Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

This week we were asked to describe the consequences you might expect for children and families we work with while experiencing specific “ism(s)” in our lives. This is something that I have actually experienced while working in my county. About two years ago I attended a monthly special educators meeting and by the end of the meeting I felt very uncomfortable. Most times I am one of the only black teachers in the room. We were asked to complete group work and at our tables and then present our ideas. I found that when I would answer questions within my group I was ignored. The person who was the recorder for the group didn’t seem to value my input and most of my ideas weren’t written on the group’s poster. What was more disturbing to me was one of my co-workers who attended the meeting also treated me the same way. Until that time I felt we had a good working relationship. She also dismissed my ideas and treated me coldly. When we returned to our building where there is a fairly even mix of black and white teachers, she acted as if everything was fine and things were “business as usual”. After the meeting, I lost respect for her and I felt that her true feelings were revealed at that meeting.

Throughout my career I have experienced racism… I have felt it from my peers and some of the parents that I’ve worked with. As a result of the racism I experienced at the beginning of my career, it really made me doubt myself as a teacher. At that time the opinion of others really did matter to me. When my career began I thought that I wasn’t being respected because of my age and my race. It was a very scary time for me. I questioned if I had made the right choice by entering education. My first year of teaching began in January of 1996. I was the only black teacher in my building and I had no one to share my fears or my challenges with.  As a result of my treatment I felt very defensive and I felt that most of the white parents in my class judged me because of my race. I became very detached from my students and I was extremely resentful while I was there. I did have two parents who went out of their way to let me know that the views of the other parents weren’t their views.  The consequence of my treatment led me to leave when I was able to receive tenure. I left and went to a school where the school community was more welcoming. I have taught at this school for 15 years and it feels like home.

My past experience did affect my self-confidence and make me question if I had made the right decision by becoming a teacher. In my county I don’t think that racism is openly discussed and there is a segregation that does exist that isn’t widely discussed. When black teaches apply to my county, most times they are only placed in certain areas. They are placed primarily where the population is black. Even in 2014, I still see some of the racism that I experienced in 1996.

Observing Communication

This week we were asked to observe an adult and young child communicating with each other. I chose to observe in one of the kindergarten classes in my school.  While in the class, I had the opportunity to observe one of the students with the personal assistant assigned to the child. The child has frequent tantrums and requires additional adult support in her classroom setting.

While in the classroom I noticed that the child and her assistant were sitting at a table with the other children. They were completing a Thanksgiving worksheet that the teacher had given. What drew my attention to the pair was the conversation that took place between the child and her assistance. The little girl did not want to complete the assignment and even put her elbows on the table and refused to color her paper. The assistant spoke to the child in a very calm voice and said, “If you start the picture, I’ll help you finish it”. The child abruptly said no. The assistance then said, “Here, you can see the green crayon, or the orange crayon”. The children then took the green crayon and began to color. True to her word, the assistant started to help the child with the coloring paper. Once the child started the paper she then decided to use other colors. The assistant spoke to her in a very soothing voice and praised her for following directions and told her that her work looked nice.  I think the desired outcome was to have the child begin the assignment and the assistant accomplished that by providing a calm voice in a situation that could have escalated if she had yelled at the student.  

While the child colored her paper she started talking to her assistant about what she wanted to eat for lunch. The child told the assistant that she was going to get chicken nuggets and began to smile. The assistant engaged her by smiling and saying, “I know how much you like them”.  The child giggled and continued to do her work. As the child kept working the assistant continued to praise her and reminder her that she could earn a sticker and computer time when she finished her work. The child started to smile and the assistant smiled back at her.  Before I left the room I gave the assistant the thumbs up sign.

  

My Thoughts

 I really liked the way the assistant worked with the student she’s assigned to. The beginning of the year was a big transition for this child because she was in our pre-kindergarten program which is a half day program. She is now in an all day kindergarten program. This is also her first year having an assistant so Ms. Cook has had to establish a relationship with her. I just like the way Ms. Cook stayed calm even when the child became upset. Children can often feed off of the emotions of the adults. Her sense of calm caused the situation to deescalate. I thought she was very respectful to the child throughout the interaction. She acknowledged that the child was upset and even offered to help her with the assignment. I think she also set expectations by offering the child a choice of the crayons she was going to use to complete the assignment. By giving her a choice, the child felt a sense of control. Ms. Cook was able to get the child to finish her work without forcing her to do it. The interactions between the child and the assistant were positive.

The interaction that I observed in the kindergarten class is very similar to what I try to do in my own classroom. It was clear to see there was respect for the child. In the course media this week, Lisa Kolbeck spoke about the importance of showing children respect and listening and providing them with assurance. Ms. Cook did a nice job of respecting and listening to the child.

This assignment reminded me of a course that was offered in my county. The course was called Hanen Training - Encouraging Language Development in Early Childhood Setting.  This course focused on watching how children play and instead of doing the talking, the key was to first observe to see how children learn. After talking to Ms. Cook, she said that she was encouraged by another special educator to see how to manipulative her environment. Ms. Cook shared that once she learned what the child liked and didn’t like, it helped her with the interactions that she had with the child. She said she quickly learned that yelling only made situation escalate with the child. I think this week I learned the importance of sometimes watching how children interact within their environment before interacting with them. 

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Communication with your children [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4066646_1%26url%3D

Affirming Environments

This week we were asked to imagine opening a Family Child Care Home. After viewing the course media this week I saw some great ideas in the center run by Adrianna Castilla. I loved the way she described her morning routine. In her home she had an area where parents could write in the mornings on a communication board so that Ms. Catilla and her staff were aware of any changes or information about the children could be noted. She had a welcoming environment where parents were able to stay and participate in the circle time activities that the children did. I thought this was a great way to involve the parents. She said she wanted to make her parents feel like there was a partnership with the center.

What I just described is how I would envision my childcare center. It would be a place where children and parents felt like it was an extension of their own home. I would be sure that the toys, games, materials, pictures, and posters were reflective of the children in the center environment and children who may not be in the environment. According to Derman-Sparks & Edwards, an anti-bias environment is also culturally consistent for the children and families it currently serves. I used to feel guilty about this when I was a new teacher. Most of the children in my class were predominately African American and I had lots of pictures of African American children so they could see themselves in a positive light. I also provided pictures of Caucasian children but I really wanted to make sure that I provided an environment where children could see themselves. The books I had in the room were also reflective of the cultures as well. This is something that I would also include in my center as well.

On page 43 of our course text, it lists activities that could be sent home with children to do with their parents. One of the activities I would incorporate in my center would be having the parent and child select a book from the lending library and then create a family book report. Some of the ideas like having the family come in to perform a skit about what took place in the book would be a fantastic way to get parents involved in the classroom environment.

When I envision my center, I see a place where child can’t wait to get to everyday. It would be full of activities where children feel free to take risks and feel good about themselves. The dolls and toys would be multi-cultural and reflective of many races. In the course media, Adriana Castilla showed pillows that were the skin color of the children in her center. Even at the tender age of four years old, she opened the conversation of skin colors with the children in her center. 

References

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).

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011).  Welcome to an anti-bias community.