WEEK 8 WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

            “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

                                                                                      Martin Luther King. Jr.

We contend that students who interact with diverse students in classrooms and in the broad campus environment will be more motivated and better able to participate in a heterogeneous and complex society ( Gurin, Nagda, & Lopez, 2003). There are many benefits that an individual and indeed the society gained when diversity is embraced and valued. When I see children from diverse background in my class and interact with their families what I see is the hope of a better society- a hope for the fulfillment of Martin Luther King's dream that one day little children will live in a nation- in a world- where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, by where they come from, by the circumstance of their birth, but by the content of their character.

As an early childhood educator, one goal I will like to set and pursue vigorously as regards the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to constantly create and maintain a classroom environment that truly appreciates and values diversity by allowing every child irrespective of any differences (race, gender, color, age, religion, ability, disability, sexual orientation, national origin) to blend, belong, learn, thrives, and succeed.

I know that it easier said than done and anyone can get carried in the midst of talking. To ensure that I walk the talk of my goal, one of my action points is to continue with reflective journal that I started in this course. I sincerely believe this will help my planning, evaluation, analysis and achievement of my set goal.

My learning in this course has been of great benefit to me and has helped me in arriving at the above goal which I know if I pursue, I will be a better and more effective early childhood educator and successful anti-bias educator.  Having said this, I will like to say a big thank you to our professor for facilitating such a wonderful and highly beneficial learning activity that this course is. I also thank my dear course-mates for the benefits of learning with you, your valuable learning experiences that you through weekly discussion postings, valuable comments and responses are cherished, valued, and are highly useful. I wish you all success in your future academic and career pursuits.

Reference

Gurin, P., Nagda, B. A., & Lopez, G. E. (2003).  The benefits of diversity in education for democratic citizenship. Retrieved from http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pgurin/benefits.html

Young children are meaning makers – perpetually learning from their environment.

Our views and perspectives in life are often formed by our experiences as children- firsthand experiences. Sometimes what a child experiences through the environment and from people around him/her gives positive effects and thus leads to life-affirming and anti-bias thoughts and actions. However at other times, the experiences of a child do give negative effect thus a child develops and adopts a mindset that is biased, racial and highly prejudiced. As adults, how we interpret differences when a child discovered it, how we act on such occasions and our responses to a child’s natural inquisitiveness are life forming experiences that can shape the perspectives and views of that child.
When my family moved to a new location some years ago we went to visit a colleague who actually invited us to come for the birthday of his son. The party was going well with children until we got there. On seeing my family (we were the only black people there that day) a particular boy started screaming and would not play with anyone again, it was so embarrassing. I learned later that that was the first time the little boy was meeting with a black person in real life. Every efforts made to placate the boy was unsuccessful. What the mother did was to pick him up took him to a separate room for them to eat and after some minutes left the party with the boy.
Children do have experiences like this that do cause them, shock, discomfort, dissatisfaction and even pain. Deductions from such experiences may lead to stereotypes, bias and prejudice as they make children to live with fear, discouragement, distrust and such of others. Adults in children’s live, especially those of us in early year programs therefore have to be very careful and mindful of the messages we communicate to children through our words and actions/inactions on occasions such as mentioned above.
Considering the background of the child at the center of this story, I think it is natural for him to have some reservations and expressed it. His action on that day I think provided a very good opportunity for the mother and other adults around him that day to help him understand, appreciate and celebrate differences. A good opportunity it was to let the boy know that life would be boring and dull if we were all the same. One of the ways an anti-bias educator would have provided support for the child at the center of the incident above I think is to demonstrate or put up actions that is welcoming to diversity and respect for the differences on display that day. Actions such as a hug and a discussion between us and the mother are the types that an anti-bias educator would have displayed to help the boy’s understanding and acceptance of diversity. Acceptance of differences in others can be taught in a subtle but visibly way. Children in such circumstances have their fear allay and develop the right attitude towards diversity by learning from attitudes, actions and values they see important adults in their lives displayed at such occasions.

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

One of the realities of time we are in now is the growing children living with same gender couples. Aimee Fisher (2008) mentioned that in United States of America alone over 2 million children are being raised by gay and lesbian parents. With children from these homes as pupils in our classroom, the implication is that children awareness of gender differences and sexual orientation is on the rise. When it comes to diversity few issues are as controversial to children as the issues of sexuality and sexual orientation. Robinson (2002) reports that in the context of children and, by association, early childhood education they are areas that are fraught with many obstacles and cultural taboos that operate to silence, marginalize, and/or limit any dialogue or representation of this form of difference.

Many cultures and indeed many individuals see and confine these two issues to the realm of adults with children been perceived as too young to dabble into it and therefore introducing them to such topics is regarded as not proper. It was in the light of such believe that the proponents are advocating that early childhood center should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individual such as same-sex partnered families.I do not subscribe to this position that such materials should be banned from early childhood centers. I believe that children need to learn about these issues from early stages just like other issues too. Invisibility does not mean absence or irrelevancy. That such things are not allowed will not translate into children not having it in their subconsciousness or that it will not be something that they will have to battle with later in life. Some children are actually from families that have gays or lesbians as members and I think addressing issues related to sexuality and sexual orientation rather than hiding it will make for understanding by the children.

There seems to be a conspiracy of silence about sexual orientation and marginalization against lesbians and gays in our schools. It is not uncommon to hear words that are pejorative been used daily in our school against lesbians and gays but with teachers doing nothing about it. Some educators are scare of taking any action because in some countries (for international educator especially) there is a perception that talking about sexuality and sexual orientation in the classroom means a teacher is talking about sex with children and are therefore unprofessional.

However, since such classroom discussion does not necessarily involve human reproduction and in view of school obligation to make every child safe, supported and ready to learn I strongly believe that it is time for teachers and other stakeholders in early childhood to see it as both professional and moral obligation to check sexual discrimination in early childhood as well as ensure that the conspiracy of silence and marginalization is removed by encouraging a critical understanding of sexuality and sexual orientation in early childhood level of education.

THANK YOU(S)

Wow! how time flies. So we have come to the end of another wonderful and highly beneficial learning experience at Walden University.
I want to say a big thank you to our lecturer for facilitating such an exciting learning experience. I am also grateful to all of you dear colleagues for what you shared and for your love and passion for children as shown in your discussion posts, responses, and blog posts. I have learned a lot through all these.
Thanks so much and best wishes.

WEEK 6 BLOG POST

WEEK 6 BLOG POST


I can remember all those great times we had
There were so many memories, some good some bad
Yes and through it all
Those memories will last Forever

There's peace in where you are
May be all I need to know
And if I listen to my heart
I'll hear your laughter once more
And so I got to say
I'm just glad you came my way
It's not easy to say
Goodbye
Lionel Richie


If I can call it a team or group them I will say I am going to find it hardest to leave the entire children in my present class as we are about to do in the next two weeks. The normal thing to hear is students missing their teachers but I think or the reality is teachers do miss their students as well if not much more. That is the feeling I am getting now and this assignment kind of bring it out the more. My students are unique, their uniqueness lies in their being smart, inquisitive, honest, the unique difference of each of them, and how they connect with me- I am more of their friend than their teacher.

The adjourning stage of any group is as relevant to members of that group as the other four stages though the function is different. While the other four stages are concerned with the task of managing and developing the group, the adjourning stage is concerned with the break up of the group.

To a great extent, I have bonded with colleagues and facilitators in this course despite the fact that it is an on-line course. Saying goodbye will not be easy and as such the adjourning phase will come with some challenges, however, the fact that I would have successfully completed the program, achieved my goals, and fulfilled the purpose of the program will give me a sense of achievement and the impetus to move on to new things.

WEEK 5 BLOG POSTING

While conflict is indeed a natural part of every relationship, a great conflict arise through provocation (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2009). The recent conflict I had with my assistant perfectly fit into this description. It all happened that we had agreed on what to do for the week when we had our planning meeting and roles has been assigned. I have always cherish a positive relationship with my colleagues especially those who work directly with me. I strongly believe that the working relationship between a teacher and her assistant holds the key to the success of teaching and learning in any early childhood classroom. So, it has always been that I try to establish understanding between me and my assistant by fully informing her about the intention of the lesson, the way I have planned it, what are the expected outcomes as well as get her inputs and contributions.

The conflict arose because my partner failed to do what was expected of her do and when I gently asked her about it, she could not give me any response. She only left the classroom and come back later to do it. Not only was it belated, she did it in a way that showed that she is either incompetent or outrightly acting provocatively. As O'hair & Wiemann (2009) rightly said, when someone you worked with or depend on performs poorly, the person is in a sense provoking conflict. Needless to say that I was annoyed, I talked to her with annoyance leading to the head of the school's intervention before the issue was resolved.

The non violent communication principle as advocated by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg emphasis the need for empathy in communication. People need to receive empathy before we talk about a particular challenge, problem, criticise them or even talk about an error they have committed. In retrospect now, I think I should have been able to manage the conflict in a more effective way if I had first take care of myself emotionally as this would have enable me to truly empathise with my partner before taking up the issue with her. As someone once said, “if your discussion isn't going well, it is probably because you haven't emotionally connected to the other person and vice versa.”

Another strategy that I have learned this week and that I could have used to better resolve the conflict is to first observe the situation well without evaluating or judging my partner. This would have made my reaction to be based on principle or reason and not on pressure thus I would have been able to state my discussion with her in a more objective way and I would have been able to get a more responsible action or/and answer from her.

Reference

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

WEEK 4 BLOG POSTING

The importance of perspective taking was stressed by late Peter Drucker when he said that an "outside-in perspective" (seeing things as a customer or client would see them) is responsible for the creation of some of the most innovative businesses of the past and present. Having a glimpse at how other perceive us or things will help us greatly in communication, as one will likely communicate with them based on that awareness and thus communicate better. Knowing how others feel and their perspectives help us learn how to relate with them.

This weeks learning exercise has really give me a glimpse as to how my family members perceive me as a communicator. My husband and my daughter completed the survey as I did. I discovered that my husband and daughter's responses were almost the same and were quite different from my own responses. If we are to judge then by majority, then their responses can be adjudged to be right.

I realized that after the completion of this exercise and with the surprised result, I have been making efforts to improve on my communication based on the outcome.