What Have I Learned

One hope that I have when working with children and families is that as an educator and member of society I will be sensitive towards their needs and be willing to go the extra step to help them. I will put aside any biases that I may have and be ready to do my job which is to serve children and their families to give them an opportunity for successful outcome.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity and social justice is that every child and their families receive the same fair and equal treatment at all times regardless of the race, religion, gender and or sexual orientation.Many children are unfortunate and do not have access to the “basic human rights” due them (Sparks & Edwards, 2010). I want to make sure that every child has access to the services and resources that they are due.

I would like to thank Dr. Klein and my colleagues for the feedback they have provided me with during the Diversity, Development Learning course. I appreciate the insight and ideas you have shared during this period. My wish for you as a colleague is to fulfill your desires in life on your professional journey.

Reference

Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. NAEYC: Washington, DC

 

Start Seeing Diversity Blog: Creating Art

Why Different and Not The Same?

Created in His image accepted for who we are

As individuals we are diverse

We are unique in our own way

Why different and not the same?

So we can teach and learn along the way

With our own taste, style and sense of self

           
                       

Characteristics that set us aside from anyone else.

 

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

My son is six years old at age four he began to show a fear towards individuals with physical disabilities.  My oldest child would often tease him by pointing out these individuals. He would react by becoming very scared and hiding behind me while screaming and hollering. On day I remember us eating at a local eatery and my daughter spotted a man in a wheelchair. She tells my son to” look that man he’s looking at you. He’s fixing to come and get you.” I explained to her she should not make fun of others because everyone is unique in their own way. We should not judge or look down on others because they are different from you. I asked her if she had a disability would she want people to react to her that way.  Her answer was no, I didn’t think about it like that.

 

The message received by my daughter is that it is not nice to talk or make fun of others. It does not matter what’s going on with them their size, sexual orientation, gender or abilities. Everyone has feelings and we should be sensitive to others.

 

An anti- bias educator might respond by saying we should encourage children to create a positive change, become sensitive to the feelings of others. We should teach children to respect and an appreciation for differences by providing opportunities for interaction with people of diverse groups, make sure your children understand that prejudice and discrimination are unfair. Also we should help children recognize instances of stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination (ADL, 2001)

 

References

Anti-Defamation League. (2001). What to tell your child about prejudice and discrimination.

Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. NAEYC: Washington, DC

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

How you would respond to a parent/family member who informed you they did not want anyone who is perceived (or self-reported) homosexual or transgender to be caring for, educating, and/or interacting with their child.

I would start by letting the family know that I understand their concerns at the same time I would assure them that everyone that works in the early childhood center is trained and is able to work with each individual child and their needs. I would also let them know that we are a group of diverse individuals. We have to treat everyone with respect without discriminating on their race, culture, sexual orientation and or religion.

 

If you have ever used or heard homophobic terms such as "fag," "gay," "homo," "sissy," "tom boy," or "lesbo" as an insult by a child toward another child? Or, by an adult toward a child? Describe what occurred. How might these types of comments influence all children? (Note: if you have not had a personal experience, ask a family member, friend, or colleague)

Growing up I have heard the homophobic terms “fag”, “gay”, “sissy” and “tom boy” used. One boy in particular in my neighborhood growing up other children would call a “fag”. This young man was nice, friendly and always willing to lend a helping hand. He always preferred to hang around girls and not boys. The other children in the neighborhood and at our middle school called him “fag” to his face and every time they saw him it did not matter where he was or with. I believe what they spoke of him had an influence on his life. This young man is now in a relationship with another young man and dresses like a female.

Note Of Thanks

I would like to thank Dr. Thomason and my colleagues for the feedback they have provided me with during the Communication and Collaborating in the Early Childhood Field course. I appreciate the insight and ideas you have shared during this period. My wish for you as a colleague is to fulfill your desires in life and on your professional journey.

My Email is: williams606@att.net

Working In Groups/Teams

The adjourning stage makes me think of my colleagues at the end of a school year and my graduate school colleagues at the end of a course. In both groups expectations are established and we should be high in performance. The groups that have clearly established norms would be the hardest to leave because the expectations are known and goals have been voiced.

When we end a school year we go out to eat and enjoy each other we talk about individual plans we may have during our vacation. My colleagues in graduate school we end up by thanking each other for be supportive with comments they have provided during the course and wish them the best on their educational journey. My hopes are to wish everyone future success on their educational journey and for them to be prosperous and obtain all the goals they set.

The adjourning stage is where we evaluate what happens and capture lessons learned. This will provide an opportunity to say goodbye to each other and wish each other luck on future endeavors (Abudi, 2010).   

Reference

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study.

Conflict Resolution

Our school district is one of many in the State of Louisiana that are faced with losing state funding. Remind you that our school district is number two in the state with Leap and ACT testing we have an overall grade of A out of seventy other school districts. On last week the Superintendent of our school system met with us and told the employees they would be laying off 18- 20 teacher for the next school year. Other districts do not offer a free universal Pre-K program they charge parents monthly for those services. Employees have voiced their opinion stating maybe they should charge a fee Pre-K programs so you would not have to fire these teachers and it would also bring money to the district.

I work with the Head Start program that is federally funded and the school board is our grantee this would not affect us unless the school board decide to stop being the grantee for the program. On the other hand the sequester that we are dealing with Congress cutting 5%of funding for all Early Head Start and Head Start programs will have an effect on us. I made a suggestion that if parents provide supplies such as pampers, milk, wipes, paper towels, crayons, markers, playdoh and ziploc bags plus if we let an employee drive the bus route that has a CDL license we can cancel the contract and this would help out with money’s being spent and save the program.

I can implement the win/win approach of the conflict resolution kit and their strategies of going back to the underlying needs and attack the problem not the people.

Now I would pose a question to my colleagues for suggestion with these issues we are faced with.

Conflict Resolution Network. (n.d.). CR kit. Retrieved from http://www.crnhq.org/pages