National/Federal COPs

In my search for National/Federal organizations or communities of practice that appealed to me, I found a few. The first organization is actually a person. He was recommended to me by a Walden colleague. Dr. Robert Evans is an Executive Director of the Human Relations Service in Wellesley, MA. He works to help schools to make improvements.

The next organization is called Head Start. It is a nonprofit organization that works to provide early childhood education and family development for low-income children and their families in our county. I previously chose Head Start as a local COP as well, because there are a few Head Start schools in my area. With my position as a teacher at a title-one school, many of the students we have come from head start. I also think they would have knowledge of resources, intervention, and other early childhood advice to offer. Job opportunities include director, assistant director, teacher, and volunteer.

The last organization I have chosen is NAEYC. There is a NAEYC affiliate in my state, MD, but for some reason the link is not working. I think that having a NAEYC representative from my state would be very beneficial to my COP. NAEYC is an excellent resource for educators, parents, and the public. There are also opportunities to work for NAEYC, such as teacher, director, professor, and more. The only one in my state is a teacher position for a charter school that is focused on small schools that integrate the arts. Although I would not be interested in this position, I’m sure there are many benefits to it. I have never worked in a charter school, but it seems that the goal of the school is to have parent partnerships while teaching through the arts. The parent partnership definitely intrigued me.

In my opinion, for all of these positions, you would need to have experience in the classroom setting as a teacher. If you don’t have experience as a teacher who works with the children and their families, I think it would be difficult to make decisions that hold the early childhood knowledge. Degrees are important, but experience can give you more of an understanding of what the job is really like. I think you would also need some degree of administration experience, especially if you’re going to be the department head or director. Working with families and collaborating with other educators would be important skills as well.

Community of Practice Organizations

In my search for community organizations that appealed to me for communities of practice, I found a few that I was interested in. The first one is the Citizen’s Advisory Council for our county. The CAC is a parent involvement committee that works to provide support for the schools, their students, and families. It is based through our Board of Education in Washington County, MD. To become a member you must apply and be accepted. I believe there is no pay, but job opportunities would be to be a chair or head of the CAC.

The next organization is called Head Start of Washington County. It is a nonprofit organization that works to provide early childhood education and family development for low-income children and their families in our county. This organization appealed to me because of the fact that it is supporting early childhood and the low-income families in our area. With my position as a teacher at a title-one school, many of the students we have come from head start. I also think they would have knowledge of resources, intervention, and other early childhood advice to offer. Job opportunities include director, assistant director, teacher, and volunteer.

The last organization is called the Maryland State Department of Education Division of Early Childhood Development. This appealed to me because I believe that being the office for our state, they would have resources, knowledge, and advice, and most likely meetings that would be held. The DECD has six branches within it, including the Early Learning branch and Collaboration and Program Improvement branch, to name a few. I believe that jobs would include being the head of the Division, or one of the branches, as well as Education Supervisor or Specialist, and Human Services Specialist. I’m sure there are more, but they are not listed as opportunities right now.

In my opinion, for all of these positions, you would need to have experience in the classroom setting as a teacher. If you don’t have experience as a teacher who works with the children and their families, I think it would be difficult to make decisions that hold the early childhood knowledge. Degrees are important, but experience can give you more of an understanding of what the job is really like. I think you would also need some degree of administration experience, especially if you’re going to be the department head or director. Working with families and collaborating with other educators would be important skills as well.

I am really happy that I found these community of practice organizations and feel as though they would be helpful and beneficial. 

Reflecting

Over the past 8 weeks I feel I have learned a good bit about helping children develop positive attitudes towards diversity and learning how to have an anti-bias attitude. What hits home the most for me is helping children understand each other's differences in a respectful manner. We all have different cultures, lifestyles, and ways that we do things, and children need to have the confidence to know that their way is ok. They need to develop the empathy and understanding towards others, to help become anti-bias. My hope is that I can, through my daily work as a teacher, help guide children onto that path. If we start with young children now, we can hopefully have a much more understanding, empathetic, and productive world in 10 to 20 years, because these children will be confident in themselves and help build confidence in others as well, instead of trying to bring them down.

I appreciate all of the feedback, comments, and discussions with classmates over the course of these past 8 weeks. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts, feelings, and ideas so openly. Goodluck in the next (or last!) course!

Eastern and South Africa

·        Share with your colleagues the area of the world you chose and why.

First off, I found this part of the Unicef website difficult to navigate to find the information I needed. Also, I couldn’t find the “Regional Office Website” link that is in the assignment directions. So this was a frustrating assignment for me. I chose to explore the Eastern and South Africa Region because I don’t know much about it.

·        Describe in detail some of the challenges that children in this region of the world are confronting.

Children in this region face many challenges. “The key challenges facing poor children in this age group are survival, transmission of HIV in the neo and post-natal period, and for those who survive, nutrition and cognitive development” (Unicef, n.d.). Children under 5 years old have the highest death rate, mostly caused by malnutrition (Unicef, n.d.). These children also lack the resources to receive the early childhood intervention and health care that they need in order to survive or become healthy. Many children become orphans because their parents die. “Social protection has a role to play in promoting access to early childhood development programs for poor and otherwise very vulnerable  children, such as those who are malnourished or whose caretakers have poor nurturing skills” (Unicef, n.d.). Poor children in middle childhood “do not get a chance to go to school or that they do not go long enough to acquire the basic skills and competencies needed for work and life” (Unicef, n.d.).  Children who come from wealthier families are more likely to attend school and girls are less likely to attend school than boys. “Although more and more children are getting a chance to attend school, a significant share enter late, repeat grades and leave without completing the five years of primary school believed to be the minimum for sustained literacy and other competencies” (Unicef, n.d.). Regular attendance in school is also an issue, and “many schools fail to provide protective environments for children and that girls are at risk of sexual abuse by teachers and others” (Unicef, n.d.).

·        Explain how these experiences might have an effect on children’s emotional well-being and development.

These challenges cause stunting in growth and high rates of underweight and low birth weight (Unicef, n.d.). I think that these experiences for children who do survive, very much negatively influence their social, emotional, and cognitive well-being. Children are most likely living in more of a survival mode, and priorities are not school, learning, or becoming a productive child or adult. Priorities are mostly likely finding food, and children probably spend more time being ill than healthy. “Poor families have less access to health facilities and quality health care, and tend to live in environments that predispose them to illness and death” (Unicef, n.d.). The fact that children drop out of school, or do not attend school regularly, influences their ability to perform basic skills needed in order to hold a job and make a living. These children are also probably more likely to engage in sexual behaviors leading to HIV or other illnesses, abuse, exploitation, and become pregnant at a young age.

·       Include a personal and professional reflection. Explain the insights you gained and the influences they may have on you as a person and as an early childhood professional.

It really was eye opening to find this information and realize the struggles and challenges that these young children face from birth and on. These families and children lack the health care, nutrition, leadership, protection, support, resources, and schooling that they need in order to become healthy, functioning adults. It reminds me of the Ebola outbreak in Africa that is happening right now. If the resources and protocols, security and health care is not available, it will continue to spread, just like the challenges these poor children face each day.

References:

Information by country | UNICEF. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2014, from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/.

The Topic of Sexualization

My reaction to the topic of sexualization is one of sadness and disgust. I have heard stories of children at my school who have said sexual things to another or acted in a sexual way. I have watched students dance provocatively and girls harass other girls because they are not “pretty” or “sexy”. It is not a surprise to me because I have heard and seen these things.

As I have watched TV I have seen commercials for children and teen Halloween costumes and clothing that were very provocative. For example the Bratz Halloween costumes for young girls have short skirts and low cut tops with stockings and heels.

In the movie “Mean Girls” the little sister of Regina, the “Plastics” leader, dances and lifts her shirt up to a Girls Gone Wild Video on the tv. The mother of Regina is also very sexual, and so are the four main teenage girl characters in the movie.

At school last year, one of my former students told a girl in his class that he wanted to have sex with her and touch her “boobies”. He was a student who seemed so innocent and hearing of this completely shocked me.

At school, the students would get a reward called a Wii Dance Party. Someone brought in the Just Dance dvds to use. As we scrolled through a song, many kids yelled to stop at a particular song, I think it was by Nicki Minaj. As we started to dance to it, we suddenly realized the dancing was not appropriate at all. It was very sexual and provocative, with gyrating and touching the body. We made it a point to let admin know about it, but it amazed us how many Kindergarten girls already knew to dance like that. One girl in my class was singing the song, with the “bleeps” and everything.

I think that sexualization in early childhood teaches children to hold unrealistic expectations of themselves and of others. I think it also makes children more aware of appearance, and attributes to lower self-esteem and self-worth. “These lessons can seriously harm their ability to grow up to have healthy attitudes about themselves and their bodies and to have caring relationships in which sex is an important part” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). I think children also learn to identify themselves more with sexuality rather than other good qualities, and it becomes part of their identity. Some girls are probably more likely to solicit themselves to have a boyfriend, for sex, or any kind of partnership that makes them feel better about themselves in a sexual way. This could result in poor choices in relationships and future mates. Some girls may even end up having eating disorders, depression, or take a path into drugs and alcohol or other illegal activities. “In the most extreme cases, the media’s incessant sexualization of childhood can contribute to pathological sexual behavior, including sexual abuse, pedophilia, and prostitution” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).

This article and discussion of this topic has helped me to realize what young girls and boys are seeing, hearing, and trying to understand in their growing minds and bodies. It has made me more aware of the harmful messages that are being sent to these young children and to pay more attention to materials in the classrooms and schools, on videos and websites that we show. I have also realized the importance of helping children develop that healthy self-concept in terms of gender and confidence in their appearances, personality, and everything that makes them the individual they are. I am interested in finding a way to help parents realize the same, so that they can help their child understand and work through any confusion/issues they have. I know that some parents play music videos and songs in front of their children that are not appropriate, and it would be interesting to hear their take on this as well.

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

Isms Impact on Teaching

Growing up in a white middle class home and area, I don't feel that I experienced many isms, but one that does stick out it classism. As I got older, into middle and high school, I was not a part of the "cool" groups, and in elementary and middle school I didn't play sports so I wasn't a part of any sports groups either. I can remember begging my mom for the "name brand" clothes such as Tommy Hilfiger, Hollister, American Eagle, and Abercrombie. I can remember being made fun of for having clothes from K Mart and random stores in our mall like Sears or JCPenney. Basically my parents weren't rich enough to buy me the name brand clothes, so I wasn't cool enough to be friends with certain people. Today I'm actually thankful that I didn't have those things because as I've grown I've realized what really matters in life. Looking at those "cool" kids now, and thinking about where I am in my life, those cool clothes and high class kids aren't any better than I am. 

I think that classism, or any kind of ism can influence your teaching. We can become less tolerant of the ism, more irritable, angry, emotional, or impatient. This definitely could influence your students because they can sense your mood and mood changes. They can tell when you like or don't like something. I am a very emotional person and I don't hide my feelings well at all. My students know when I'm sad, happy, excited, angry, dissapointed, because it's on my face immediately. In regards to classim, I think I tend to be more sympathetic and understanding to kids who don't have much or don't come from wealthy homes, which is 90% of my class, teaching in a Title One school. I think I have a very low tolerance when it comes to kids making fun of other kids in any way, whether it's appearance, clothes, money, etc, because I know what it's like to be made fun of or belittled. I have learned that instead of showing that low tolerance, it's better to talk to the students about how that makes them feel, helping them try to empathize and learn how to treat each other with respect. 

Communication with Children

As I was sitting in the park the other day, I overheard a mother talking to her toddler about feeding the ducks. The mother explained how to tear off a piece of bread and toss it into the water. The toddler listened, but wanted to get out of her stroller and throw the bread. The mother explained that she needed to stay in the stroller and couldn’t get out. The toddler listened and threw the piece of bread while sitting in her stroller. She then exclaimed that she wanted more bread, and so the mother continued to help her tear a piece off and feed the ducks. The mother talked to her about the ducks and what they were doing, how they were coming up to the side walk and swimming across the water to get the food.

I think this mother did a nice job communicating with her child, especially as she explained specific things, giving the child more information. It would have been nice to hear the child talk more, maybe to see what would come up if mother didn’t explain certain things. Would the child ask questions? Would the child say things that could lead to more conversations?

I do believe that the child could have felt more validated if the mother would have praised her for staying in her stroller and not trying to get out or argue about it. I also feel like the child’s self-esteem and independence could have been positively influenced if the mother would have let her out to walk around. (Although I understand why, because the sidewalk is right beside the water and the child could fall in which is definitely not safe.) But maybe they could have taken a few steps back and sat on the edge closest to the grass to feed the ducks. At that point the ducks may have come onto the sidewalk which would have allowed for more interaction and conversation from the little girl.

The biggest thing that has stuck with me from the readings this week is the statement about “stepping back” and really taking time to listen to the child. “Stepping back became a strategy that helped me listen with an openness that allowed me to hear unexpected meanings in what children shared with me” (Stephenson, 2009). I feel that by “stepping back” you can receive messages that you would not have otherwise heard or noticed because you were busy multitasking while trying to listen to a child. I am guilty of this and actually have found myself just agreeing and not even realizing what I am agreeing to until I truly stop to listen. I think good communication with children requires attention and listening with an open mind, instead of assuming that a child is going to say this or that.

References

Stephenson, A. (2009). Conversations with a 2-year-old. YC: Young Children, 64(2), 90-95. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=37131016&site=ehost-live&scope=site