This course has forced me to critically assess my belief system in light of the various issues pertaining to diversity, equity and social justice; identifying my biases and helping me to realize the need to remove the fortified barriers that might have been erected either intentionally or unintentionally thus impeding children’s progress.
My hope for working with children and families from diverse backgrounds is that their culture will be honored in the teaching learning environment. Their culture must become visible in order to give them an opportunity to develop into a just world, a world that recognizes each child as unique, fully human beings with the ability to be all that they can (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).
Children must be able to make the connection between school culture and home culture in order to fulfill their highest potential. Children who experience severe cultural discontinuity between home and school will experience difficulty succeeding at school. Children thrive best when their home culture is integrated in all aspects of the early childhood setting. In such setting, children will learn and develop because they feel “supported, nurtured and connected not only to their home communities and families but also to teachers and the educational setting” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010 cited NAEYC 1995, 2)
One goal I will like to establish for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity and social justice is to ensure that all teachers are trained in the area so that all our children provided with critical pedagogy - provision has been made to address the issues of power and inequity and culturally relevant pedagogy - teaching aimed at educational liberation for groups of children who are marginalized that will optimize their development (Hyland 2010 cited Ladson-Billings 1994; Beauboeuf-Lafontant 1999).
I extend thanks to each and everyone who has been part of this journey. It has been rewarding. I know we are better poised to ensure that equity and social justice become a reality for all children. I thank you for sharing your many experiences; they helped to reinforce our understanding of the various issues. I am sure that you would have also benefitted from my contributions. I wish you all the best in your future courses and I am looking forward to sharing future classes with many of you.
References
Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington , DC
Hyland, N. E. (2010). Social justice in early childhood classrooms: What the research tells us. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 82–87. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the ProQuest Central database: http://search.proquest.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/docview/197637742?accountid=14872
Thanks Evlyn for your input in our class and the information presented on your blog. I look forward to learning with you in future courses. Best wishes as you continue in becoming an advocate for the EC field.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine if all teachers had to take a class like this? That would be a step in the right direction towards reaching your goals. Thank you for sharing and good luck as you continue on with your studies.
ReplyDeleteEvyln,
ReplyDeleteI agree teachers need to be taught in the area of diversity. I know where I work in the public school system, the teachers are not trained to teach with diversal families and their children. This is not good because in the future, most of the children are attending school are going to be from diversal families. This would be unfair to accept students from diverse families to enroll in a school where the teachers are not educated or trained to help these students learn. Also, I would like wish you good luck as you continue your journey of learning in the early childhood field. I hope to work with you in the next class. Take care!
Evlyn,
ReplyDeleteContinuity and visibility of children’s home culture are very important concepts in any early childhood setting. We never want children to feel unimportant because feeling unimportant can damage their self-esteem. Visibility and continuity of their home language will bridge the gap between school and home and thus children will feel safe, and will have positive feelings about their home culture, and about themselves (Sparks, & Edwards, 2010, cited NAEYC).
Thanks for your insights!
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).
Evlyn,
ReplyDeleteIt our responsibility to help the children and families to build that bridge to connect the home culture and school culture. I believe that with the knowledge that we have gained through out this course we are much resourceful now than 7 weeks ago to help with the bridge building.
It is always wonderful to read your blog. Thank you for sharing your passion and wisdom. Wish you all the best with next coursers!
Evlyn,
ReplyDeletethank you for sharing your insightful thoughts and feelings during this course. I really enjoyed reading your blog each week. Good luck in your future classes!