What I have learned

It's hard to believe that it's our last week of our course already. This course has taught me many things about myself that I was surprised to discover, and has helped me uncover more about who I am and why I am who I am and how I came to be that way. It has helped me uncover bias within myself that I did not know existed, and work to become a better person, both in and out of the classroom.

One hope I have when I think about working with children and families from diverse backgrounds is that classroom teachers, center directors, other program staff and families will establish mutually respectful and trusting relationships where no assumptions are made about others and potential issues are discussed whenever possible before problems arise and feelings are hurt. I hope for every child to grow and be educated in an environment where their identity is nurtured and everyone is respected and feels validated for who they are.

My goal for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity and social justice pertains to early childhood programs becoming more inclusive, especially of children with varying needs. It is my hope that more programs adopt approaches similar to the one described by Kate Kissinger (Pelo, 2008) when she describes her journey of developing a meaningful relationship with a child in her classroom with varying abilities. Many teachers shy away from this, even when adopting an anti-bias curriculum in other ways. When teachers include children with varying needs and accept them, it opens the door for children to view the child as a classmate, fellow learner, friend and human being. It encourages children to think critically about how to treat others who are different from them, and how to advocate for others who may not be able to advocate for themselves.

Finally, I want to say a brief thank you to all of my colleagues during this course for all of their support and varying perspectives. Learning from each of you has been enlightening for me and I hope to see you next semester. Otherwise, I wish my colleagues well in their endeavors.



Reference

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

Start Seeing Diversity: Creating Art

Families come in many different forms. We have two parent and single parent households, households with extended families, grandparents raising grandchildren, children living with aunts, uncles, or even family friends. Some children are adopted. Others are raised in foster families. Some parents are of opposite genders. Other parents are the same gender. Families have different traditions, religions, languages, customs, and beliefs. But underneath it all, families have many commonalities. Families love each other, take care of each other, and learn with and from each other. Families support each other through the good times and the bad times. Families are the foundation of children's development.

As an early childhood educator, I have learned that it is extremely important to put aside any personal bias and respect all children and families, to foster children's development and to promote meaningful relationships.

Start Seeing Diversity Blog: "We don't say those words in class!"

            This week, we have been asked to reflect on an instance in which an adult reprimanded or silenced a child who made a comment about someone who was different. This was extremely difficult for me because most of the incidents that I have witnessed have involved the adult correcting children's misinterpretations or misinformation and explaining the correct information in terms the child can understand. However, I recall one instance when I was working in a center as a preschool teacher and a child asked "Why does Clay have two mommies?" My assistant teacher, whom the child had asked, responded that Clay had two mommies because they had decided to adopt him from Russia together but that most children had a mom and a dad. This incident portrayed to the child that the only acceptable family was one that had a mother and a father at home, and that all other types of families have something wrong with them. This also sends a negative message to other children who may have overheard her response, because we had several children in the class with divorced parents, children who lived with a parent and stepparent, children who lived with grandparents, and children who lived with single parents in addition to children with traditional two parent families.

            An anti bias educator might have responded to this child (and his classmates) understanding of the many different family structures by explaining that families are the people we live with and the people who take care of us (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010) and that some people even think of their pets as members of their family. Explaining that there are many different people that can be part of our family, and asking the children to name the important people in their lives (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010). Showing children the many different people who are important to them to show the many different kinds of families is another way to help children understand that families are different but that it's okay. Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2010, p. 114) cement this when they say that "The fundamental anti-bias concept that "We are all the same; we are all different" supports children in feeling pride in their own family and being open to other children's families."

 

Reference

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Start Seeing Diversity: Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

I must start by saying that these topics are very personal and can be considered controversial. There is a spectrum of values, attitudes and beliefs that affect our opinion of each of these topics. We are all born into the world with the biological factors of our makeup already in place, based on the DNA of our parents. Our race, ethnicity and corresponding physical characteristics have already been decided. Our gender was determined shortly after conception. The person we grow up to be is determined by the environment in which we are raised, and the values and beliefs of our culture.

            In a diverse world, it has become necessary for educators to accept the many forms families take, while putting aside our personal beliefs. We all have the right to our own beliefs yet we must fulfill our role in helping each child develop a positive identity (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). Many people have voiced their opinion that homophobia and heterosexism permeate the worlds of young children, through books, movies, television shows, toys and other media. However, I would argue that these ideas are prevalent because the majority of the population is heterosexual. Human beings, like many other mammals, naturally reproduce heterosexually.  In our modern world, advanced reproductive medical techniques or adoption must be utilized to help same sex couples to become parents. It could also be argued that humans are not biologically intended to become parents if they form gay or lesbian relationships. I struggle with including books and materials within my classroom depicting same-gender parents. While I recognize that this occurs in our modern world, I believe that young children should be sheltered from this being thrown in their face if there is not a family at the center with same-gender parents. Children have such little time to enjoy childhood innocence before being thrust into dealing with adult situations. If such a family enrolls at the center, then children should be taught about the different types of families. In responding to a family who perceives or knows a staff member to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and does not want this staff member interacting with their child, I would seek to have a conversation with the family about their reasons for their request. I would also support the staff person by pointing out that their sexual orientation does not impact their job performance.

I have not heard young children call each other homophobic names, but I have heard older children do so. I have heard several teachers respond to this by asking the students what they thought those names mean, and often, they do not know. Last year, children (who did understand the meaning of the word) reacted negatively to the word gay in a holiday song. The teacher responded by explaining to the students that at the time the song was written, the word was used to mean happy. Even today, the dictionary definition lists happy, merry, and bright as additional definitions of the word.

This week we were also asked to think about and respond to two articles that discuss how children's clothing became gendered, how colors became assigned to each gender, and how therapists grapple with approaches to respond to young children who feel they are transgender.  It was interesting to learn how historically boys and girls wore skirts and dresses until between ages five and seven, and how initially boys and girls wore white. Later, boys were assigned the color pink because it is a stronger color, while girls were assigned blue because it was considered more dainty (Maglaty, 2011).  Gender differentiated clothing became vogue because clothing manufacturers found that it was a way of selling more clothing as families had more children.

I notice that as a parent, I became very upset when my son (first and only child) was mistaken for a girl on multiple occasions because of his full head of curly hair (present from birth), dark eyes, and long eyelashes despite being dressed in "masculine" colors and designs. I remember becoming very upset with this and even opted to cut his hair shorter (and lose his beloved curls) because of this. This shows how focused our society is on gender.

As I read the article that discussed the conflicting views on how to approach parenting a child who struggles with gender preference and identity, I found myself aligning with Zucker (Spiegel, 2008) because I agree that if the child were struggling with their racial identity, we would support his development to become more comfortable with his race, something we cannot change.  Therefore, the same approach makes sense when approaching supporting the development of children with gender identity issues. Simply because we can surgically change someone's gender, should we? Is it ethical to do so simply because the technology exists to manipulate our anatomy?

Therefore I will continue to do what I feel is morally and ethically responsible. I will support the development of each individual child and family, respect each child and family, and help each child become comfortable with the anatomy they were born with.

 

References

Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (n.d.) Start seeing diversity [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Maglaty, J. (2011). When did girls start wearing pink?. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-did-girls-start-wearing-pink-1370097/

Spiegel, A. (2008). Two families grapple with sons' gender identity: Psychologists take radically different approaches in therapy. Retrieved from http:///www.npr.org/2008005/07090247842/two-families-grapple-with-sons-gender-preferences.

End of Communication and Collaboration Course

The end has come for our communication and collaboration course at Walden University. These past eight weeks have brought us continued and deepened understanding of one another, our perspectives, opinions, and communication styles. We have strengthened our existing connections and forged new ones with classmates that were new to us this semester. Now we embark on the journey that could further strengthen our ties or break us apart. We move into the final courses of our programs- each with a different concentration. We will learn to teach adults in the ECE field, to be program administrators/managers, to be public policy advocates, and to teach with diversity and equity in mind. I want to take a moment to thank all of my colleagues for providing varying perspectives on how to approach the many different scenarios we encountered during this course. I learned the importance of listening to everyone's opinions, especially since others can have experience dealing with problems and that everyone's ideas deserve to be heard. Many times, collaboration can result in creative solutions that work, by incorporating many ideas into one. For those who wish to stay in touch, I have posted my contact information below.




Get in touch with me at celesteguinazu@gmail.com

Good luck to everyone in your future endeavors and I hope to see some familiar faces in our next course!

Team development and weathering the adjourning phase

Adjournment is an essential stage of teamwork because every project comes to an end, and each team member takes away new skills and ideas that will carry over to new projects. As I reflect on the many teams I have taken part in over the last several years, I think of which groups were hardest to leave and which I was happy to sever ties with. I notice that the groups with the most cohesiveness were much harder to leave than those where the group interacted awkwardly, regardless of the success or demise of the project. According to O'Hair and Wiemann (2012), cohesiveness is considered a contributor to the success of the project. Groups who identify themselves as one entity, rather than a group of individuals, work like a well oiled machine. Team members learn to interpret the verbal and nonverbal communication patterns of one another, to anticipate the needs of other team members, where the skills of each member of the team compliment the skills of the other members. Unfortunately I have yet to experience a closing ritual that brought true closure and fulfillment. I am not even sure what that would look like. All I know is that when working on a project within a strong team, that strength triumphs almost any challenge. And for these type of team relationships, it is never easy to say goodbye.

I wonder how I will react when the bonds we have formed as colleagues at Walden University come to an end as we finish up our master's degrees. Will we keep in touch? Or will we let those bonds dissipate like the fog in the morning sunshine?  Only time will tell...

 

Reference

 

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Conflict Resolution

One conflict I have recently experienced and solved in the workplace with a colleague stems from differences of opinion regarding realistic expectations and goals for a particular student. This student is someone who receives myriad special education services, and generally functions at a level approximately 2-3 years below that of her peers across all developmental domains. Here's the conflict: my colleague feels that this student should be expected to participate in grade level reading and mathematics activities, while I do not. The data clearly shows that this student is not developmentally ready to engage in learning these particular concepts. One strategy I used to help solve this problem and support my opinion was to present my colleague with clear student data collected over time. I presented several samples of the student's work, with careful notes of what was completed independently, what was completed with assistance and what the student was unable to complete because it was too difficult even with modification and resulted in a temper tantrum. I was careful to listen to her perspective, while keeping an open mind. She contended that this student needed to be exposed to grade level material regardless of whether or not she was able to understand it fully. By engaging in this type of communication, we were both respectful of each other, responsive to each other's opinion, and engaged in a reciprocal conversation (a strategy developed by Magda Gerber to promote effective, respectful communication). The principles of nonviolent communication (www.cnvc.org) that we discussed in class this week also apply to this situation. We honestly expressed our observations, feelings and needs while making a request of the other person, and each emphatically listened to the observations, feelings, needs and requests of the other. As a result, we were able to reach a compromise. The student would spend half of the allotted time in the classroom being exposed to grade level curriculum for each subject in question and would spend the other half of the allotted time for each subject learning concepts and skills that would assist her in coming closer to completing grade level work.

Reference

The Center for Nonviolent Communication (n.d.) The center for nonviolent

     communication. Retrieved from http://www.cnvc.org.