One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that they feel welcome in my classroom.
I hope that each child and family is represented in the classroom in a respectful way and that all children can relate to the toys, materials and learning opportunities available to them.
Overall, I hope that each child that I work with feels accepted and feels good about who they are.
One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field is to educate early childhood professionals on diversity. Many of us don’t know how to talk about differences with children so we avoid them altogether which sends negative messages to children that are not from the mainstream or dominant culture. Biases and negative stereotypes also get in the way of building relationships with children and families from diverse backgrounds, teaching children or being a positive role model. Educating early childhood professionals on diversity and issues of equity and social justice would help teachers better understand these issues and bring this knowledge to the children and families they work with.
I would like to say thank you to my classmates. Thank you for sharing your personal stories which helped me to relate what we were learning about to the real world. I enjoyed reading all of your blog posts. I wish you success in your future courses and work with children.
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1 day ago
You are absolutely right, when adults ignore issues involving diversity, it send our children the wrong messages! Our behaviors are being studied and imitated whether we know it or not. Thank you for your insights over the last 8 weeks. I have enjoyed reading your blogs and discussions!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that adults need educating in the area of diversity. In New Hampshire, where I live, there is very little diversity so teachers basically ignore it unless there is a child (usually adopted) of a different race in their classrooms. I personally think that children should be exposed to different cultures regardless if a child of that culture is in the class. I am thinking of developing a workshop concerning diversity for next year's NHAEYC conference because I think it is an area that educators in my state need to focus on a lot more.
ReplyDeleteGreat post to your blog! I agree it is so important to make sure everyone feels welcome in each of their learning environments. We can do this in so many ways, it just takes putting our knowledge to work. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteGreat post..very inspirational. I agree that it is so important for all children to feel welcome and the learning environment is set up to reach each individual child. Share your knowledge with all you know in our field..that is the way to change things. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and caring for children.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! I have enjoyed reading your blog through out this course! I agree making each student feel welcome is very important! Thank you for sharing!
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