What I Have Learned

  One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who comes from diverse background is that we are all treated as equals deserving respect and acceptance.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to ensure all early childhood professionals are equipped with the necessary tools to provide an anti-bias environment for all children.  If the teachers are not properly trained; how can we expect them to be positive role models for children, families, and the surrounding communities?

A special "Thanks" to Dr. Dartt and my colleagues for sharing a wealth of knowledge and insight based on your own personal experiences.   I wish you continued success throughout your forever exciting and challenging careers.  Happy Holidays to all!!

Creating Art

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

                                        

A group of children were looking at their family photos on the Family Display Board in the classroom.  The children were all pointing to the photos and verbally identifying their family members.  One of the girls said “My dad is Black, and me and my mommy are Brown. “  The teacher, who was standing close by, did not reprimand or silenced the girl, but decided to use this as a teachable moment instead.  The teacher looked at the photo of the girl's family and saw that the father had darker skin than the girl and her mother.   The teacher asked the girl “What color am I?”  The girl replied “You are Brown also.”  Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010) stated "By age 2, children are using appropriate gender labels (girl, boy) and learning color names, which they begin to apply to skin color" (p. 12).  The teacher went over to the library area and took out a book that depicted individuals with different shades of color.   The teacher discussed ways in which people such as African-Americans can have dark skin or lighter skin, and is still considered black.   The book showed various cultures with various skin colors.   The teacher then took out some dolls and puppets to show the children the different shades of color.   The children were allowed to ask questions and the teacher was able to answer the questions in ways that helped the children understand how some people are the same and how they are different. 

I think that the way in which the teacher discussed with the class the various colors of people skin helped the children understand that it was okay to be different.  I feel that by openly discussing skin colors can foster self acceptance.  Bias barriers can be removed so that acceptance of others can emerge.  

I think the teacher were effective in addressing the issue of race; however, I think it would be a good idea if she included photos of various cultures throughout the classroom environment.  This will empower anti-bias education within the classroom.   The child will become accustom to seeing the various cultures and learn to accept it as a natural part of life. 

Reference

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

                                     

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

•  Your response to those who believe that early childhood centers should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families

If I had to meet with a group of individuals who believed that early childhood centers should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families, I would began by educating the group on diversity to include same-sex partnerships.   I would explain that it is better to educate the children by giving them the correct answers than to leave the questions unanswered and open for speculations.   Pelo (2008) stated “When we make lesbian-and-gay headed families visible in our programs, our emphasis  is on relationships—who people love and how people form families; sex and sexuality are not our focus” (p. 180).  I would encourage the individuals to help select the books for the classroom so that they can monitor what is being viewed by the children as well as provide them the opportunity to be a part of the decision to include the books in the classroom.   

• 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)

I have a friend, who was a victim of homophobic slurs as he was growing up.  Some individuals used to refer to him as a book worm because he always had his head in a book and mostly stayed to himself.   His uncle used to tell him he was going to grow up to be a fag because he didn’t act the way he thought boys should be acting at his age.   Fortunately, he was blessed to have someone in his life to teach him how to resist these and other bias remarks and continued on to live a successful life.  Just like my friend, these types of comments will make any child believe this to be true if they do not have a caring adult in their life to ensure healthy development is taking place.   These children usually lose their self-esteem and become withdrawn because they may feel self-hate and self-restricted.   Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010) stated “Social realities either support or harm children’s beliefs about their families, about others, and about themselves” (p. 13). 

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves.

Washington, DC: NAEYC

Pelo, A. (Ed.) (2008). Rethinking early childhood education. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.

Week 8 - Adjournment:

I would like to take this time to say “Thank you” to an AWESOME support team.  You all have been very instrumental in providing me with the knowledge and skills I have gained over the past eight weeks and some even longer.  Your unselfish willingness to share your life experiences have been very inspiring as well as motivating.  I wish you a life of successes through all your endeavors.   Remember, we live in a diverse world and in order to make a positive change, the change must begin with each of us.  God Speed…

 ~Brenda Smith  

Week 6: Team Building

Not all groups make the adjourning process difficult to do.  However, I remember one in particular that made me very sad when it ended and that was the planning of my 10^th year class reunion.  I remember at the end of reunion everyone shared stories of planning the reunion and how everyone began to laugh at the various hurdles we endured throughout the planning process.  Although they were not funny at the time, we were able to look back over them and laugh.  The entire process took about a year to plan and during this time we had created new memories that I had not realized until the last night of the reunion.  We had begun to connect not only with each other but with each other families as well.  It was very difficult to tell my friends good-bye and watch them go back to their individual worlds after staying on the phone until wee hours in the mornings, attending long planning sessions as we drank numerous cappuccinos,  and   hours and hours of licking envelopes, making phone calls and searching the web trying to contact over 400 hundred classmates. 

I feel that high-performing groups are hardest to leave because they represented unity.  Everyone on the team was dedicated and motivated; thus, striving for a common goals.  We had an awesome leader who promoted mutual trust and respect.  She shared her vision for the reunion and was open to suggestions from all the team members.  Everyone respected what the others had to say and in the end we voted on any and all major decisions before they were implemented.   

At the end of the reunion everyone exchanged phone numbers and e-mails so that they could stay in touch.  Some of us hugged, cried, and vowed to stay in touch as well as visit if we were ever in their area. We also took photos to remind us of our time together. 

I imagine my adjournment from my colleagues will be very emotional for me, because we have encouraged each other, shared our experiences and knowledge and supported each other’s ability to learn, grow and develop both personally and professionally.  It is one thing to express our inner thoughts on the discussion board or through our blog, but it will be another to finally meet face-to-face at graduation.  I look forward to meeting each and every one of my colleagues so that I am finally able to put a face with the personality behind the words of articulation.  I think that adjourning is essential because of the need of closure.  The adjourning process gives the members a chance to conduct an after action report so that they can discuss what was effective and what was ineffective for future projects.  This also gives them the opportunity to say good-bye and wish each other well in their endeavors (Abudi, 2010).

Reference

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Management

For the past two years, we have been giving our staff Time Off Award for their dedication and hard work.  This year we decided to budget for Cash Awards to be given to all staff receiving an Outstanding or Very Good Appraisal rating.  As I finished calculating the awards to be issued, my supervisor walked in and asked how much were we paying out.  I gave her the total, but said that I would like to increase it because we still had over half of the money left that we had set aside for the employees’ awards.   She said she wanted to put the money back into the program so that we can show that our revenue was up for the year.  I told her that I understood that; however, we had set aside the money for the employees and reminded her that the staff had not received a monetary award for the past two years.  After going back and forth a few times, debating our viewpoints, I suggested a compromise.   I agreed not to use all the money and she agreed to giving the staff over half of the money for awards.  

This turned out to be a win –win situation for everyone because the staff received a pretty nice monetary award, my boss was able to put some of the money back into the program, and I was able to show the staff how much we appreciate all of their hard work and dedication over the past year.   We were able to effectively solve this conflict because we used corporate strategies that benefited all parties involved.  We were able to look past our individual goals and focus on a solution that would satisfied the needs of everyone.   Although we were both passionate in our verbal communication about our intentions with how the money should be delegated, we did not result to violent behaviors to get our point across.   

 We saved more money than anticipated; therefore, we were able to give more generously to the staff and still have enough left over to show a small profit.   We were able to effectively resolve this conflict because we were both willing to negotiate and compromise.  It is essential that we learn effective ways in which to handle conflict.  Both the 3 Rs and nonviolent strategies are helpful tools to have when faced with conflicts because they promote peaceful resolutions.

Had this lead to an unproductive conflict, what are some of the consequences do you think I would have endured?