Final Blog Post-educ 6357

• One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds :

I hope that we all can work together and not let any differences whatsoever stand in our way. I also hope that we can work together bias-free!

• One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice

I would like for all of us to focus more on providing our students with an anti-bias education.

• A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

Dear colleagues,

I would like to thank all of you for all of the helpful comments and feedback. I really enjoyed working with all of you and I wish you all the best. We are almost to the finish line, so DO NOT GIVE UP! We can do this!!!

Best wishes,

Ashley T.

START SEEING DIVERSITY

 

(Anti-biases)

 

We, as teachers and parents, must feed our children the right things, especially at an early age!

 

On the Menu:

Ageism        Classism      Diversity     Prejudice

Racism         Sexism        Identity       Equity

Ableism      Religion       Respect       Family

Shhh! Don't say that!

I took two of my younger cousins with me to the store. While standing in line to pay for our things, I noticed that the family in front of us had a child who was disabled and was in a wheelchair. One of my cousins hit the other and pointed and said, “Look at that girl making those funny noises” and then they laughed. My cousins were 3 and 4 at the time. I quickly grabbed both of them by the arm and turned them around to face me. I got down to their level and angrily whispered, “Be quiet right now.” I was so embarrassed because the child’s parents heard them, but they did not say anything to us. I should have not responded this way. 

Some messages that might have been communicated to my cousins probably were:

We should not point at people

We should not laugh at people

We should keep our thoughts to ourselves

We should be quiet

An anti-bias educator might have responded to support understanding by:

Teaching a lesson on differences and similarities

Sharing a book that displays a child with disabilities

Discussing feelings and self-esteem

 

“A multicultural/anti-bias approach can help students learn to place a positive value on those differences and to treat all people with respect” (Wolpert, 2002).

Reference:

Wolpert, E. (2002). Redefining the norm: Early childhood anti-bias strategies. Beyond heroes and holidays: A practical guide to K-12 anti-racist, multicultural education and staff development. Washington, DC: Teaching for Change. Retrieved from http://www.teachingforchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2012