Observing Communication

I would like to continue a conversation I overheard from my DQ I believe was last week. I am speaking to this because it made me so angry.

I work for Head Start and we serve both breakfast and lunch besides other awesome services. The conversation I overheard was during breakfast while I had to be on the computer putting in data required by the program. My two TA's (I am lucky to have two this year!) were sitting with the children when one of the family workers came in. This is when the conversation began about a little boy (I will call him J), who was sitting between these three adults as they discussed his personality and even his looks.
Family Worker-"He always looks so angry."
TA1-"That's because he always is angry, especially when he can't have what he wants."
TA2- "Yea, he will just stand there with his arms folded and pout, you never know what will set him off."
FW- "Well his face always looks angry, I think it is his eyebrows."
TA1- "Yea, his one eye brow..."
ME- "You guys realize J can hear you right?"
TA1-Just shrugged her shoulders as if to say "So?" but then the conversation stopped.

This whole conversation made me so angry but when TA1 shrugged her shoulders dismissing the whole concern, I thought I would jump out of my skull because I could see "red." My face or body language might have portrayed my thoughts because the conversation stopped. this conversation speaks to our resources this week. Talking about babies (even older children) instead of to babies discounts then as individual, telling then they are not valued (Kovach & DaRos-Voseles, 2011). Talking about J is bad enough but to discuss not only his behavior but his looks as well as if it was something to be ashamed of is inexcusable. I should have jumped in after the very first comment but being one that is very uncomfortable with confrontation and I do not like to criticize people in front of others, I waited too long and when I was too angry to address the conversation. I should have made sure J was okay and perhaps done a large group scenario using puppets (we do not have persona dolls at our center) acting out a similar circumstance. This would have not only taught the children to be careful with their words but my TA's as well in a non-threatening manner.
I can only imagine how this whole experience affected J but I certainly can be pretty certain it was negative. Not only did these adults say things about his personality but his appearance, which there is nothing he can do anything about. I also must put blame on myself as I did not protect him from this soon enough for the damage not to occur. Teacher's words and the way they use them creates meaning for children and themselves, reminding us that it is important to consider the actual words we say to children (Dangei &Durden, 2010).

  I have learned a valuable lesson about myself and that is in order to be a true anti-bias educator and advocate for children I am going to have to work on my confrontation skills and how to respectfully address unfairness. I can only do this through study and practice. I need to ask my director to set up trainings in this area for the whole staff in not only our center but across the program. Unfortunately, conversation such as these are not narrowed to just one or two situations. As an educator, I must continually ask myself how I can use language for the ultimate purpose to support children's development and learning  (Dangei &Durden, 2010). 

Reference

Kovach, B., & Da Ros-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with babies. YC: Young Children, 66(2), 48-50.

Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81.

Creating Affirming Environments

小朋友的日間護理    Cuidado de niños pequeños     Little Friends’ Day Care

Little ကသူငယ်ချင်းများ '' Day ကိုပြုစုစောင့်ရှောက်မှု

The family day care I would create would encompass many diverse families given the area in which I live. The languages (Chinese, Spanish, Burmese) shown above are from Google translate but in reality, I would ask translators to create the correct spellings and alphabet forms for my sign. I would have many other languages represented on the sign as well in a random fashion so that no language seems more important than another. I would create the sign in such a manner that new languages could be added as the need arises. I feel this is important because it will be one of the first things seen by the families and all children and families want a sense of belonging and to experience affirmation of their identity and cultural ways of being (Derman-Sherman & Edwards, 2010). I really liked the open space of welcome portrayed in Adriana’s day care however my day care would be in the northeast where the weather is unpredictable at best. Keeping this in mind, I would have an area for children to enter where their cubbies would be located. Their cubbies would be their own personal spot to decorate as they wish as well as hang a family picture and a picture of themselves. This will address ABE Goal 1 in helping children to demonstrate self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities (Derman-Sherman & Edwards, 2010). A little further in would be tables set up for manipulative materials to use before breakfast would be served. Off to the side of this area would be a “quiet spot” which would contain small comfy furniture for the children to sit read books if they wish to transition into the day. The books would include all types of diversity as well as real and fantasy subject matter as suggested by Derman-Sherman and Edwards (2010) to encourage literacy skills as well as human differences. There would also be one or two adult rocking chairs for wither parents or myself to sit and rock those children who are having a hard time separating from their parents.

Manipulatives would represent not only those cultures and ethnic groups within the classroom but others as well.  There would also be paper and drawing materials in the skin-tone colors for free creative spirits to express themselves. This area would be open until breakfast which would be set-up using placemats which were created by the children themselves once again giving a sense of ownership which is important to building a healthy self-esteem. Lunch would be served in the same manner as well.

Once breakfast is completed there would be tooth brushing and bathroom time to introduce healthy self-care habits and then a short circle time to discuss the given theme for the month which will be centered on the anti-bias education goals (Derman-Sherman & Edwards, 2010). 

Family examples and sell as peoples of this world will be portrayed around the classroom both in store bought fashion as well as family-made (e.g. family collage). I would be careful not to show images that depict misinformation or stereotypes of any groups (Derman-Sherman & Edwards, 2010).  

Free-play time would be centers created around the classroom which would contain materials the children could identify with and are able to build from their own life experiences.

This is just a small sample of what my day-care would look like but it all would be based on the families I serve. As families contact me to care for their children I would make sure to get to know the caregivers first before taking on their child. As Deman-Sherman and Edwards (2010) stated, the day care will become their child's second home. I cannot create a second home for a child if I know nothing about their first home and teachers, their parents. I would incorporate family traditions as best as possible and ask for family input or volunteer time when possible. It take a village to raise a child (African proverb) and I along with parents are that village.

Reference
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).