When I think about working with children and
families who come from diverse backgrounds, I hope my families feel comfortable
enough to see me as a resource when needed. I will continue to try to learn
about the families that I work with especially when it comes to family structures
that may differ from my own. This course has given me an opportunity to examine
myself in a way that I had not done in previous years. Through reflection, and
some reexamination, I have learned a lot about myself. In order to be an
effective anti bias educator, I have to be honest with the thoughts I have and
get in touch with the biases I may have. I hope that through the course, I can
be open-minded enough to continue to learn about the backgrounds that my
students come from.
One goal I would like to set for the early childhood
field is to make sure that diversity is celebrated at the early stages of
development so that children begin to respect the differences that the learn
about. I would like to see more done with social studies in the early childhood
years. I really believe that if we address diversity in the early years, this
may help to combat some of the racial issues that occur as children get older.
As educators we can’t control what is taught at home, but we can set standards
of respect and tolerance when our students are in our classrooms.
I wish everyone well as we move closer to the
completion of the program. It has been nice working with familiar people as
well as some new people as well.
