What I Have Learned

My  is that when I work with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds that I can make an impact in their lives. I will use what I have learned about anti-bias education and my own biases and continue to be open-minded and constantly exploring new ways to work with diverse families.

My for the early childhood field
related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is for all individuals who are in this field to understand the importance of an anti-bias education. I think it is important for every professional in this field to understand that children need to learn about people who are different from themselves and children who are different need to know they are just as important as anyone else.

I would like to sayto my colleagues for their support during this course. We shared personal information and I always felt comfortable being able to share personal stories about myself. This helped me to develop both personally and professionally. I appreciated my colleagues input and their honesty about personal details about their lives. Also, thank you to Dr. Ferrari for your openness and honesty during this course. I have learned a great deal from you.

Creating Art-What I have learned...

I have learned that anti-bias education is essential in the early childhood field. We need to support children and their differences.

 

I have learned that each family is unique. We cannot judge a family because they do not fit into our idea of what is "normal".

 I have learned about "age-ism". Early childhood professionals can teach children that the stereotypes of older people are not always true. 

 I learned about "sexism". Anti-bias education enables us to teach children that they can be anything they want to be. Boys do not have to do "boy" jobs and girls do not have to do "girl" jobs.

I learned that early childhood professional staff must put their biases aside in order to support all families.

 I learned about "class-ism". Children can learn through stories about various classes. This can help to eliminate bias.

I learned about able-ism and racism and through discussion with children many of these biases can be eliminated.

Anti-bias education helps everyone respect one another for their differences.

 

"We Don't Say Those Words in Class"

The question is what is the correct response when a child asks you why someone is different and that someone is within earshot. I think many times parents/adults become uncomfortable. My own personal experience was when my son was in 2nd grade, he had a hip problem and had an external fixator drilled into his leg/hip. It was a huge device and he got around in a wheelchair and also a walker. I remember a few times when children would ask the adult they were with what that thing was. The adults would avoid the question, or say that is not nice to ask. I remember one time, I said its okay that he asks, its fine. I think from this personal experience I realize that its okay for children to ask. Children do not mean any harm, they are curious. My son told me that he thought it was funny when so many people would stare but then turn away.

I think when we hush children and tell them not to ask then they realize that something is different and it is a taboo topic. If adults openly tell the children then the children probably just move on and say okay.

I believe an anti-bias instructor would support a child's question by using this as a teachable moment. They could teach the entire class about what it means to be different and what it means to them.

My son missed three weeks of school and the day before he was going to come back to school, the teacher arranged for us to come in and the children could ask any questions they wanted. I explained about my son and the surgery and then the children asked questions. They also thought about when they may have had surgery or knew someone who had surgery. That year was tough for us, but his classmates made things so much easier for us. My son is now going into 7th grade and all of this is behind us, but just last month his friend who was one of the boys who pushed him in the wheelchair made a comment. He commented how fun 2nd grade was because he got to go to adaptive gym with my son and got to miss class and how they threw around a ball.