REFLECTING ON LEARNING

 

Above is a wordle that represents my overall response to  8 weeks of learning about anti-bias education and strategies for working  with diverse children. This course allowed me to deepen in knowledge about myself because creating an anti-bias setting begins with me. 

The aspect that really resonate with me was when were learning about teaching to strength, I found that very fascinating. As an anti-bias educator, teaching to strength will definitely help me to enhance the positive interactions I have with children. It's a great tool for getting to know the children better. According to Janis Keyser in the media segment, we can't really know who children are if we are not part of the voice that co-constructs the image of the child (Laureate Education Inc., 2011). So, teaching to strength is one of the most important ways that anti-bias work happens. It is how people respond to differences that teaches them bias and fear (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). Instead of reacting negatively to children's identities and diversities, we lay hold on their strength and build them to become a version of themselves. This is truly what being an anti-bias educator is all about.

I also learned a lot from Eric Hoffman on how he uses the persona doll to introduce diversity related issues in the classroom. Currently, I am beginning to introduce persona dolls during mental wellbeing and jigsaw activities in the classroom. I'll still extend the use of persona dolls through other subjects in our curriculum.

It was a great collaboration during this 8 weeks and I just want to appreciate everyone for contributing to the learning experience. The course discussions were very fascinating, insightful and very  engaging. Honestly speaking, we made a formidable team and I hope we all meet again in the last course for this program. 

I won't fail to thank Dr. Kien. Your instructions, honest and constructive feedbacks were awesome. I always looked forward to them because they made me to be on my toes throughout the duration of this course. Thank you so much! 

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’sstrengths. Baltimore, MD: Author

IMPACTS ON EARLY EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

 

It is not an understatement to say that children's early emotional development is very important and grief is one of the major things that can affect a child's emotional wellbeing. I am from West Africa, a Nigerian to be precise and have lived there most years in my life. For this reason, I have decided to look at UNICEF and the work they do in Nigeria. In the past 12 years or even more, Nigeria has been under a bloody terrorism attack (political, tribal and religious war) and this has become more intense in the past 6 years till date. There has been terrible attacks against children and families by unidentified armed groups (Boko-Haram, Fulani Herdsmen, Bandits and some others). These groups kidnap and abduct children from their schools, kill or rape them. They attack parents in the farm lands and their villages and end up killing and burning down their homes, leaving their children homeless and without any source of livelihood. Churches are being attacked more frequently and the outcome is always heartbreak and grief.  Some members of these groups end of keeping the girls for marriage in their camps. You can imagine keeping a girl of 8 to 9 years for marriage and assaulting her sexually. 

All of these, makes children to live in fear. They feel bitter, rejected and insecure, which is actually the real outcome of the trauma.  Mostly children and women are at the receiving end. Some children lose their mothers to these terrorists because they take them away forcefully to be their wives. Most families have fled their homes in search of  more secured place. But the question is, "where is safe?" Children also grieve about life changes such as death, divorce, moving to another city or geographic region, losing a pet, and saying goodbye to a parent being deployed overseas (Wood, 2008).

As a result of these, teachers are likely to deal with these horrible news on a daily basis. It is either they are caught in the web of the drama or they have children and families who have been affected by the occurrences. Just like UNICEF has been advocating and remained committed to take all measure to ensure the safety of children and their families and to reduce the suffering victim, we as educators can also stand up as advocates for these children and their families through campaigns "STOP THE KILLING", "EVERY CHILD'S LIFE MATTERS" and other campaign hashtags just to lend our voices. Our voice as educators just have to be heard because we are the primary life shapers of these children and we can't afford to see them go through traumas, especially in their early years. We can also create a mental wellbeing awareness and help these families to maintain a balanced emotional and mental wellbeing.

References

https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/least-thirteen-children-killed-latest-attack-children-and-families-niger

Wood, F.B. (2008). Helping young children cope. YC: Young Children, 63(5), 28 - 31

THE SEXUALIZATION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD

 

Sexualization in early childhood is actually a very tough topic for me to discuss because of my background which was more of religious, principled and strict. My parents always had this notion that children should be allowed to be children and this has to reflect in their dressing, hairdo, play routines/activities, social gatherings and so many other areas where children are visible. I remember as a child, make-up and long hair extensions for me, was a no for my mum. Skimpy dresses, bump short and other outfits that promotes nudity were not meant for me, even though some parents thought otherwise. When children are young, they should be having positive, age-appropriate experiences that lay the foundation for healthy sexual relationships in the future (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). But today, it is a different ball game. Children are growing up in a highly sexualized environment which has adverse effects on the lessons and morals they learn a daily basis.

All these issues of sexualization begins even before the child is born. It still beats me how parents attributes a particular colour for boys and the other for girls (blue for boys and pink for girls). Some particular toys for boys and others for girls. You can tell the sex of a child by just the colour of the pre-birth baby shoot or decoration of the baby's room. Active toys are for boys to showcase their strength as boys and the girls need softer toys as the weaker ones. So as the children develop, they keep looking for ways to validate who they think they are or stand for in the contemporary society.

In the recent years, children are exposed to lots of contents on media as a result of increased access to gadgets and unlimited internet. There are lots of sexual contents flying around on the internet. “Children growing up today are bombarded from a very early age with graphic messages about sex and sexiness in the media in popular culture." (Kilbourne, J & Levin, D, 2009). This could actually be scary to them and detrimental to their social wellbeing. There are lots of comic books and shows that depicts all shades of sexualization.  I recently saw a comic advert on BBC that portrayed the new superman to be a bisexual with a picture of two boys kissing themselves. For me, it is just inappropriate even when we are trying to be anti-bias and and also trying to erase all the -isms as much as possible.

Girls learn that their value is determined by how sexy they look, rather than by who they are or what they achieve (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). No wonder all the fakeness we try to attach to their appearances just to validate their beauty. At the end of day, we end up producing girls who feel inferior, girls who are mediocre and with low self esteem. Instead of sexualizing them in terms of beauty, we should teach them that they are more than pretty faces. I think this will also go a long way to stop the way girls as seen as shallow-minded. 

But for about a century now, we have understood that children are not miniature adults capable of fending entirely for themselves and we recognize that they do not have the cognitive, emotional, mental or physical skills to negotiate the increasingly complicated terrain of adulthood, and that they need the care, protection, and guidance of supportive adults in order to grow into healthy and competent members of society, so that is where we adults come in. Children should not be left all by themselves to figure out how the world works. They need to be guided to deal with the issues of early sexualization. They don't have to be blamed for the behaviours they have learned already because that is the society we live in. All they need is a caring and affectionate intimate relationships in their families and also in the setting where they find themselves. They need to feel safe with us so se can help them clear their doubts about  early sexualization.

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).

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids. New York: Ballantine Books

EVALUATING IMPACTS ON PROFESSIONAL PRACTISE

 

Early childhood professionals and teachers generally, are important part of the society because we are the first significant influence on children after their families. As a result of our position in the life of children, there are no doubts that what happens to us also goes  a long way to affect our practice in any setting we may find ourselves.

The major -ism which I have experienced in my profession is classism and racism. There are many job opportunities I have lost as a result of where I come from. You'll see clear statements like a school only needs Americans, British or nationalities that are English native speakers. and even when you are qualified and do not come from any of those countries, the job is not meant for you. This is what I have experienced for years and still currently. In my current setting, I had to take the roll of a Teaching Assistant in my current setting because that is where they believe I should be because I am an African. Somehow, this affects the way families relate with such staff. This can also be related with classism because you are seen as poor and timid. It affects even the pay. In some cases, higher-income families may reflect social attitudes about income and professionalism and may not treat the staff with respect or recognize their educational background or their high level of skills (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). Despite the good intentions the teacher may have, this unfair treatment must have an impact on the practice because when there is societal disrespect ranging from inadequate wages, lack of benefits as health care, marginalization and so many other unfair treatments, it puts the bonds and consistent relationships with the children at risk.

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).

OBSERVING COMMUNICATION

 

I was privileged to observe an Early Childhood Setting. It's a KG 1 classroom and their age bracket are between 4 to 5 years old. The classroom teacher (Mrs Seana Gregg), was actually trying to plan her lesson for the coming week. It was an interesting thing to know that the teacher was trying to plan a lesson around what the children already knows and wat they want to learn. For me, I believe that the teacher should already have a planned out activities or lesson and then come to the classroom to just present it and give the children some activities as she has planned. But in this case, it was an open discussion for the children to bring in their own view.

During the observation, Mrs Gregg wrote "MARVELOUS ME" on the easel and read it out to the kids. Firstly, she read it as slowly as she could before she finally turned to the children to start a discussion.

Mrs Gregg: What do marvelous mean to you?

Annabelle: My mum always says that!!!

Mrs Gregg: When do she say that?

Annabelle: When I've really done a good job.

Reese: It's good

Nour: No idea...but it starts with sound we are learning "m"

Mrs Gregg: Oh great, thank you for reminding us the sound of the week.

Ryan: I think solar system is really marvelous because I love it. It is special to me and my mum just got me a book about the planets.

Mrs Gregg: I think you are right. So do you mind we sharing your book with you?

Ryan: Yes, I'll ask my mum to let me bring it in so you can read for us and I will show my friends.

Mrs Gregg: Alright, Marvellous Me (She said the phrase again, this time with more emphasis on me". She further said, when I say "Me", what do I mean? 

One of the children shouted "my body".

The teacher showed a great excitement and I think her expression rubbed off on the kids too because most of them were like "wow"

Mrs Gregg: So, if I am going to ask you to close your eyes for a while and put on your thinking caps. What do you want to learn about your body? After a few seconds, she asked to open their eyes and show her their magnetic eyes to tell what they want to learn about their body.

So many of them started answering "I want to learn about my eyes, I want to learn about my teeth, I want to learn about my hair..." and they came up with many parts of their body that they wanted to learn about.

One of the children asked if she could bring in her new panda just like Ryan because it's special to her.

So, in all of the communication, I noticed that the teacher was patient with all the kids and used a lot of positive motivation instead of calling out their mistakes. According to Dangel &Durden (2010), the teacher's language was simple, expressive, extending, motivational, positive, and above all, promoted  critical thinking among the children.

Reference

Dangel, J., & Durden, T. (2010). The Nature of Teacher Talk during Small Group Activities. YC Young Children, 65(1), 74–81.

CREATING AN AFFIRMING ENVIRONMENT

 

In my professional walk with children, I have come to understand that children bring lots of colours and light with them. The diversity they bring along is what makes them beautiful and unique. So, creating an affirming environment actually means to appreciate their various uniqueness while establishing a setting for them to thrive. Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010) stated that an environment rich in anti-bias materials invites exploration and discovery and supports children's play and conversations in both emergent and planned activities.

In creating my own family child care home, the first thing that comes to mind is to make every child and family that steps in feel special. This begins with the welcome board and displays which has to show happy families, cultural diversities, gender, colours, etc. I believe it will give them the feelings that they could still feel the family even while away from home.

It is very normal that some children do not easily relax in a new environment. In order to curb or control incidents like crying, and anxiety, a safe cozy or play area will be created for such children to relax before they get into the bigger group. It's all about smooth transition. Adriana Castillo in the media segment suggested the welcome area is where she allows the children to play or cry if they want to and all she does is to listen to them cry, especially for mummies who are finding it difficult to separate from their kids.

I will also provide a parent board for where information for parents are displayed. Such information includes family schedules, school activities and special events where families are required to participate. This is very important because family partnership is the heart of creating a anti-bias setting. 

Another important section in family child care home is a reading corner where good story books can be displayed and also read for the children. Good stories capture the heart, mind and imagination of children and also provide a wonderful, ongoing way for children to learn about diversity and fairness (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).  Persona dolls will also be used to introduce stories related to the children's lives, in order to create awareness of various aspects of diversity. 

It will also be appropriate to create an outdoor garden where children can connect with nature. Some children love to extend their gardening activity from home to school which is another way of making their family visible in the setting.  

In addition, I will  also create cross-curricular activities and outdoor play area and activities that will support anti-bias education and learning. Above all, our daily interactions and activities will be void of any form of bias, prejudice or stereotype. Children, family and educators in the setting will be constantly reminded on the need of becoming anti-bias in every dealing in and out of the family child care home.

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: Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. Baltimore, MD: Author