that comment.

 

 

 

 

THANK YOU AND GOOD-BYE

I would like to say thank you and good-bye to my colleagues and Dr. Williams, you all have taught me so much on communication and the strategies needed to improve them. When it came to our discussions and blogs you all gave me so many things to think about what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. I knew some of you from all classes and enjoyed meeting the new ones.  I hope has we continue in our future classes that I will once again get to see you all again. If I don’t I wish you all the luck in your profession and in your continuing education. Thank You for being a small part of my learning process.  If any of you would like to keep in touch my blog will be up and look me up on Facebook Mary Cowles.  Good luck and may God continue giving you blessings.

Adjourning and Saying Good-bye

Once a group has meant its goal and objective it moves to the adjourning stage. This stage is vital in teamwork because at some point the team splints up and we can share with others what we have learned and can adjourn with a positive ending. The closing rituals that we had was we had a farewell get together we gave each other hugs, high fives and set a date for a time to get together after the carnival.

The hardest group that I had to leave was when I transferred to a new school to work at. The first job that I had working at a school my co-workers and I had to play the school carnival and we all came in with a positive attitude and great ideals. Even though we all worked in different grade levels we still had a great time and grew together both personally and professionally. Those are the times I will remember even though I left we still get together at least 2 or 3 times a year. When my husband died I got the greatest support from the group that I worked together with and we have an everlasting bond.

 As our time is getting close to leave with our Master’s degree I feel that has I adjourn from all of my colleagues at Walden I will feel sad but happy at the same time. I will feel sad because I will miss my classmates and professors that I learned so much from. I will be happy because I would have fulfilled my dream of getting my degree that I have always wanted. Even though we are saying good-bye to each other but hopefully stay in contact through e-mails and Facebook.

Coflicts

One personal conflict that I have had is with my daughter-in-law this is something that happens a lot. If anyone could give me some advice that would help it would be great. This conflict happened last weekend when I took my grandsons home. I have them every weekend so she can get things done around the house. Well what happen was I was sick and told her that I would not have them all weekend, well her reaction was so I will not get a break from the boys, not caring one bit how I was feeling and a good chance they would get sick. Well has usual I took them and my special needs grandson’s behavior was worse than usual and with me not feeling well it really got to me. I called her when I was bringing them home (if I don’t she gets mad) and was telling her about what happened and she started yelling at me. What she said was that every time I take the boys I always complain about his behavior. I try to explain that I am not complaining I just want her to know so she can let his therapist know. I know that having a child with special need can cause someone to feel stressed and I try to feel empathetic but she makes it so hard with her attitude. She knows I work with children with special needs every day and I try to help her with my grandson by giving her books and information that I gather for her. The two strategies that I learned and used was respect and honesty which did not seem to matter because she just yelled and put me down about not wanting to spend time with my grandsons. I talked to my co-worker about this and she said that I should just ignore and to stop telling her when a meltdown happens with him. I think that both nonviolent communication and the 3 R’s could both be helpful in this situation because it teaches us the best way to express ourselves but also to be compassionate to the needs of the one we are talking with.