"Isms"

“Biases and assumptions, micro-aggressions, and ignorance of experiences… are communicated daily” (Arrendondo, 2008).  These micro-aggressions or “isms” in one’s life can have two varying effects on interactions.  The effects can be positive, as one would not like others to share or experience feelings of hurt, or the effects can be negative where the individual carries the hurt feelings and transfers those feelings on others, as if they are the cause of the sightedness.

Looking back I have come into contact with many “isms”, religion-ism, sexism and gender-ism.  I was always the kid who “didn’t know when to celebrate American holidays such as Christmas or Easter; I was the woman who advanced in the all male world of television because of my attractiveness and I was the singe parent who “needed a man” to raise her children in an emotionally positive environment.   I was made to feel less than worthy as a woman, in adequate as a parent and ashamed of my religious beliefs.  I never stood up for myself assuring myself that the comments were not intended to be hurtful.  I never spoke up because deep down I knew the truth about myself—I was strong and capable.  Ironically before the course work I had not considered “isms” as something really inappropriate and I too engaged in “isms” with friends, feeling we were just joking with one another. 

Information and definitions of terms gives an eye opening awareness, awareness that “isms” are hurtful.  The harmful effects of these multicultural misconceptions are what keep me mindful as I meet and work with different communities of families.  As I meet and talk with parents, a small voice in the back of my head runs through lines of “isms’ I heard directed at me—it’s like an actor rehearsing lines, the only difference is that those lines are not shared with the individuals I am speaking with.  Instead, I ask questions to get to know the individuals so as to achieve “multicultural competency…to know oneself as a cultural being, to be knowledgeable about the cultural worldview of others” (Arrendondo, 2008).  It is through this deeper kind of insight that I can empathize with the children and families I encounter; we have the potential of having a shared experience and we can provide each other comfort for the injustice of “isms”.  I hope to on some level understand where people come from and have the ability to “suspend judgment and promote conciliatory relations” (Arrendondo, 2008).  In addition to this sense of community, I can translate my experiences into the classroom, making sure the environment “is…culturally consistent for the children and families” (Derman-Sparks, & Olsen Edwards, 2010, pg. 43), ensuring transparency of all who attend the program.  This transparency I hope will empower the children and families to be able to speak up and be proud of who they are especially in the face of “isms”. 

I hope to be a catalyst that promotes a change in attitudes towards multicultural and diverse communities; I want my impact to be positive.  As I move forward I certainly understand that I will encounter not only opposition but I will encounter “isms’ in my daily life, however that is part of the journey and there has to be an avenue for complex issues to be observed and disagreements to be had with how we all feel. 

“Each person’s development as an anti-bias educator has it’s own pattern, pace and timetable. The key is to keep…committed.  (Derman-Sparks, et al., 2010, pg. 30). 

Resources

Arrendondo, P. (2008).  Using Professional Leadership to Promote Multicultural Understanding and Social Justice.  Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology. 2(1), 13-17.

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).

Communication in Action

Jacob is a two-year new to my program.  He attends two days a week.   At first glance Jacob appears to keep to himself and is extremely quiet.  Visiting the classroom I could see that Jacob likes to observe his environment, taking things in however keeping his interactions to a minimum.  The particular day that I visited I was rather surprised at what I saw.  Jacob was walking back and forth from the dramatic play area carrying in his had a piece of plastic food.  He would walk up to the teacher, hold it up towards her face and wait for her response.  The teacher would say, “Those are grapes, grapes”, and Jacob would walk back to the kitchen and return with another item, “That is a tomato, tomato” said the teacher.  This exchange continued for some time in this simple manner; Jacob focused on his task and the teacher simply identifying each item he carried.   The teacher allowed the communication exchange to evolve as Jacob saw fit.  She did not grow tired of the activity nor did she try to interject her own idea of how the exchange should occur.  In addition she did not try to encourage Jacob to go play with his peers, nor did she encourage him to open the experience up to other children.  At some point I thought she would ask Jacob to try and repeat the words she was saying, but she did not.  Somewhere in her observation of Jacob she realized that Jacob had something in mind and that she had to “…relinquish” her “own narrow agenda…to hear other messages” (Stephenson, 2009).   I think that not only did the teacher show she valued Jacob’s form of communication she also recognized and valued his desire to spend “…time with an adult who was keen to listen” (Stephenson, 2009). 

Although Jacob did not use verbal language to communicate he was using the physical interaction as a form of communication.  “Children tend to actively participate in conversations that they initiate, that are relevant to them” (Dangel, & Durden, 2010).  Jacob’s actions were a way of building trust between Jacob and the teacher and Jacob’s needs were validated as he was not turned away from the teacher or re-directed based on what the teacher thought she should be teaching Jacob. 

As I observed the interaction I kept waiting for the teacher to ask Jacob to identify type of food he was holding.  I wanted to know if he knew and was able to label different foods.  I also wanted to hear him use words.  I was growing frustrated, wanting her to take Jacob down this path and it was difficult holding myself back from intervening.  I felt she was missing a teachable moment, letting it slip between her fingers especially as it pertained to this quiet little boy.  I was allowing my own personal perceptions of the situation take the lead without slowing really examining the teacher’s intentions or Jacob’s intentions.  I was focused on my own intentions and I feel I would have communicated with this little boy in an ineffective manner.  Communication is a two way street that has to take into account all the parties in the communication exchange.  I need to “deconstruct…schemas” that tell me children don’t know how to communicate (O’Hair, & Wiemann, 2009), whereby creating new schemas or views of children as capable communicators and in order to do this I need to be reflective in my exchanges giving children the reigns as it pertains to messages they want to share. 

References

O’Hair, D., Wieann, M. (2009).  Real Communication.  Boston, MA:  Bedford/St. Martin’s

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/lo

Stephenson, A. (2009). Conversations with a 2-year-old. YC: Young Children, 64(2), 90-95. Retrieved from http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login

Culturally Relevant Classroom

“Teachers cannot hope to begin to understand who sits before them unless they can connect with the families and the communities from which their children come”

-- Lisa Delpit

“…40 percent of children in U.S. public schools are from culturally diverse backgrounds (Colombo, 2005).  Creation and construction of classroom has to be mindful of the community of children and families being served.  As programs grow and expand to include diverse communities, often times these “…culturally and linguistically diverse students…feel like they are moving from one world to another as they go from home to school” (Colombo, 2005), making communities of exclusion rather than inclusion.   The goal of inclusion provides children and families a place where “the look and sounds of the room reflect the family cultures and daily lives of those children” (Derman-Sparks, Olsen Edwards, 2010).  Inclusion leads to more parental engagement and parental participation in the program and the overall learning experience of the child.  The idea of inclusion is in the forefront of my mind when designing a classroom. 

When thinking about environment one has to consider the aesthetics of the room.  There must be warm colored walls with neutral colors such as sage.  As the color envelopes around you welcoming you in, so should some of the furniture, which should be natural.  Pieces of home should be represented throughout the room, baskets, dark wooden or wicker chests.  Although commercial materials such as plastic bins and toys have a place they should be excluded from the environment.  Materials that represent the caregiver and staff should be included in the décor; pictures, blankets, or special personal items; this sending the message that we want to share who we are and that we invite conversation for sharing information.  Bulletin boards or wall space should have a sense of open space with selected children’s work displayed.  Children’s work does not all have to be displayed all at once, like other materials, the work can be rotated from week to week to showcase all the children therefore avoiding anyone feeling exclude.  Along with the children’s work, there should be pictures of the children in the program engaged in various activities; those pictures should be 5x7 or even 8x10 photographs to be seen clearly from various areas of the room.  The physical environment is an evolving process as piece as materials can be added and incorporated. 

The evolving element is the children and the families and they should be equally represented in the classroom.  Pictures of the children would be placed throughout the room; 8x10 or 5x7 photos would include the children engaged in classroom activities as well as pictures that include children with their families.  Another way to make families present would be to create special areas in the classroom for family displays.  The areas would be changed from month to month to include all the children and families; one area would include a family photo table displaying the child and their family photos from home and another table would include the child’s favorite books that are shared at home with mommy and daddy. 

Families would also be asked to complete “All about me” boards that relate to the family unit.  These would also change monthly and feature questions such as, what games the parents played as children, what they remember about school and their favorite food growing up (Derman-Sparks, et al., 2010).  The parents each day would also have the opportunity to connect with their child on a daily basis through a “talk to me, talk to you” binder where parents could leave little notes for the children and the children could leave notes for mommy and daddy (Laureate, 2011).  The teacher could share the exchanges with the children during circle time or even before naptime.  These notes could also shared by parents with children in a small cozy are designated for such an exercise.  That area would have pillows and blankets giving a feeling of warmth and comfort. 

Teachers would also be very relevant in this environment having a face in it too.  Their family life and culture would also be shared and displayed creating a further sense of community.  The notion behind such a classroom is to create not only an environment that looks like home, but also an environment that provides support and a shared experience for both the children and their family (Laureate, 2011). 

References

Colombo, M. W. (2005).  Empathy and Cultural Competence.  Reflections from Teachers of Culturally Diverse Children.  Young Children on the Web.  Retrieved from www.journal.naeyc.org/about/permissions.asp.

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. (2011). [Video]. Welcome to an Anti-Bias Learning Community"

Expanded Learning

“I think... if it is true that 
there are as many minds as there 
are heads, then there are as many 
kinds of love as there are hearts.” 
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

I have learned so much about myself these past eight weeks, some information shocking in terms of biases that I had developed through hearing my own parents talk about other people and some insights regarding my own behavior as it pertained to those hidden biases.  Even if those thoughts are not verbally shared, one is still has bias and prejudice and until that is recognized one cannot move ahead to interact and work with individuals who are culturally, racially, linguistically, and sexually diverse.  I am working on getting to the root of those feelings I have as well as examining past and present behavior to see if my ideas have impacted other people in an adverse manner.  I hope to be able to free my mind of these types of negative thoughts and biases so that I can improve in my work and improve in my relationships with children and families.  With that said I must ask questions and do my homework if you will about people who are different so that I can gain greater understanding of their story as well as dispelling my own biases.

 

In terms of the early childhood education field those same principals apply and I would like to create a program for people like myself as well as teaching teams to have a safe environment so as to share their feelings and ideas about culturally diverse populations.  We need to be able to say to staff, “It is okay to have these thoughts, but it is not okay to act based on those biases”.  I would like to then assist staff with identifying important methods to working with families with diverse backgrounds. 

All of you have helped me grow and thrive during our time together; you have afforded me the opportunity to share personal information about myself and you have never judged me.  I have also learned much about all of you and have been able to gather from you useful, practical information that can be put into practice immediately.  I wish all of you the very best, and I look forward to future classes with all of you.

Artist

Distance

Standing, anticipating, yearning

So much desolation

So much abundance

So much affirmation

Can anyone see Me?

Pieces of me scatter, weave, journey

Pieces of you connect, isolate, encounter

How did we come to be?

Eyes welled up with tears

Excitement, delight, wonder

Pieces of me, pieces of you, multiply, bridge,

Sundered yet again

Resplendence fills my face

Discord drifts away

Sameness, peace, connection

Reaching, longing, together we journey

Growth, expansion, cultivation

Together we sculpted you

Pieces of me, pieces of you

Connect, melt, coalesce

Wide world; must I send you there?

Eyes welled up with tears

Fear, difference, the tether no longer holds

Splitting, tearing, fingertips retreating

Barrenness, darkness, solitude

Richness, promise, hope

The window is open

The heart is wide

This is a painting I did a few years ago, however it inspired me to write this poem about identity, diversity and parenthood.  

We Don't Say Those Words in Class...

There is 5-year-old boy with autism in my program.  Thomas has been in the program since he was two and developmentally he has not changed a great deal.  Thomas has no language, is unable to sit still, interact with the other children in the classroom and he loves pulling things off the shelf as well as banging objects on various surfaces.  When Thomas is walking around the classroom, he is moving his hands up and down, grunting in a singsong manner.  When Thomas does sit, his hands still move about, and he attempts to get close to the other children, hitting them with his hands as they exchange space.  On one particular day, one of the children said to her mom, “look, mommy, that’s Thomas, he’s bad because he hits us all the time”.  The parent ignored the comment, rather rushing her child out the building, grabbing the child’s hand leading her towards the door.  The other children heard her, but remained silent.  In situations like this ignorance is not bliss, but ignorance breeds more harmful ignorance.  I believe the parent did not know what to say or how to address her child regarding a child with a disability, however the fact that the statement was left unaddressed only re-affirmed what the child believed to be true but also perpetuated this idea that children with differing abilities are less than normal.  “A color blind approach that does not acknowledge” difference, “…teaches children that something is wrong with the differences they do see” (Wolpert, 2005). 

The teachers in the classroom decided to do a special circle time to discuss how we are all different, but how we are all the same.  The teachers decided to be “…proactive…to challenge bias…children are likely to be exposed to” (Wolpert, 2005).  The teaching team focused on communication and the methods by which we all communicate, focusing on the fact that although Thomas did not have language, he did use his hand to communicate; when Thomas reached out hitting the other children he was not trying to be hurtful or bad, but trying to make a connection with his peers.  The teachers further empowered the children by showing them ways they could help Thomas use gentle hands to communicate. 

The teachers believed in the social competence of the children and their “…ability to interact effectively and maintain positive relationships with others” (Han, 2010).  They sought to create an environment of trust not only for Thomas, but also for all the children in their care.  To further enhance the experience, the teaching team could have invited Thomas’ mom to the classroom so she could share information about Thomas and how she and her family communicate at home.  Parents are a wealth of information and should be utilized as a resource (Han, 2010).  In addition, the children could go on a trip and visit other children with disabilities, expanding their social focus towards a bigger existence, and helping them recognize “the existence of diverse cultural practices and diverse perspectives” (Wolpert, 2005).  Educators need to believe children are capable to talk about the things they visually see every day that call attention to differences. 

References

Han, S. H. (2010). Sociocultural influence on children’s social competence: A close look at kindergarten teachers’ beliefs. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 24, 80–96. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/

Wolpert, E. (2005). [Video]. “Start Seeing Diversity: Race/Ethnicity”