Wk5 Evaluating Isms on professional practice

The “ism” I am describing is classism.  People think that teachers are wealthy or make great money because they only work 9 months on average, have great hours, and get holidays off.  They often make statements about the great benefits and such that we receive and how “rich” we are.  This is very much not accurate, especially for early childhood teachers who get paid significantly less than k-12 school teachers.  Most people/families do not realize the amount of money each teacher spends on her/his own classroom – taking money away from his/her own family.  Not to mention all of the donated time they don’t get paid for…

This attitude towards teachers affects his/her own temperament towards people that make these statements and therefore gets overheard/seen by children either in school or in the home. Parents often complain of buying supplies for schools – children hear this and think, why doesn’t my teacher just buy them? “Children receive messages that material things are proof of love and approval” (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010, p103). 

Also, if a teacher is stressed about money (either for school or home because of school) that can have a negative effect on his/her teaching and professionalism, possibly taking it out on the children or not feeling successful at what he/she is doing because of lack of feeling supported. 

I think that most teachers try to educate other people when a comment is made but often we also just smile and “grin and bear it”.  I would just want parents to donate if and when they can and for schools to be able to supply teachers with what they NEED not anything outrageous.  I am lucky in my early childhood position to have a decent budget each year, but it is still never enough and I spend hundreds of my own money (which my husband gets very upset about).  It’s not that I shouldn’t purchase the things, it is the mentality that most other professions do not require people to buy their own supplies for things like tape, staples, paper etc. 

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

Observing Communication - Wk 3

This week, I observed a father and his children playing at the park.  His daughter was a young toddler I would say around 1 year old and son around 4 years old.  The 4 year old was interested in going onto all of the play equipment available while the daughter was mobile, was only interested in the swings. (Can you see the father’s predicament?) The father was very attentive to both children – as much as he could be.  For the daughter, he would say things like, “You want to go on the swing? Say swing” She would respond with something I couldn’t hear/understand. The son was running about climbing, sliding etc. Occasionally he would yell, “Look at me dad!” and the father would look and smile, or say “WOW!”.  Eventually both children ended up on the swings.  The son kept asking for “big Pushes” or “under dogs”. The dad would respond with, “ready – one, two, three, GO!” While pushing his daughter, he would say “ready” she would say “go”.

I noticed that the dad was very attentive and engaged. He was aware of both of his children even when they weren’t right next to each other.  He never checked his phone – I personally felt like this was a big deal! The children were responsive to him. There wasn’t a lot of conversation, but a lot of nonverbal communication and short utterances between the three of them. 

I noticed the father was talking directly to his children and really listening to the daughter. “Telling the baby what you are doing together during caregiving times is another important way to communicate” (Kovach & Da-Ros-Voseles, 2011).

I feel like for the space and separation of children, the communication was really good. The only thing I could suggest is that the father could have dug deeper with some of his responses. Maybe saying things like, ___ likes to swing! ___ How high do you want to go? Was that high enough? What could you do to get higher? “Questions that promote children's thinking require children to think beyond one-word responses to make connections, compare, and hypothesize” (Rainer Dangei & Durden, 2010).

When reflecting on how the communication could have affected the children’s feelings, the dad was very in tune to the younger child and validated her babbles, points, giggles. The older child could have been validated more with things like – look how high you climbed! I am so proud of you!

I definitely learned that I need to slow down, step back and really listen to what children are saying.  If I do this, then my responses won’t be the short one-word utterances and I can really take an opportunity to value what the children are saying. I feel like I do get overloaded with the day-to-day with my children and the children I teach during the school year and it is so easy to be passive and ignore things.  “As teachers we need to question our language in terms of the context it provides for children's thinking” (Rainer Dangei & Durden, 2010).

 

Kovach, B., & Da Ros-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with babies. YC: Young Children, 66(2), 48-50. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=60001533&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=47964033&site=ehost-live&scope=site

 

 

Creating Affirming Environments

This week’s blog as us to describe how a family/home child care would look and run! As a preschool teacher and mom of young children, I have often thought “why don’t I stay home with my own children and take on others instead of sending mine off to daycare” so this assignment excites me a little. (And just so you know, my husband and I talk about me staying home almost monthly during the school year and now that it is summer, I am aching to go back to school – the best of both worlds!)

While watching the video with Adriana Castillo, I really like the “the napping room” where children and parents could go to at drop off time to say good bye, read a story etc. (Laureate Education, 2011). I think along with this, a hello/good bye window could be very helpful for children of all ages.   
I would like to have a separate space for the main portion of childcare if I ran it from home – either a finished basement with large play areas or a bonus room etc.  I prefer this because then I can really transform that space to reflect the children and families in my care – just like I would do in a classroom. I would most definitely post a daily schedule so parents are aware of what we do, lots of pictures of the children and their families, space divided into interest areas for play.  Visually, the space would be exciting and inviting for the children coming to my home. I would like to have lots of windows or mirrors in the room for explorative play.  “An anti-bias environment is culturally consistent for the children and families it currently serves” (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010, p43).  I would also use as much non-stereotypical pictures/posters and materials as possible.  As an educator (and parent), I really try to stay away from the commercialized toys that are available.  Much of what is sold in stores can be gender specific – My little Ponies are found in the “girl aisle” while Super Hero toys in the “boy”.  I would much rather use regular farm horses that look like real animals and people figures. 

Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards (2010) suggest “invite families to participate in the classroom”(p.42).  A way that I do this already and could transfer to a home daycare would be ask the families to donate something to our classroom from their home culture – maybe it is an item from where mom or dad work, something important to their home life etc.  I have had some children make a small book about their family for our library area, dads donate real tools from their jobs, moms send in scrubs, bandages, and other tools from their job.  What I love, is that most of the items are non-gender specific and each year, it is something different and new to talk about.  We talk about who brought it in and what their parent does, but the children love to use these items in their own way.  It is a good way to learn about each other and to include the family.  Other suggestions for family involvement include “bring in something red that represents your family, what are your families three favorite foods” (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010 p43). 

I think the hardest part of a home daycare would be to not push my own culture onto the children as in tourist curriculum.  My cultural celebrations would surely be present in my home as I usually decorate for Halloween, Christmas etc.  I would have to work really hard to include much more meaningful connections to my home culture as well as the children’s cultures in my care.

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

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. Baltimore, MD: Author