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

Creating Affirming Environments

Imagining that I want to open my on Family Child Care Home, I would first reflect on what my setting would look like, what elements I think I might want to include, and the various ways that I will strive to ensure that every child and family feels welcome and respected.

Martha’s Family Child Care and Learning Center will be my Center’s name.  It will be designed on a learning center format (for example, drawing and painting, music, pretend play, reading, and writing, exploration and practical living).  The children will range from toddlers to pre-schoolers.  I was inspired by the tour of Adriana’s Home Care Center featured in the media segment to include a Parent’s/Family Center in the entrance of my center.  This will be an area designated for the Parents/Family.  It will be complete with a bulletin board that families can use to post bulletins and announcements. In addition, I will post information such as daily schedules and menus.  There will be literature in Spanish as well as English.  There will be a book and magazine rack that contains a wealth of information about services provided in the local community and surrounding areas.

Objects in and areas of the environment will be accessible to all children regardless of ability, needs, or background.  I will select multi-cultural materials to use in my Center and ensure that the materials are free of biases, stereotypes, and misrepresentations regarding diverse cultures (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).  I will use art to enhance awareness of multi-cultures and use children’s literature to integrate multi-cultural themes in the classroom.  I will use grouping for learning, developmentally appropriate practices, and literacy routines; in addition, I will have classroom designs that continue to encourage reading and writing through learning centers and engaged learning activities.   The walls will be covered with alphabets, numbers, and plentiful images of children, their families and their communities.  There will be pictures, posters, and other materials that reflect children and adults with varying abilities in natural situations (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).  There will also be lots of the children’s work on display.  There will be a word wall (including Spanish words) at the children’s eye level.  Culturally rich literacy materials will be in all the learning centers, along with lots of varied writing tools and materials.  Table-top toys and other play accessories that depict people will be representative of the various cultural and ethnic groups both within the center and the community in general. Teachers will share unbiased books that expose children to various life experiences of cultures, ethnic groups, and varying abilities other than their own.  The Center will serve meals “Family style”.  Children, staff, parents and volunteers will eat together, sharing the same menu, and socializing in a relaxed atmosphere.  Meals provided will include foods that are unique to the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of children and families served in the program and community.

All of the toys and play areas will be labeled for print recognition. The labels will be written in English and Spanish.  They will have words and pictures to go along with them all over the center.  Props for the pretend play and practical living areas will be culturally diverse and authentic (e.g. dolls, clothing, cooking utensils, household articles, furniture).

 I will use a pictorial classroom schedule.  The schedule will be mounted at the children’s eye-level, where both the children and teacher can see it.  In addition, a calendar will be kept and used as part of the classroom routine.  Each day, a review of the activities that have already happened, those that will take place next, and other that are planned for the next day will contribute to a sense of different time levels (past, present, future). 

            Resources

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer) (2011). Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. [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