What I Have Learned

As I sit here and consider the plethora of knowledge that I have gained throughout this course I have to wonder all the "who, what, when, where, why, and how"'s of applying the knowledge. 

Who will I meet that will challenge me? Encourage me? Support me?

What response will I receive from these people? What will they expect of me? What will I gain?

When will I meet that challenging person? When will I apply every single bit of knowledge from here on out? When will the rest of the world see how very important social justice is?

Where will I go? Where will I teach? Where will I overcome? Where will I fail?

Why do they act like this? Why am I so nervous around some people that are different than me?

How will I do it all?  

...and those are just some of the questions flying through my mind!!!

A goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field is this:

Recognize diversity, work toward equity, and commit to social justice in all that you do.

I think that it's safe to say that the above goal is also a challenge to my colleagues.  Thanks to all of you for your comments, questions, challenges, and kind words.  Without each of you I would not have gained the amazing amount of knowledge that I have over the past eight weeks!

Start Seeing Diversity: Creating Art

Throughout my time at Walden I have learned a lot about diversity.  The past few weeks of my most recent course has taught me a lot more about my response to diversity and how I can make changes in my own life and contribute to anti-bias work. 

My favorite type of art is music.  I love to listen to songs and analyze the words!  There are so many songs that come to mind when considering children and the many influences they face on a daily basis.  I've compiled some of my favorite songs to share with you this week regarding several different topics as listed below.  You can click on the song title to open a new link.  The link will take you to a music video (if I found a suitable one) or the lyrics.

"Imagine" - John Lennon
Seriously, do it... imagine all these things he suggests.  It's crazy and amazing to consider!  I love the last lines, "You may say I'm a dreamer, But I'm not the only one, I hope someday you'll join us, And the world will live as one".  It's my wish especially as I think of all the children impacted by influences of "isms" and abuse.

"How Many Miles Must We March" - Ben Harper
This one reminds me a lot of the cycles we've looked at.  They're endless unless we do something about it!!!

"Oh My God" - Jars of Clay
We're all the same when you put superficial differences aside.  I like the phrase, "If the world was how it should be, maybe I could get some sleep".  Do you feel like that?  Sometimes as I consider all that goes on, especially to innocent children, it does leave me with some sleepless nights.  

"Does Anybody See Her" - Casting Crowns
This song isn't a favorite but it does remind me of all those kids who search for love and affection in many different - and often wrong - ways or places.... all because they didn't get it at home.  We, as educators, can help these kids to find what they are missing or looking for in a better place and in a better way.

"Broken Girl" - Matthew West
The words say it all... it's a scenario of a child who is made to grow up too fast.  The abused... the trauma they face.

"The Little Girl" - John Michael Montgomery
Another song for the abused.

"He" - Jars of Clay
And yet another.

"Excuse Me Mister" - Ben Harper
"...and I've seen enough to know that I've seen too much".  I feel as if I've seen too much of the effects of isms and tragedy on people but I haven't even seen half of what even some of my colleagues have. And others have seen even more or been directly effected by a variety of evils that bias, trauma, and abuse can cause.  I like how this song addresses the "Mr"s of the world.


I have the quote that I will end with hanging in my classroom.  It can apply to all aspects of life - the ones we've been dealing with throughout this course as well as others.  It's a good reminder for anyone in any profession.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

-Edmund Burke

"We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

Child: "Hey, why is that guy in a wheelchair?  His arms are scary!"

Grandmother: "Shhh!  We don't need to talk about it in front of him!"

These are the comments I heard while sitting in the foyer at my workplace on my lunchbreak.  The prospective child and grandmother had just entered the building and were greeted by our receptionist who has cerebral palsy.  Avery has always been in a wheelchair and can only move from the waist up, but his movements are very jerky and stiff thus the "scary arms". 

Several messages were communicated to the child by his grandmother in the short reprimand she gave:
-Never point out handicaps
-Never talk about differences
-Never talk about differences in front of the person
-It's ok to talk about people behind their back

Avery is actually my cousin and friend.  Since I had time remaining on my break, I chose to respond to this child immediately.  His grandmother had to speak with our director anyway, so I took the opportunity to introduce the child to Avery and turn the experience into a positive learning one.  I desire to build community within the center where I work especially between staff and students. 

We went back to the office and shook Avery's hand being sure to remain standing in front of him since he can't move his neck very far from side to side (I explained this to the child).  Then I asked Avery if he could remember getting his very first wheelchair.  When Avery starts talking it is very difficult to stop him!  The simple question kept him talking about the many different wheelchairs and their capabilities throughout his life.  The child beside me stood in wide-eyed amazement.  Then Avery asked if the child wanted a ride.  The child nodded so Avery took a spin around the upstairs with the child sitting on his lap. 

As I viewed the media segments this week I thought of this scenario that occurred just a few weeks ago.  In the first segment, Start seeing diversity: Physical ability and characteristics, the narrator said educators need to be able to offer support when something like this happens (Laureate Education, n.d.).  We also need to be ready to "counter the bias" when faced with an uncomfortable confrontation of comment so that it may be turned into a learning experience (Laureate Education, n.d.).  One fantastic way to do this is to have persona dolls in the classroom as Nancy Spangler spoke of in her experiences this week from the multimedia piece and as were addressed in our course text (Laureate Education, n.d. and Pelo, 2008).  These are something that I have added to my list of materials to add to the classroom.

When educators take the opportunity to make the most of situations like these, a lot of learning can take place.  The aforementioned situation only involved one child, but that one child can have a huge impact of the rest of his/her classroom as he/she interacts with friends.  We need to recognize differences and demonstrate respect for those who are different than us.  The younger this is addressed, the better our world will be!

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Conclusion [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Physical ability and characteristics [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

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

Gender, Gender Identity, & Sexual Orientation

I must admit that this is a difficult topic for me to work through.  As a Christian I believe that homosexuality is wrong; as an educator I want there to be equality across the board.  That being said, just because I don't agree with the lifestyle choice of persons claiming to be homosexuals doesn't mean that I will treat them differently.  There are many lifestyle choices that I don't agree with - this isn't the only one.  My goal is to make my views and opinions known to those around me in a loving way.  I will show unconditional love to everyone, no matter their lifestyle.

It is possible to love and not agree.

So, I work in a private, Christian daycare center thus we do not have any books or media that represent a homosexual lifestyle.  The center will not hire homosexuals.  We do, however, accept children and families for enrollment at the center no matter their lifestyle.  The state doesn't dock points on our ECERS assessment because we provide enough books & materials that represent diversity in other ways. 

But what if a child brings in a book all about the homosexual lifestyle? I would probably not be surprised at this point.  The courses I've been enrolled in have helped me to become more comfortable around others that are different than me.  I would probably read the book to the child and any others that wanted to listen.  But then what if some parents are upset that I read that book to their child & introduced them to the lifestyle when they didn't want them introduced to it? I honestly don't know what I'd say.  Maybe that it's good to be informed even as a young child.  You never know what children will face when they spend the day with a friend's family or when they get to elementary school.  Why not prepare them now?

Well, thanks Walden friends for reading some of my ramblings!  I love that we can work through things together and share thoughts and ideas.  It has really helped me in the past & I look forward to more "working things out" in the future!

Team Development: A Reflection on Adjourning

The adjourning stage of team development, in my experience, has been one of two things: easy or difficult.  I had the most difficult time concluding my time at a Wilderness Campus I attended my first year of undergrad.  There were only 25 students admitted each year to this program.  We all attended the same class each week (each class ran 3 weeks as an intensive), cooked for one another, cleaned together, ate together, and did many outdoor leadership trips together.  We were a high-performing group with well-established norms and were all committed to growing and learning together despite our differences.  For some of our wilderness survival trips our lives even depended on one another.  this group was the most difficult group to leave that I have ever experienced.  It was the type of group that you can go for a few years without being in contact with any one of them and then meet up for coffee when traveling in a similar location and pick up like it was just yesterday that we saw one another.  To conclude our time together we planned a graduation type ceremony inviting parents, friends, and locals that we befriended during our time in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.  We sang together, reminisced, made a slideshow, performed some awesome and also weird talents, and our director gave a very nice talk including each one of us by name.  It was the perfect way to conclude our time together.

I think that when we conclude our time at Walden it will not be such a tough transition.  Building a team face-to-face is much different than how we have built our "team" in the virtual world.  It has been a great experience and I am thankful for familiar faces and conversation from one course to the next. 

Either way, in both situations the step of adjourning is very important.  Closure is am important thing in all aspects of life.

NVC & Conflict Management: A Personal Approach

In the many minor (and sometimes a few major) disagreements and conflicts at work I have found that it is best to take a breather before tackling the situation head on.  Some of the strategies we learned this week have given me new ideas on how to go about dealing with these conflicts.  I've been reminded that it's important to consider all perspectives and not just my own.  I also want to keep the 3 R's in mind (respectful, reciprocal, responsive) when I interact with colleagues, especially in a situation that involves conflict or a disagreement.  If I think of the 3 R's before dealing with conflict I think the entire situation will pan out differently.  I need to remember that it is not my goal to win each argument or to be right all the time; my goal is to form meaningful relationships with those around me. 

A lot of times I go to my supervisor/center director for advice when dealing with conflict.  She was actually my hockey coach in high school and I got to know her well then.  It was nice to come to a new place of employment where I knew no one else and know that I was able to communicate with her and be understood since we had established a relationship years before.  One thing that she always reminds me is to look at the big picture.  We have no idea what the other person is going through even though they may try to explain it as best they can.  We can try to understand but will never completely understand the emotions involved.  I try to keep that in mind as well when dealing with conflict.

Who Am I As A Communicator?

Many of the inventories we complete this past week had similar results for me as I looked at my self-eval, my husband's eval, and my supervisor's eval.  There were two major differences though that really stood out to me.  While I don't see myself as verbally aggressive (nor does my boss) my husband see quite the opposite.  I supposed this means that I am almost too relaxed and laid back with immediate family.  Definitely an area to work on as we are starting to raise a family - things such as this can really influence children and their perceptions of parents or how they start to react to others as they grow.  I don't want my two-year-old to catch on to verbal aggressions!  The second thing that surprised me was that my supervisor finds me confident and effective as far as communication goes, even public speaking/dealings.  I find myself to be very nervous and anxious when I need to do something or speak in front of a group of adults - even coworkers!  I worry and am very nervous.  She perceives me as relaxed and effective.  I suppose that's a good thing... in undergrad studies I remember one professor telling me it is very important to remain professional no matter what you are really feeling especially when it comes to masking nervousness or fear.  This has stuck with me and I guess it has paid off!