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
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteMany times when I react to a child that commented on something he saw it is because I am embarassed. Most of us do reply with ssh or be quiet to silence the child quickly. I believe know that we must take the time and explain what just happened and the reason it was not polite.This class is educating me and in turn I am learning new anti bias strategies to educate the children. Children need explanation when the action is taking place. I am going to try out the personna doll with the children I work with.
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteChildren will say things without even realizing what they are saying. If we do not teach them the right and wrong things to say, then they will never know. I think when we as adults tell children to be quiet about something they have said, they become embarrassed and confused. They are trying to figure out what they have said wrong. I have learned through this assignment that when telling them to be quiet, we must explain to them why we are telling them this. I enjoyed reading your post.
Latasha