Week 6- The Sexualization of Early Childhood

I have often thought about the topic of sexualization of early childhood, perhaps because I was exposed to many shocking comments or behaviors.  It is shocking to read some of the scenarios, but when I think back to my childhood I think that all those things did happen.  The biggest thing that I have noticed over the years is what girls are wearing and toys that children are playing with.  In the article there was a fourth grade girl writing a love letter, though I do not think this is untypical, I believe that her comments were untypical (even though they were not all shared).  I can remember having “boyfriends” in Elementary school but there was nothing sexual about it, I was still wearing stretch pants in the 5^th grade and would have cried if I had to wear something uncomfortable (like a short skirt).  Girls dress so proactive to me now a days, I want to cover them up.  But it comes from the messages they are receiving from the media (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). I thought about all the media messages that we receive even as an adult. I thought about how when you get to be in your upper twenties or thirties that people expect you to get married, even close friends have said to me “when are you getting married?”  And I always respond, “not until I am sure.”  There is this expectation to get married and have babies and not I try and filter through if it really is something that I want or if I am feeling just the societal pressure (but I am sure that I do want all of this, just not as fast as some people go after it). So of course young girls feel they need to live up to something because it is ingrained in our culture to always be wanting for the perfect body/clothing/boyfriend/relationship/job, etc. 

I have so many examples…

- When I was in high school I worked at an after school program.  Each day we ate lunch with our students and a 4^th grade girl was going on diet because she felt fat and that no one would like her that way.

- A student of mine started to sing “All the single ladies” and then would do a dance and would shake her booty (she would say “I am shaking my booty).  My cheerleading in high school was not this proactive and she is only 5.

- I also have a student who is so attracted to violence, which he wants to act out.  He is five and has Autism, he has a very difficult time filtering though what is expected vs. unexpected.  His father allows him to watch adult movies, movies that are PG-13 or R. He is only five.  His mother has talked with his father about this and he doesn’t see the problem, even with the example of him acting out in the classroom.  He is not intentionally trying to hurt someone but he ends up punching a teacher or a student and then will say it was in the movie. 

I can see the negative impact on children right in front of me.  I can see the skewed views of expectations vs. reality.  Children think that one thing is okay and then being told that it isn’t.  For the little girl singing the song and doing the booty dance.  I showed her a cheer that was appropriate to do at school.  Then I got her to make up her own dance to a song in our classroom, and no, in her own dance she did not do a booty dance.  We talked about the words in her song and I said that is wasn’t appropriate for school.  As for the little boy and violence, his mom talks with me about it and has handled the situation by providing his father with examples.  She says that it might take him awhile to understand. 

As the school year is about to start up, I think that I will pay close attention to where a child may have gotten something.  I feel very out of the loop, in regards to toys and children’s TV shows.  I think that I need to take the time to familiarize myself so that I can react more appropriately to my students. 

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Week 5- Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

There are always consequences of peoples actions.  I have experiences some sort of ageism at my school for being so young from an older male teacher.  It is constant, until I recently told him I thought that his comments were not funny (ignoring them did not work, good reminder to be a more open communicator). His comments about how young I was made me feel at times that I was not "old enough" to hold the position that I have (negative consequence), however it did make me feel that he has no idea what he is talking about (positive consequence) and that I know what I am doing (and I would never treat a person that way.   

When -isms show up it is mind-consuming, so I was spending less time thinking about teaching. I thought about his words often for along time and about what I could do differently to make him change his mind.  Then I realized I need to do nothing differently (besides tell him to stop) to change who I was to make someone else see me differently.  I am who I am (a very young looking teacher). 
Having experience gives us examples when we are working with young children and their families.  It is interesting that I have never had a parent question my age, however it was not until this year that they really started to ask me for advice with their children.  I am not a parent, but I do have some pretty great experiences that I like to share with people.  Most often when parents are really concerned with their child's academic progress I tell parents about my brother.  He has severe dyslexia (ex. didn't read his first book until college) and he just graduated with his Masters from Tulane University (proud sister). My story about him seems to give the parents just a little glimpse into my life and how we are are all so different from one another, we have no idea people's stories until we ask or find out. 

I could not imagine what it might feel like for a family or a child to experiences racism or class-ism.  From my experiences I thin that it would play havoc on my emotions and certainly it would be more difficult to perform at work.  When you feel inferior about something it an be more than difficult to try an prove yourself, because often the person who you are trying to prove yourself to has their mind made up.  Not to say that you cannot help teach everyone around you.  I think that if people around me were having such stereotypes it would be so hard for me to come into school everyday.  Teachers are not just supported from their co-workers but also from their parents (I could not imagine if they had stereotypes against me).  I think that physically it would wear me out and I would feel incompetent to do my job. 

So, if I think about my reaction, I could not imagine what young children and their families potentially could be thinking.  Especially, if you think about a child's performance at school.  If I think that it would emotionally, physically and cognitively wear me down... it probably would do the same for them.  This is SUCH an excellent reminder of how important anti-biased education is for our communities.

Week 3: Observing Communication

I chose to observe at a recent wedding that I attended.  There was a huge group of people there that I have known for 26 years.  I chose to observe my sister-in-law and niece.  My sister-in-law is so good at communicating with her daughter (she is three).  My niece is one easy child, but occasionally acts very appropriate for her age. This was her first wedding and my sister-in-law has obviously talked with Ainsley before they came to the wedding.  She reviewed that we could be silly now but when people started to walk down the isle it was time to be quiet, Ainsley had heard this before, she nodded her head in agreement.  She was also allowed to play with the doll she brought.  When the ceremony started, Ainsley no longer wanted to sit, she was allowed to go to the floor with two rules, you have to be quiet and stay with us.  She was on the floor trying to get our attention, but my sister-in-law ignored or reminded the rules.  Ainsley wasn’t scolded for being on the floor; she was doing what she needed to do at the time but at the same time adhering to the rules that her mom had provided her with before coming to the wedding.

What was so good about this observation is that Ainsley was given the expectations before she arrived and she knew them.  She knew she needed to be quiet and stay with us.  Often I think that parents and even teachers forget to review expectations and therefore you get behaviors because children are not sure of the expectations. 

This was a really good reminder for my how often I need to review expectations in your general education classroom you review them often but in my classroom is daily/hourly/every activity.  I can notice the difference when I review the expectations at each activity.  It changes everything.  I also just started extended school year with some of my students and we reviewed those expectation at each new activity and it just goes so much smoother. It gives the child some background to what they are going to be doing.  There are times where, GASP, I forget to go over expectations and then I get frustrated with students running all over the place or hitting their neighbor.  Then I remind myself that I did not tell them what I wanted them to do.  We can learn a lot by observing, especially a lot about ourselves.

Week 2: Creating Affirming Environments

It is hard for me to think about what a in-home childcare facility would look like for me because I have my own classroom, but after watching Adriana I came up with some ideas on how I could envision it looking like.   

Derman-Sparks and Olsen Edwards (2010) suggested that having authentic representations of the community that you are serving (p. 45).  I like what Adriana did in her center, she had a family community wall that showed pictures of the different families that were in the center.  I also enjoyed that she posted pictures of the children playing in the infant and toddler area (Laureate Education Inc., 2012).  I do this in my classroom now and a) my students love it, b) I use it as a reference tool for my students ("Look how nice you were playing with ____").  

Something that was brought to my attention after watching the media segment this week is a transition area. What a great idea for the children before they start their days, especially when it can be a hard transition at times.  Adriana provided the children with a transition area, this helped with "good byes" to the parents.  She followed this time with circle time (which is something that I would do) and allowed the parents to stay if they wanted (Laureate Education Inc., 2012).  This is a great way to have the parents feel apart of the community.  

If I ran an in-home childcare facility I would probably base my planning on themes (monthly), which is what I do now in my classroom.  This would allow me to integrate anti-biased curriculum into all my themes (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010, pg. 47).  I would like to provide a sensory area and I liked the ideas of including dolls in that area to allow children to express their emotions (Laureate Education Inc., 2012). 

Something that I have been working hard at is getting away from the tourist curriculum.  I would like instead to have one family each month either share cultural items with the class or come into the class to do some sort of activity.  This would be a great way to incorporate everyone and really get that community feeling. 

As for materials for students I like to include a variety.  Some of my favorites are random pieces that can be fashioned together, I love seeing what students create (robots, monster trucks, dump trucks, super hero's). I have never used persona dolls but I am thinking that this would be a great thing to introduce.  Currently, I use social stories and draw out scenarios and feelings.  It would be great to transition to dolls for addressing issues especially during circle time. 

There are so many things to consider when you are setting up a center/classroom.  I am sure that as I hear from eveybody else that I will get some great ideas!

Resources:

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., (2012). "Welcome to an Anti-Bias Learning Community". Retrieved

 from Walden University.

What I Have Learned- Week 8

My hope is that as I continue on my journey of working with young children and their families is that I continue to address biases that I am feeling.  We never are going to get anywhere if we are not seeking information on something, so I hope that if I am questioning something that I will stop to ask the questions, so that I can gain knowledge and directly address an issue I may be having.  With that being said I think the most helpful thing that I learned throughout this class was to consider the cycle of socialization and liberation.  Both of these figures have really stuck out in my mind.

My goal for the early childhood field is that our work with young children and their families continues to be valued work. My other goal is that each year we learn new information and I hope that where ever life takes us we are able to continue to grow for the benefite of young children and their families.

I would like to thank all the wonderful colleagues that I have been working with, some of you I have known since the beginning of the program.  It is amazing the learning that is taking place.  I hope to see you in the next class!

 References

Harro, B. (2010). The cycle of socialization. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, C. Castaneda, H. W.

Hackman, M. L. Peters, & X. Zuniga (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social justice (Figure 6.1 on p. 46, 2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Harro, B. (2010). The cycle of liberation. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, C. Castaneda, H. W.

Hackman, M. L. Peters, & X. Zuniga (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social justice (Figure 7.1 on p. 53). New York, NY: Routledge.

What have I learned...

All week I was thinking about what I would create for this assignment.  I love to create but I was having a hard time focusing on what exactly I would make. 

Reflecting on what I learned I kept going back to the Cycle of Socialization and the Cycle of Liberation (Harro, 2010, p. 46, 53).  Both of these images has stuck with me.  I see myself when I begin to judge something to this about what internalized messages I have received that is causing me to judge.

Our world is not defined by our boarders,  there is interaction between worlds.  Our world is not defined, it is a continuum, we continue to learn, grow and change.  

In order to CHANGE we have to have knowledge, we use that knowledge to feel empowerment, we then create experience and finally we take on a leadership role to make the CHANGE.  Nothing can be done with out the other. If I can remember this, then I will have the ability to make the difference I want to make with the young children and families that I work with.  This is a cycle that never stops.

Resource

Harro, B. (2010). The cycle of socialization. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, C. Castaneda, H. W. Hackman, M. L. Peters, & X. Zuniga (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social justice (Figure 6.1 on p. 46, 2nd ed., Figure 6.2 p. 53). New York, NY: Routledge.

We Don't Say Those Words in Class!

I have a whole world of differences in my classroom.  I have students who are very verbal and students who do not communicate verbally.  All my students notice each others differences and always point out differences amongst each other.  The biggest learning curve for them is last year when we got a student who had Autism but was also blind (her eyes were removed when she was three and has glass eyes, that come out every once in a while).  It was very hard for them to understand when she would come to school without her eyes in.  They would say things like "AHH! She can't see" (even though we have already talked about how she cannot see with her glass eyes).  I have had countless discussions with my students about this little girl.  We talk about how we use our senses for different things and that she is not using her eyes like we do.  We use our eyes to learn about things and she may use her mouth or hands to learn about things.  We also do some exercises to see what it is like to be blind and try to walk around out hallways blindfolded.  

I also have another student who does not use verbal communication to communicate, but he does make some vowel sounds and hums.  Previous we talk about how he doesn't words to talk with with his friends and teachers, but he might point to pictures or make a choice between two objects. Recently, he has learned all of our song tunes and hums them with the rest of the class.  The whole class was so excited the first time he sung at circle time they screamed" ____ is really singing, he is talking to us!" Melted my heart, they understood that though it wasn't exactly the same it was his way of singing with the whole group! :)  

I remember vividly when I was younger the first time I saw a little person.  I was at the old spaghetti factory, I think I was maybe four.  I was staring and my brothers told my mom.  My mom started to talk with me about how some people are born differently and that some people are born with dwarfism.  They are just like us but shorter.  I can remember thinking "oh okay"  and that is the end of my memory. 

I am sure if it wasn't for my mother being very aware of the surroundings I could have gotten a different impression.  My parents where so aware of difference, since they were both special education teachers. But because of my parents responses throughout my whole life it empowered me to take action myself (Laureate Education Inc., 2012).

From my experiences, it is best to be honest with your students/children.  Do not ignore what they are asking about because they can begin to form bias.  I think that addressing what students have said with little lessons is also a good idea, like doing a picture sort (Laureate Education Inc., 2012). Derman-Sparks & Ramsey suggest using teachable moments (Pelo, 2008, p. 44).  Often I might hear a child saying something and pretend to make a mental note to discuss it later, when honestly I might forget about it.  I also like the suggestion of "spark children's empathy about the hurt that stereotypes can cause" (Pelo, 2008, p. 47). Some of my students struggle with any sort of perspective taking, so empathy towards another person is usually the last thing on their minds.  However, my ticket into helping them is they don't want to see you or friends with a sad face.  So they might not be able to read the emotions on my face but they can very much read a sad face.  With this being said it does take time away from our daily routine but I have to use the moments when they are happening and not come back later, because I know they have forgotten about it.   

Resources

Laureate Education Inc., (2012). Start Seeing Diversity: Physical Ability and

      Characteristics. Retrieved from Walden University [video].

 

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

 Schools.