Reflecting on Learning

My most passionate hope for my future as an early childhood professional is that I stay committed to learning everything that I possibly can to be the best anti-bias educator that I can be and to continue to be increasingly passionate about creating a world of justice and peace for children and their families as I do my part to ensure that all children receive a quality education with equity, appreciation of culture and social justice.  I plan to share the knowledge that I have acquired with other professionals so we can support each other in our professional and personal growth.  My most passionate hope for the children is that each child be able to achieve all he or she is capable of, and the knowledge that all human beings can make a difference.  In addition another hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that all children and families have a sense of belonging and experience affirmation of their identities and cultural ways of being and that children and adults know how to respectfully and easily live, learn, and work together in diverse and inclusive environments.

I want to personally thank you all for your kind comments and encouragement throughout this course.  You sharing your personal stories and experiences helped to make this part of my educational journey easier and more interesting. I have enjoyed getting to know each of you through your blogs and discussion posts.  I learned a lot from each of you as you contributed ideas and perspectives to our group each week.  I would also like to thank our professor for all of her positive feedback and words of encouragement as she guided us through this course over the past eight weeks. I wish each and every one of you continued success in your studies and in your careers.  I have learned that colleagues like you are needed for support and nurturing as we stay on the journey this work requires and I look forward to keeping in contact with the colleagues I have met throughout our program of study.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

The area of the world I chose for this week’s blog assignment was West and Central Africa.  I chose this area because the news of the passing of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, has been getting world-wide attention.  It made me curious about the challenges in the regions of that country that would affect the emotional development of its children.

My research disclosed that children in West and Central Africa have their rights violated on daily basis to an extent that is worse than anywhere else in the world. Nearly 2 children out of 10 never reach their fifth birthday. They die from malaria, diarrheal diseases and vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles. Malnutrition is widespread in the region. In the Sahel countries, half of the child mortality is related to under-nutrition in children.  Poverty and traditional beliefs keep 40% of children out of school. Girls are particularly penalized. Schools are not always the child friendly places they are supposed to be. As is the case in the other parts of the world, many children in West & Central Africa face sexual and other forms of violence in school. Children in the region are also being abused and exploited in many ways: child trafficking, child labor, children in armed conflicts, children victims of harmful traditional practices (UNICEF, 2011).

Children in West and Central Africa are facing a wide range of protection risks, including child labor and sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and domestic violence, discrimination and rejection, for example children accused of witchcraft, children with disabilities, and children affected by HIV and AIDS. Widespread poverty, chronic conflict, as well as gender and generation relations, and certain cultural beliefs are major root causes for violence, exploitation and abuse of children. Systems for the social and legal protection of children are generally weak, under-resourced and poorly coordinated (UNICEF, 2011).

Children deprived of liberty in West Africa face severe ill treatment and grave human rights violations. This includes unnecessary confinement in unsafe and inhumane living conditions, a high risk of sexual and physical abuse, acute malnutrition, illness and psychological trauma. These experiences greatly affect the children’s emotional wellbeing and development. Children deprived of their liberty are more likely to be illiterate, excluded and remain poor. Research also demonstrates that trauma associated with abusive prison conditions, corporal punishment, rape and persistent ill treatment have significant consequences on a child’s long term cognitive, social, emotional and physical development. Once labeled a “delinquent,” boys and girls are often stigmatized and shunned by their families and communities, leading to a life of rejection, shame and poverty (UNICEF, 2011). 

UNICEF, together with sister UN agencies, as well as with non-governmental organizations, and the support from donors from all parts of the world, is supporting the governments in the region to increase their efforts to improve the situation of children.

Reflecting back on the information I learned through researching this week’s blog assignment has caused me to be deeply saddened about the situation of children in West and Central Africa.  The majority of the children in that region are not having their basic needs met or the benefits of having loving parents or caring adults in their lives to nurture and protect them.  The insights that I gained from my research serves to make me more determined to be an effective advocate for children and families in my community as well as the best anti-bias educator that I can be in order to ensure the healthy development of the young children in my care.  Aside from making cash donations to organizations such as UNICEF, I have a feeling of helplessness when it comes to helping the situation that the children in West and Central Africa are facing.  However, in my professional role as an early childhood educator, I can affect the lives of the young children in my care and ensure that they have positive early experiences in my classroom that will promote their cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional development.

Reference

UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

The topic of the sexualization of early child is a topic sort of near and dear to my heart.  I have always been bothered by our current media culture of “sex sells” and how this notion is being used to market products to younger and younger children.  In our society, children have countless opportunities for exposure to sexualized messages every day. Television, music, billboards, print media, Internet, cellphones and communication devices, cable, movies, and of course interaction with peers and adults, offer children numerous possibilities where they can encounter sexual messages of all sorts.  I especially believe that advertisers are presenting kids with ideas about sexuality that they are far too young to comprehend and analyze. 

The implication this may have on children’s healthy development is that the sexualization of childhood is having a profoundly disturbing impact on children’s understanding of gender, sexuality, and relationships (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).  Unfortunately children’s exposure to sexualized messages occurs far too frequently without the guidance and intervention from adults that is necessary to help children sort through and make sense of it all. Often, these sexual messages are not only explicit but also violent and demeaning in nature, with an abundance of male dominant and female submissive imagery- misogynistic (characterized by a hatred of women), hetero-sexist, homophobic, and sensational.  As an early childhood professional, I have learned that he best way to respond to these concerns and to reduce the negative impact on children is to become an approachable adult on all matters sexual. If we take it upon ourselves to speak honestly, lovingly, and on a regular basis with our children about the sexualized world around them, we will help them make sense of it, help them to put it into an understandable context, and help them to counter any potential negative consequences to all this exposure. As teachers and parents, we can't hide our children in the closet. The world is sexually complicated for all children but our job is not to run away from it. Rather, we need to make sure we speak, listen, and guide our children every day so they can make sense of their sexualized world.

My awareness of the sexualization of early childhood has been influenced and modified by studying the topic this week.  This week’s learning resources gave me food for thought in my life as an early childhood teacher and is very thought provoking for anyone interested in media, gender issues, child development, or popular culture.  I feel empowered by learning the knowledge and skills I need to effectively and caringly help my children navigate the sexualized pitfalls of our culture.   In particular, talking to our kids, monitoring their consumption, and helping them make better choices.   I feel better prepared to help my children grow up sexually healthy and whole in this sexualized culture we live in.

Reference

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and

 what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from:

http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Imagining that I am an early childhood professional who is experiencing one or more of the “-isms” in my personal life, such experiences might affect my own emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being, but I don’t believe it would impact my work with young children and their families.  I am an elderly female person of color, who grew up in the Mississippi Delta during a period when I personally experienced almost all of the “-Ism(s)”.  I have come to realize that the fact that I had horrible experiences growing up poor in a bias, segregated community does not justify me treating people unfairly because of how I had been treated.  I feel a sense of duty to want to educate children and help them and other adults to think about their identity and specifically to talk about bias and how bias impacts them and to stand up against bias. The consequences I might expect for the children and families with whom I work while I experience specific “-ism(s)” in my own life would be based on my personal experiences that racism and other biases are part of our society and part of what children have to learn to deal with.  I would be determined to prepare the children for the future and giving them what they need to be successful in life, including a critical perspective and appropriate tools to navigate the complex issues of identity, diversity, prejudice, and power in their daily lives so that they may learn, thrive, and succeed.  To sum it all up, the consequences I might expect for the children and families with whom I work while I experience specific “-ism(s)” in my own life include their lives being enriched as a result of them benefiting from the four anti-bias education goals I will implement in my professional practice.  

Observing Communication

The communication I observed between an adult and child this week occurred at my mother’s home.  One of my sisters and I were visiting my mom when my nephew came over with his 3-year old son, Jayden.  We were all excited to see Jayden and were trying to get to him to give him a hug, but he was preoccupied trying to get his father’s cell phone.  His dad told him that he wasn’t going to give him the phone until he went and hugged his aunts and grandma.  Jayden defiantly said, “No!  I want to play a game.”  His dad was getting annoyed with him and said; “Alright now Jayden, I’m not your mom.”  He was insinuating that his mom lets him have his way.  Jayden came back with “and I’m not your mom.”  We all burst out into laughter at Jayden’s smart-mouth response.

My mother intervened and said “Come on Jayden, you can play games on grandma’s phone.”  She held out her cell phone and Jayden immediately left his dad and went to my mom and got her phone.  She was then able to hug and kiss him and she spoke to him in a light child-like voice.  All of his responses were one-word responses because he was preoccupied trying to get to the phone application where the games were.  Surprisingly to everyone, he found the games without any assistance from anyone.  My mom hugged him again and told him how smart he was for knowing how to get to the games because she didn’t know how to access them that quickly.  This made him smile and he gave her a big hug as she was praising him.  She then asked him if he would show her how to play the game.  He excitedly says yes and begins to play the game, telling her to watch him first.  Afterwards, he passes her the phone to take her turn.  She obviously wasn’t doing it right because he tells her “No, grandma.  You have to do it like this.” He gets the phone and demonstrates how to do it.  She tells him, “Oh, now I see…”  Jayden hands her the phone back and she did it like he showed her.   Jayden clapped his hands and hugged her neck saying, “Good job, grandma.  You got it!”  They continued to talk back and forth, playing the game.  She would cheer him on when it was his turn, and he would cheer her on when it was her turn.  My mom genuinely showed an interest in Jayden and the game he loved to play.  He stuck with her the entire evening, even after they stopped playing the game. His dad stated that he was surprised at how well behaved Jayden had been during the entire visit because he usually acts like a “spoiled brat” whenever he takes him anywhere.

I noticed and learned that if you are impatient with a child and don’t listen to them, they will act out in defiance.  This was demonstrated in how Jayden reacted to his dad after his dad became annoyed with him and didn’t pay attention to his requests.  But, I also learned that if you take a genuine interest in a child and listen to him, they will respond positively and act in a respectful manner.  This was demonstrated in how Jayden responded to his grandma as she was sensitive to him and respectfully communicated to him. 

This week’s media resources stressed that sensitivity, respect, acceptance, reflective listening, and providing the space for each child to be his/her unique self, are effective strategies for communicating with children. 

Observing my mom with her grandson, I don’t think anything else could have been done to make the communication more affirming and effective.  She did everything right.  It was as though she had read all of this week’s learning resources.  She was sensitive to her grandson, listening to his every word and following the instructions he was giving her in teaching her to play the game.  She was excellent at reflective listening as she repeated back to him the instructions he was giving her.  She was very respectful in her communications to him as she praised him for being very smart and knowing how to play the game really well.

The communication interactions I observed affected the child’s feelings in a very positive way.  I’m sure it gave him a huge sense of self-worth because as she praised him for being smart and clapped her hands for him, he gave her a huge smile and gave her a big hug each time.  It was obvious he was having a good time with her and he genuinely was proud of himself for being so good in playing the game.

Insights on how the adult-child communication I observed this week compares to the ways in which I communicate with the children are more like my nephew’s way of communicating.  Like him, I am usually not as patient as I should be when communicating with children.  I find myself completing their sentences and being more direct with them.  I have to admit that I do more talking than genuinely listening to what the children have to say.  The ways I could and will improve include being more sensitive and attentive to children while communicating with them.  In addition, I need to be more accepting and respectful in my communication style with young children.  Being honest with myself, my communication style has been more like the children don’t really know what they are talking about and need me to set them straight.  I should do more reflective listening and be more encouraging when communicating with young children.  I saw first-hand during my observations how effective this can be and how positively it can influence a child’s sense of self-worth.

 Reference

  

LauLaureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Communication with your children [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4066646_1%26url%3D