Reflecting on Learning

My most passionate hope for my future as an early childhood professional is to apply all that I have learned when situations come up.  I hope that I will be able to think back and recall the details about how to foster anti-bias strategies in children.  I hope to be patient and listen to families when they voice their concerns.  I hope to help children and families think about things differently if they hold biased beliefs.  It can be difficult to stay calm when negative views or behavior is exhibited against a person or a group because of their differences and I hope to be able to remain calm and speak with them in a more productive anti-biased way instead of react defensively.  For the children and families that I work and will work with, I hope to be a trusted source of support and I also hope to learn from them as well.  

I want to say thanks to my colleagues for your stories and insights.  The most important part of anti-bias and diversity work is learning from others.  Hearing your thoughts and your experiences has helped me see the many sides to the topics we discussed.  I wish you all the best and hope to see you again in the next course.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

The area of the world I chose to learn more about is Latin America and the Caribbean.  The reason why I chose this region is because I am working with more and more students from this area and I wanted to learn more about children’s rights in this area.

Children in this region of the world are confronting many challenges.  HIV and AIDS is killing children and is leaving children to grow up without their parents as well.  In Latin America and the Caribbean alone about 50,000 boys and girls under the age of 15 are living with the virus (unicef.org, n.d.).  Hurricane disasters are not uncommon along with floods, earthquakes, and volcanoes.  There is poverty, exploitation, discrimination, and little access to education.   Also, with the drug cartels infiltrating small towns and government, there is fear and violence everywhere.  

These experiences might have an effect on children’s emotional wellbeing and development.  Growing up as an orphan has it’s emotional challenges and their healthy development may hindered if they are not receiving the proper nutrition in their situation.  Natural disasters affect children in traumatic ways through violent visceral images, fear, and the feeling of loss and confusion after.  All of these challenges have negative effects on children’s emotions and development.  Plus, the lack of access to education does not help children to reach their full potential and instead of living healthy and happy lives as productive members of society they might possibly fall into a downward spiral.

The insights I gained have made me more aware of the severity of the challenges that children are facing in this region and everywhere in the world.  This has influenced me as a person and as an early childhood professional in a way that I see how important my role is to support children.  By understanding the challenges they face better I can be more sensitive to their needs and also be an advocate for their rights.

Reference

UNICEF (n.d.). [Website]. Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

My reaction to the topic of sexualization of early childhood is that there needs to be a drastic change.  Not just for children but for all society.  Children are surrounded by messages form the verbal and visual environment including family members and friends, music, movies, television, and print media.  I understand that for children to grow up in a less sexualized world it has to start with the adults.  Yet, when adults in the media are being glorified for their sexuality it is hard to imagine that everyone would be in agreement.

Three examples from my personal or professional experience that further illustrate the exposure of young children to a highly sexualized environment:

1. A group of third grade boys learns a new dance where the lyric that goes with it is to, “Superman that ho.”

2. An eight year old boy learns a new knock-knock joke from his older cousin with a lude punch line that is highly sexualized.  He retells the joke to a teacher at his school.

3. A seven-year-old girl uses a red crayon and pretends to color her lips.  “It is my lipstick,” she says as she smacks her lips.

These types of situations might have implications on children’s healthy development in a few ways.   First, they are not thinking for themselves and allowing the environment to influence them in negative ways.  Children begin to think and act like adults and end up growing up too fast both physically and mentally.  Childhood’s are warped into different experiences and starts to get blurred with the adult world.  It is a shame because children miss out on the more innocent experiences that childhood should entail.  Also, children’s idea of what adulthood is like is misunderstood.  This affects their development in that they might aspire to be a part of that world which can have negative effects on their future decision making.  It is the job of the early childhood professional to help provide children with the necessary information and to guide them to having moral values.  My awareness of sexualization of early childhood has been influenced in that I am more aware of the severity of the problem.  With facts like how girls as young as nine are being involved in prostitution, (Levin, & Kilbourne, 2009) it is apparent and obvious that something has to be done, fast.

Reference

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

If I experience specific “-ism(s)” in my own life, it might cause consequences for the children and families with whom I work with.  I would probably feel very strong emotions that would make it harder for me to focus on my work.  I expect that I would be extra sensitive when it came to related topics.  Yet, it could have a positive effect because I would be able to identify similar experiences as they are happening and bring awareness to the children or families I am working with.  For example, I had an experience where I was experiencing some racism in my personal life.  When I noticed a child’s grandfather at work express his racist beliefs I reacted too strongly.  It felt frustrating to see yet another example of racism in my life and I was not as understanding as I should have been.  I was able to maintain my calm with the children and control my emotions.  Had it been a similar situation with children expressing racist beliefs or ideas instead of an adult I would have reacted differently.  I would have been more understanding and talked with the child about why they felt that way and try to help them understand the situation differently.  Eric Hoffman points out how children are simply interpreting what they perceive in the best way they can with the information they have (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).   

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Learning about fairness: culture, language, and economic class [DVD]. Strategies for working with diverse children. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Observing Communication

I observed the interaction between an adult and a young child in the office after school while the student was waiting for their parent to come pick them up.  The adult communicated with the child effectively in a few ways.  The adult is the secretary, Ms. Ofelia and the child is a 5 year old TK student named Eugene. 

First, I noticed that the secretary greets the student by name as he enter and the student reciprocates the gesture.  This acknowledgment is a sign of respect and shows the child that he in a safe place with a familiar person who cares.  Ms. Ofelia asks him about his day and after receiving the one word response of, “good” she extends his thinking by asking, “What happened that made it good?”  Using language that extends children’s language that repeats and extends their statements promotes children’s thinking (Rainer Dangei & Durden, 2010).  She is acknowledging and validating his answer but encourages him to tell more.  Eugene explains that his day was good because he got to play blocks and paint in his class today.  She then tells him that she also had a good day and what happened that made it good.  This exchange of information is effective because children see that it is important to share and listen to others.  Ms. Ofelia continues by explaining to Eugene that her sons enjoyed playing blocks when they were younger too and how they liked to build castles.  She asks him what he likes to build and he mentions that he likes to build cities.  Ms. Ofelia listens and when he says the word “cities” her eyes widen, her hands move toward her face and she says “wow what a big thing to build!”  Eugene smiles, her reaction and body language makes him feel proud and have a positive sense of worth.  In the video, Lisa Kolbeck advises adults to be receptive to what children are saying (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  Ms. Ofelia does this by changing her tone, facial expression and using hand gestures to let him know that she heard his ambitious preference in play.  Just then Eugenes mother arrives and Ms. Ofelia bids him goodbye with a wave and smile.  “Goodbye Ms. Ofelia” Eugene says as he exits. 

To make the communication more affirming, Ms. Ofelia could have stated his name again when he left.  She also could have engaged in a conversation with his mother by explaining to her that she learned that Eugene likes to build cities today.  By continuing and extending the topic of conversation with his mother Eugene could have seen how communication can be integrated.  Overall, Ms. Ofelia also fosters Eugenes positive communication skills by asking him to extend his thoughts and also offers her own thoughts.  The entire interaction only lasted a few minutes but it showed how effective communication with a child can be when the adult listens and validates the child’s thoughts. 

The communication I observed compares to the ways in which I communicate with children in that I always try to encourage their extended thinking.  I teach a lot of fluency and comprehension in reading.  So when I do guided reading I am supposed to check for comprehension about the text that is very straight forward.  Yet, I always try to include questions that go beyond the text because from those answers you learn more about each child.  I could improve my communication by asking more questions that promote childrens thinking.  Some examples of cognitive challenges to ask the children would be to label, describe, explain, connect to prior knowledge, compare, hypothesize, imagine possibilities and offer an opinion (Rainer Dangei & Durden, 2010). 

Reference

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

Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81. 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=47964033&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Creating Affirming Environments

If I were to open my own Family Child Care Home the setting would address children’s rights, family participation and integration, and would keep in mind the anti-bias education goals.   It would be warm, inviting, and very organized.  In viewing this weeks’ media segment, I appreciated how child care provider Adriana Castillo has a path for children to follow throughout the day in the home (Laureate Education Inc., 2011b).  It demonstrated a flow and routine that is effective and helps children, families, and even the professionals, including herself, transition from activity to activity by physically moving to a different space.  I would strive to replicate that in my own setting and take it one step further by making a map with the children and having them help name each space to make it more personalized and help include them in the planning.  I also think it is important to help support children in their language when they discuss diversity.  I like the approach of having children talk about differences they observe and have adults respond model answering accurately and matter-of-factly (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).  I feel that it is effective in helping children feel comfortable with the subject matter and does not make it seems like the matters are topics of issue.

The visual and material environment would have toys, posters, pictures, and objects that support anti-bias.  An environment that is rich in anti-bias materials invites and encourages children to play, explore, discover, discuss, and think about these materials in a safe space (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).  I would include material from the family culture of all the children in the setting as well as some that are not.  I would engage all the five senses by having music, clothing, food, and songs in different languages that represent the diversity that exists within our community and beyond.

I would strive to counter invisibility by making sure I included nonstereotypical learning materials that represent children and adults from various racial and ethnic identity groups, a range of economic groups and work, people with disabilities, diverse family structures and important persons who work or have worked for social justice (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).  I would also ensure that every child and family feels welcome and respected would be to include them in the daily routines and also have every family represented in the setting.  I would do this by having photos displayed of every child with their family and be sure to include the families as partners by helping plan curriculum, organize events, and act as family and cultural resources to demonstrate to the children build an integrated sense of self (Laureate Education Inc., 2011a). 

References

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).

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Building on children’s strengths. Baltimore, MD: Author

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. Baltimore, MD: Author