A Happy Ending to Diversity Development Learning :)

A Happy Ending to Diversity Development Learning 🙂    

 As this course comes to a close, there are many things that continue to run through my head. There has been so much great information about anti-bias education and how to apply it in the classroom. My only hope is that I am able to adequately and effectively apply it to the children, families, and communities I may serve.

     A goal I would like to set for the early childhood field is that we advocate and educate more on anti-bias education. I think a course like this one should be introduced in undergraduate studies. There are so many things that can begin to be implemented into the classroom as soon as we begin teaching. If undergraduate students would have some of this knowledge it would be a great advancement in the process of reaching anti-bias education.

     I would also like to take this time to thank all of my colleagues that have accompanied me throughout this course. There have been several of you who I have had for several courses and although there has been no direct contact, I know you guys are there supporting me. Thanks! 

Start Seeing Diversity

We must teach children to always keep an open mind towards anti-bias education. 

We Don’t Say Those Words!

We Don’t Say Those Words!

          Researchers have found that between the ages of 2 and 5, children not only become aware of racial differences but begin to make judgments based on that awareness (Pelo, 2008). One day I was babysitting a 5 year old little girl. We were walking around the mall when she spotted this African American man and said, “Look, that man is dirty. He needs a bath.” Luckily the man was not in hearing distance but other people did hear. I quickly turned to her and said that the man was not dirty and that that was just the color of his skin. The little girl did not say anything else and neither did I.

          Although I was not quick to stop her from talking and I didn’t say “we don’t say that”, I also did not explain or have her understand anything. Thinking back on the situation I think she still was confused as to how the man looked and why he looked that way. Her silence after what I said to her might have left more questions in her head than before. Telling her that that was the color of the man’s skin did not answer her train of thought. This little girl was still thinking that the man had not bathed correctly and was dirty.

          Now, as I have been studying about anti-bias education, I think I would have responded to this little girl very differently. Ignoring comments and actions that indicate pre-prejudice gives the child permission to attack another’s identity, and it leaves all children feeling unsafe (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010). First, I would have asked her why she thought that way of the man to see where she was getting her thoughts from. Then, I would have explained in simple language that she could understand that we all have different colored skin but that this did not makes us different from one another but instead it makes us unique. While walking around the mall we could have done an activity where we looked for people that looked different than us and then talk about how they were different and how they were the same from us. Bringing clarity to her misconception that African American people are “dirty” and need a bath would hopefully have her understand the concept of different races.

References:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Pelo, A. (Ed.) (2008). Rethinking early childhood education. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.