Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

 —Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa and Nobel Peace

Throughout the course I have learned not only do I have “ism’s” but so do others.  We stereotype people by color, their dress, hairstyles, what they drive, where they live, how they talk, only to mention a few. 

I would like to share a story with you.  My husband now wears his hair a little long. It’s actually very pretty with little natural curls.  But when he goes to work and other certain events he puts his hair up and it appears short. When he wears it down people react to him totally different.

 We had a silver tea set stolen in a burglary and for the insurance to pay we had to purchase one for replacement.  We were attempting to replace a beautiful antique silver set valued at approximately $2,000. We had to drive into downtown Atlanta in a very elite part of town to look at some replacements.  Not really thinking about our dress or trying to impress anyone we put on our jeans and comfortable tennis shoes, my husband’s hair is down,  we did not look bad just comfortable. 

When we arrived you had to push a button to enter.  Once in we asked for the lady my husband had spoken with on the phone. She was not as nice in person as she was on the phone and she kept looking at us like we were BEEP BEEP BEEP.   The lady told us she didn’t think we could afford their commodities. She didn’t know this but my husband had cash in his pocket. 

We just looked at each other, my husband said “Thank you”, and we left.  We went there to spend our money but because we were not dressed the part we were sub-nosed and actually treated with injustice and stereotyped as less fortunate or something.  This was the only thing I could figure out.  Because as I watched other customers come in they were dressed in business suits, etc.  and the clerks nearly tripped over each other to wait on them.  That was not the case for us.

As an educator the one good lesson or advice I can recommend is the old saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”.  Don’t judge students and parents on appearances.   It’s important to find out more about the culture, beliefs, etc. before you jump to conclusions.

Observing Communication

As I was gathering feed for our animals in my local Wal-Mart, I couldn’t help but to observe a conversation between a younger female approximately three years old and her father.  I know he is her father because she calls him “Daddy”.  They are observing the fish tanks and talking about their differences.

Naturally the child asked for a fish. In a calm voice the father replied that she needed to look in the tank in front of him.  She asked, “Why?” He explained in a child friendly vocabulary that some fish lived in warm water while the others lived in cold water. He continued to explain they owned a tank which contained cold water fish.  The father tells her to come and look at the beautiful goldfish. He then explains they can live in their tank at home.

My thoughts with regards to how the communication interactions I observed may have affected the child’s feelings and any influences it may have had on the child’s sense of self-worth is how the father appeared very patient with his daughter’s behaviors and he provided her an answer to her questions. He shared information providing more accurate and tuned-in communications. (Kovach & Da Ros-Voseles, 2011). Through his communication skills the father used this moment as a beautiful time to teach and share knowledge with his young daughter.  He never tells her no, but redirects her in a positive calm manner.  He also listened and responded in a timely manner.

The adult interaction provided for child was positive, child friendly vocabulary, and helped develop an opportunity for the child to express her own identity. Such communications helps the child begin to develop a sense of self-worth. 

Reference:

Kovach, B., & Da Ros-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with babies. YC: Young Children, 66(2), 48-50.  

Creating Affirming Environments

Diversity in a family child care center.

In the development of a Family Child Care Home Center that represents diversity can best be established through centers .  Children are engaged and work together devloping their social interactions when working with others.  

Drama Center

The first center is the Drama Center:

It’s easy for traditional teaching strategies that utilize play-based classroom centers to get lost in the shuffle as teachers face constantly changing anti-bias curriculum.

The Dramatic Play learning center is a classroom favorite that provides natural opportunities to develop social and emotional skills in real-life situations. Role-play activities such as puppet shows, dress up and pretend cooking engage children in interactions where they learn and practice appropriate behavior and successful social skills.

Like a healthy boost to your classroom environment, Dramatic Play activities are the Vitamin C of behavioral development and benefit any early learning curriculum (Parks, 2011).

Family Fun Homework Center

My next center is the Family Fun Homework Center:

Through the family fun center I would incorporate cultural themes so each family could celebrate their own culture and those different than theirs. Some examples could be: food, holidays, etc. Through this process both parents and teachers share in the child’s learning process (Laurete, 2011).

Managing A Diverse Classroom

The management of a diverse classroom is an essential element to creating a successful anti-bias environment.

                                                                    

Children of the World 

We are the children of the world and deserve the right to a fair and safe environment: I would display this poster in my Character Ed curriculum center. This picture represents many different ethnic groups working and collaborating together.

Abilities

Diversity is not only race, ethnicity, cultural differences, but it is also about abilities and handicaps. Many children are not taught about about others abilities or disabilities. Special needs children’s are different in their own way but are people with feelings and wants.

Every teacher should set up their classroom according to their student’s needs, but there are the basics which can always open doors for new creativity and ideas.



Resources:

 Laureate (2011) Course Media: "Building on Children’s Strengths" (approximate length: 16 minutes)

Retrieved from: http://trishnasumal.wordpress.com/chapter-5/

Retrieved from: http://blog.hatchearlychildhood.com/boost-social-emotional-skills/