Time Well Spent

Let me start by saying I can’t believe I am at the end of my Master’s educational journey. Time really does fly. I have learned so much from all the instructors and courses I took. I feel I have grown professionally as well as personally. Each class was so informative and inspiring to say the least.

One deeply felt learning from this program has been learning about diversity and how to include every child. The anti-bias curriculum has been very inspiring. The inclusion of every child is something I now look for when I visit classrooms.

Another deeply felt learning is learning about the Community of Practice. It is very important to work with others who share your goals and passions. When we work together there is so much that we can accomplish.

Lastly, another deep felt learning has been (although early childhood education has improved) there are still many issues that need to be resolved in the early childhood education field. There are still children who are not receiving a quality education.

A long term goal is to continue including all children and families in the classrooms. It doesn’t matter what grade I teach, I will ensure everyone is included (culture, ethnicity, race, disability, etc.). Another goal is to continue my education because I want to ensure I have done all I can to assist every child and to ensure they receive a quality education from a qualified teacher.

To Dr. Dartt, thank you for all the feedback and the inspiration. I have learned so much from you in this course and previous courses I took with you. You pushed me to do better and I saw myself growing from this. You and the other instructors are the reason I am able to do what I do.

To my colleagues, thank you for reading and responding to my discussion questions and blogs. I enjoyed reading all your discussion questions and blogs as well. I learned so much from all of you. I cannot believe it is really the end. I wish all of you the best in the future. Let’s take care of our children.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

As I researched international organizations, the first one that stood out to me was United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “UNESCO works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values” (UNESCO, 2014). Two of their goals are to attain quality education for all and foster culture diversity, intercultural dialogue, and a culture of peace (UNESCO, 2014). This organization appealed to me because it recognizes quality education for all and diversity, which is worldwide. There weren’t any employment opportunities that interest me.

The second organization that interested me was International Step By Step Association (ISSA). The mission of this organization is to provide high quality care and educational services for children from birth to 10 years old. Their focus is on the poor and disadvantaged children. They want family and the community participation included in the children’s learning and development and they want to ensure diversity is respected (ISSA, 2014). This organization not only recognizes diversity and the need for quality education, they want to include families and the community which I think is important for a child’s education. They also offer online courses and trainings, with one of the courses in embracing diversity (ISSA, 2014). I could not find any employment opportunities, but I think it would be rewarding to be work with them.

The last organization that appealed to me was United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). This organization stood out to me because one of their missions is to ensure disadvantaged children (victims of wars, victims of disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation, and children with disabilities have special protection (UNIFEC, 2014). UNICEF is also committed to providing quality education to each and every child regardless of their circumstances (UNICEF, 2014). A job that interests me is Education Specialist (Peacebuilding, Education in Emergencies). They are responsible for planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluation of Education programs. They must have a degree in education, primary education, or a social science field. The candidate must have five years’ work experience working at national and international levels pertaining to the education field.

References

International Step By Step Association. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.issa.nl/index.html

United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2011). Retrieved

 from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/introducing-unesco/

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved from
             http://www.unicef.org/

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

The first national agency I explored was The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). I chose this organization because their mission is to “serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources” (NAEYC, 2014). A job that interests me is a teacher’s position.  The qualifications are have a bachelor’s degree in a child-related field from a college or university that is accredited or a minimum of two years of experience in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, or a related field (NAEYC, 2014).

The next organization that I chose is called Jump Start. I chose this organization because it is a national early education organization that recruits and trains college students to serve preschool children who reside in low-income neighborhoods. They have a proven curriculum that helps children develop the language and literacy skills needed to ready then for kindergarten (Jump Start, 2014). A position I chose with this organization is Associate Program Director (ADP). The ADP is responsible for ensuring high-quality implementation. Qualifications are a bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, or related discipline; Masters preferred, commitment to the organization’s mission and values of learning, connection, joy, determination and kindness, and 3-5 years of experience.

The last organization I researched is National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC). This organization works on behalf of family child care providers. One of the goals of this organization is “to promote the diversity of the family child care profession through training, state and local associations, public education, and Board Membership” (NAFCC, 2014). There were not any job openings available.

References

Jump Start. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.jstart.org/

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (2014). Retrieved

            from http://www.naeyc.org/about/mission

National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC). (2014). Retrieved from

            http://www.nafcc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=573&Itemid=28

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

I currently reside in Georgia, so I searched for agencies in this state. I found several agencies of communities of practice that I have knew nothing about. The first agency where I would like to be employed is The Office of Early Childhood Development (ECD).  This agency uses a focused approach to improve early childhood and development. Two of their goals are to promote high quality and accountable early learning and development programs for all children and promote family support and engagement in the child’s development. A job that interests me is Head Start Program Specialists. I chose this position because I feel young children need high quality programs that will help them succeed.

The second agency I explored is Child Welfare Information Gateway. This agency promotes the safety, permanency, well-being of children, youth, and families. This organization has a program called Family-Centered Practice. What this program does is work with families, formally and informally, to enhance their capacity to care for and protect their children. Its focus is on children’s safety and needs within the context of their families and communities.  A job that interests me in this organization is a Social Worker. This job entails providing education and training to staff, assist with other programs within the organization, and prepare written findings. I chose this job because I can provide staff with the information needed to assist these families and help them care for their children. I can also be of assistance in more than one area of the organization. This position requires a Master’s degree in the related field, able to adapt o sudden changes, and no minimum years of experience.

The third organization I explored was Zero to Three. This organization provides parents, professionals, and policy makers the knowledge and teaches them how to nurture early development.  They want to ensure all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. A career that interests me is Senior Policy Strategist. I’m interested in this job because I will serve as a proactive resource to Congress and the Administration about infant and toddler policy issues. This will be a great opportunity to be a part of a team that is working to educate individuals about the importance of nurture for infants and toddlers. A Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and knowledge of early childhood policy are some of the requirements.

References

Child Welfare Information Gateway (2014). Family-centered practice. Retrieved from

            https://www.childwelfare.gov/famcentered/

The Office of Early Childhood Develeopment (2014). An office of the administration for

            children and families. Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ecd

 Zero to Three (2014). National center for infants, toddlers, and families. Retrieved from

             http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/careers/jobs/

Reflecting on Learning

My hope for the future as an early childhood professional and for children and their families whom I work with is to be an anti-bias teacher who makes children and their families feel comfortable coming to my classroom. I want them to feel welcomed and know their children will be in a classroom that has a teacher who will not exclude their child because of differences.

 

I would like to thank all my colleagues for the all the constructive feedback. It has helped me grow into a better person (personally and professionally). I wish you all as we embark on this anti-bias journey.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

I chose to research Latin America and Caribbean. I sometimes see stories on the news about other countries, but I do not see anything about this area, this is the reason for my choice.  I wanted to know what challenges are the children and families confronting. I researched the island of Barbados.

Countries in east Caribbean have high levels of poverty, inequality, and high levels of unemployment. The children are exposed to many kinds of abuse and exploitation, which includes sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment, physical abuse, which is meant as a form of discipline, child labor, and child trafficking (UNICEF, 2009). In Barbados they use corporal punishment to discipline children at school and home (UNICEF, 2010). Even though they have evidence that hitting children is harmful to their development, they still do it (UNICEF, 2010).

Some factors that contribute to these problems are poverty, an ineffective truancy policy to mitigate against children being out of school, and the administration system is weak when it comes to justice so it discourages reporting and prosecuting sex offenders, amongst other things (UNICEF, 2009).

These issues are difficult for a child to endure. Children dealing with issues as these may develop mental illness, behavior problems, and social development problems. Children may become depressed, act out in school, and withdraw from others.

As a parent, grandparent, and early childhood professional, I cannot imagine anyone having to endure such traumatic issues. This opened my eyes to the fact that the children in the United States are dealing with tragic events, but nothing compared to the children in Barbados. These children will one day be adults. I only hope they have healed from all the emotional scars they’ve endured as children.

 

References

 United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). (2009). Eastern Caribbean

            Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/barbados/overview.html

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). (2010). Barbados works to

change attitudes, implement positive discipline in schools. Retrieved from

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/barbados_53912.html

 

 

 

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

I think sexualization is too advanced for children in early childhood. The focus should be on learning your coursework, not sex. I know younger children are more aware of sex than they should be, but for it to be a topic in the early childhood field is surprising.

Music videos play a big part in exposing children in a sexual environment. The videos tell them it is alright to dress sexy or participate in sex. “Children growing up today are bombarded from a very early age with graphic messages about sex and sexiness in the media and popular culture”, Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, pg. 2.

I have seen girls at the school where I work be sent home because their dress was too short or their shirt was too low cut. I have seen some of the girls where eye shadow, lipstick, and false fingernails to school.

One day I was walking through the lunchroom after lunch was over and I found a note one of the fifth grade boys wrote to one of the fifth grade girls. The note said he was breaking up with her because he wanted to talk to this other girl because she was prettier. This might make the other girl he broke up with feel as though she has to do something else to be prettier so she could keep a boyfriend. She may start dressing promiscuous or wanting to have sex.

When I worked at the middle school I remember some boys talking about a girl they “ran a train on”. They were in line talking about how they took turns having sex with her.

Children who are introduced to sex or sexual behavior too soon will not have a chance to be children or do children activities. They are doing adult things way too soon. If any of these encounters are observed I think as an early childhood professional, parent, and grandparent it is important to address these issues with the parents. Children need to know this is not acceptable behavior.

My awareness of sexualization has been modified because I never knew it was this serious until my studies this week. Children are exposed to many sexual environments, some are at home.

 

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

Working with children and families so have challenges as well as rewards. The “isms” I want to focus on are racism and classism. I have had the opportunity to work at different public schools over the course of almost 12 years. The school where I am currently employed has been the most challenging of them all.

The school is majority African American and has been stereotyped as a “ghetto” school because of this and the behavior problems of some of the children. I have heard some people say “I do not want to work there” or “I do not want my child to go to that school”.  Comments like these amongst others, bothers me. There was an issue where a mixed race student (African American and Caucasian) had been suspended several times because of his behavior. The grandmother of this student came to the school and blamed the school for her grandchild’s behavior. The grandmother swore at the principal and called the principal a racist. The principal is an African American female and the grandmother is Caucasian. After the last incident the mother and grandmother have been coming to school with the student and observing his behavior during the day. The grandmother came into the cafeteria with him for breakfast and lunch. I felt uncomfortable when she entered the kitchen area. She was not very friendly and her facial expression was unpleasant.

The school does have children with many behavior issues, but I will not let that deter me from wanting to educate these children. It does not matter what area a school is located, all children deserve a chance at education. If everyone felt this way what will happen to our future generation.

Observing Communication

I observed two teachers communicating with a child who had started two fights with two different students. All the students involved were in the 1^st grade. I walked into the cafeteria to put some condiments on the cart. As I was entering the cafeteria I noticed a student arguing with another student. I heard the teacher tell him to sit down and leave the other student alone. They were sitting at separate tables. The other student accused him of taking something from him. Another student said they saw him take it. When the student who started the fight heard this he walked over to that student and tried to pull him out the seat. Another teacher intervened by telling him to stop and grabbing his arms. Both teachers were yelling at him. The student continued to try and fight the other student. After trying to stop him several times, one of the teachers took him to the principal’s office.

Although this student was defiant, the teachers did not use effective communication skills with him. To make this communication more effective the teachers could have talked to all the students to find out exactly what happened. Yelling was also not an effective communication strategy. Teacher’s words and the way they are used are meaningful for children (Rainer & Durden, 2010).

I found out later that the student did in fact take something that belonged to the other student. Although he was guilty, yelling is not a way of communicating to him that he did something wrong. I think yelling made him angrier. This also may make him feel it is okay to yell at someone when they have done something wrong. When the teacher grabbed his arms this may make him feel as though it is okay to use violence.

The adult-child communication I observed does not compare to the ways I communicate with children. I would not yell or grab a child. I will always use the non-violence approach and communicate in a way that promotes understanding. The child needed to know what he did was wrong, but he should have been talked to.

 

Reference

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

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

I will want to have a Family Childcare Home that is located between a middle class and lower class neighborhood. I think this will benefit all children and families. To help me have a Family Child Care Home where all children and families feel welcomed I will start by having an area where each child can have a piece of home or their culture (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). This will include pictures, fabrics, paintings, and anything that will make the child feel comfortable. Other areas in my Family Childcare Home will include:

Books: These books will be about diverse families, different cultures, varying abilities, genders, and elderly people. These books will allow children to experience people who are different and the same as them (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

Pictures: Classroom pictures, family pictures, and pictures from diverse families (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

Music: Music from different cultures. Each child can experience the music people of different cultures and diversity listen to (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

Dolls: Every doll will be different. They will be a different age, race, and gender. Boys and girls will experience playing with dolls of different races and genders than they are.

Puzzle: Puzzles will be diverse people in a variety of roles (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). .

DVDs: They will be diverse and have people who speak different languages (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

Blocks: The blocks will be different colors and any child could play with them (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

Dramatic Play Area: This area will have a kitchen, washer and dryer, iron and ironing board, clothing items from different cultures and roles (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

As I move forward I’m sure there will much more to add to my Family Child Care Home. It won’t be perfect, but I will learn as I go. “The important thing is to let children know through your actions that diversity and acceptance of others are good, and prejudice is not”, Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

Reference

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. (n.d.). Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. (Video webcast).

            Retrieved from

            https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4775481_1%26url%3D

What I Have Learned

One hope that I have is that all children and families will come be accepting if one another and not judge. I hope the children can be a positive influence on their parents by sharing with them what they’ve learned about anti-bias education. Sometimes children have a way of reaching adults in a different way than other adults.

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is for no educators to have hidden biases and discomforts. When this happens it can make it difficult for educators to teach children about anti-bias education when they themselves have biases. I know it is difficult, but I don’t think it’s impossible. Our children are depending on us.

I would like to thank all my colleagues for sharing their stories and thoughts during discussion posts and for the comments on my discussion posts. I wish everyone well as they move forward and hope we all become great anti-bias educators.

Creating Art

A Poem About Diversity

Whether Caucasian, Mexican, Asian, or Black

In this diverse world we live in, no one should care about that

Short, tall, big, or small

There are only basic differences between us all

Our insides are the same

All of our hearts beat too

Who’s to say the differences give us light to judge who’s who

Another factor of today’s time is that of age

Age means nothing but how far you’ve come

We should cherish our elders

And hope to say that one day we’ve become one

 

 

 

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

I want to share a story that is not totally stereotyping but it was something said about someone that was different. When my granddaughter was 3 years old (she is now 4) we were in Wal-Mart and this lady walked past us. My granddaughter looked at her and said “she got a big stomach.” My daughter and I could not believe what we had just heard. Both of us said be quiet do not say that. My granddaughter said “she having a baby.” My daughter and I told her that everyone who has a big stomach is not having a baby.

Our response probably made her feel as though she said something wrong. We all notice differences, but children are quick to point them out. It took us by surprise, so our first instinct was to tell her to be quiet. We did not want the lady to hear her say that. I also did not want the lady to think we teach her disrespect.

As an anti-bias educator I would teach her that everyone is different. I would tell her we do not all look alike. I would also tell her it is ok to ask questions about differences. I have been teaching her about differences. My mother is in a wheelchair, but she has never asked why. I will continue to teach her about diversity until she understands. She does understand some of it.

"Start Seeing Diversity Video" Blog: Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

These are the two statements I chose to respond to:

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

If a parent was biased against a homosexual or transgender, I would inform them that because a person is homosexual or transgender does not mean their child won’t receive a good education. I will go on to explain that each person is unique in his or her own way, and we are an anti-bias center.  I would also inform the parent or family member the educator has a right to employment lf their choice as anyone else.

 

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 heard all these terms throughout my life. I heard them as a child, but did not really know what they meant until I heard other children and adults speak about it. I remember when I was in high school and this boy was in our class. The children said he was gay because of the way he carried himself and spoke. His voice was real soft and he walked differently than the other males in the class. I said I don’t think he’s gay because he likes girls. The other classmates said he’s just pretending he does so we won’t know he’s gay. I never found out if he was gay or not, it really didn’t matter to me. I always talked to him in class and he was always nice to me.