The Sexualization of Early Childhood (EDUC 6358 J Erno)

     Reading this week's book excerpt "So Sexy So Soon" I felt anger at our society and the way commercialism and consumerism is at the centre of it. I felt sadness to think of the children who are not allowed to be children, who are pushed to grow up so fast. And I felt worried that this problem could get worse before it gets better.

     The first example that popped  into my head when I started reading about this topic was from years ago when I worked in a daycare centre. One of the children who was in the after school program started "humping" the floor. This was his word for what he was doing. He was about 6 years old and wanted the attention he would get by shocking the adults at the centre. A second example is the adult looking 'sexy' clothes that some kids where. Why should a 5 year old be wearing shoes with heels? They are not good for her developing body nor are they needed to complete an outfit. A girl in my school a few years ago was wearing shoes to school that had at least 3 cm heels. She wobbled when she walked and couldn't run and play with her friends. A third example of the sexualization of early childhood was a boy I had in my class several years ago. He was 8 years old and desperate for a girlfriend. When I asked him why he explained he wanted to kiss her and hold her hand. 

     There are many implications on healthy development. In the first example the boy was using sex to get attention. Levin & Kilbourne (2009) say that when children are routinely exposed to sex without the emotions and friendships that are also part of a loving relationship "they learn that sex is the defining activity in a relationships" (p 2). Children are shown very rigid gender roles that can lead to girls and boys attaching value only to the appearance of a girl. This can lead to eating problems, depression and precocious sexual behaviour. One way to combat this is to be careful when we praise children in our classes. We should focus our praise on what a child can do not how they look. Another thing we can do as early childhood professionals is to teach children what it means to be a friend. This can help to keep a focus on the loving and caring part of relationships instead of on the physical. My biggest concern is what to do when children in my class are kissing one another. How can I best respond to this? What I have observed so far seems harmless and my reaction has been to remind the kisser to ask permission first. 

     Levin & Kilbourne (2009) point out that "sex in commercial culture has far more to do with trivialising and objectifying sex than with promoting it, more to do with consuming than with connecting" (p 5). This idea was a clarification of what I have observed. Making people objects to be desired means they can also be discarded or treated badly. We have to work against this kind of thinking.


Reference

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.

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice (EDUC 6358-6 J Erno)

Most of us have experienced discrimination of one form or another at some point in our lives. The -ism that I have most often bumped against is sexism and gender stereotypes. Education, especially in the early childhood field, is very female heavy. This of course means that most of my colleagues are women. When there are men on staff, I have noticed that they are given more leeway in their classroom practices. The men that I work with are wonderful teachers and great people. I like both of them. However, incidents that would cause a reprimand for myself or my female colleagues sometimes gets laughed off for them. An example of this happened not long ago in my school. Our school has two class sets of iPads, one for the upper school and one for the lower school. In the team room is a cabinet where the iPads can be secured and charged. The upper school iPads are often not brought down to this cabinet but are instead locked in a cupboard to which only one of my male colleagues has the key. He had been sick for 2 days and then went on a out of town training. The iPads and some other ICT material were inaccessible in this closet. Our director was not happy and tried to break into the cupboard. This was unsuccessful. After the weekend when everyone was back, our director laughed about it and never did talk to my colleague about any of it. I feel this is because he is male.

The question for today is how might dealing with an -ism affect your interactions with children and families. "Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life" (Sue, 2010, p 160) was written in a op-ed piece in the New York Times. Women are often faced with obstacles because of their gender. This affects interactions with children and families in many ways. Frustration may bubble over into conversations with parents. You may unintentionally put obstacles in the path your students are on. Prejudicial attitudes can make women feel like what they do is not important. Early childhood teachers are not leaders of government or CEOs of multinational companies. Parents may hold an attitude of superiority which would influence the way they interact with you.

To combat this, early childhood educators need to be aware of society's messages about gender and try to avoid stereotypical roles within the classroom. Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards (2010) say "that every child deserves to develop to his or her fullest potential" (p 2). This potential should not be hampered by differing expectations because of gender. As educators, we need to work hard to even the playing field for all young people in our care.

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).

Sue, D. W. (2010). Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Observing Communication (EDUC 6358-6, J. Erno)

   The interaction that I observed occurred at the school where I work. Another teacher, Anna, works with children who need special help with academic or social goals. She came to my class to collect one of my students who is 5 years old. She leaned over to talk to him and invited him to come with her for a little while. He looked to me for confirmation so I nodded. Anna then asked him if he would like to have a friend come with him. They are working on social interactions. He said he would so she asked which friend he would like to invite. When he didn't answer immediately she suggested another boy in the class. The child agreed and the 3 of them left my class.

   I noticed  several things while observing this interaction. Anna bent over so she would be at the same level as the child, she used short sentences and kept her body language open and positive. These are all strategies recommended by Rainer Dangei & Durden (2010) in their article "The nature of teacher talk during small group activities". One other thing that I observed was that Anna changed her voice when she talked with the children. She used a very high-pitched voice which sounded false to my ears. Many of her statements had an upward inflection that made them sound like questions.

   Lisa Kolbeck (2011) in this week's video segment emphasises the fact that children need to be given respect and allowed to find their own words. The interaction that I observed had elements of this however the false voice shows me that Anna feels she needs to change her manner to talk to children, that she sees them as unable to communicate on the same level as other adults. While this may be true in terms of vocabulary and complexity of the language I don't think using a different voice is giving the children the respect they deserve.

   While observing this interaction I have been comparing it to interactions that I have had with the same children. I do try to get on their level and use simple words and short sentences. This is especially important with the English language learners in my class. Rainer Dangei & Durden (2010) say "[b]ecause language has cultural and psychological functions - communicating and thinking (Mercer 1995) - teachers' words and the way they use them create meaning for the children as well as for themselves" (p 74-75). I think I need to be more deliberate with the words that I use. I need to make sure the children are able to create meaning from what they hear. I also need to try to keep my body language open and encouraging so that the children will know that I am listening to what they have to say.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Communicating with young children. Baltimore, MD: Author

Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T.R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81.

Creating Affirming Environments (EDUC 6358-6, J Erno)

If I were to start a family child care home there would be several elements from both the readings and the tour of Adriana's centre that I would incorporate. At the entrance to the centre I would have a space where children and parents could meet. The parents could have a cup of coffee while the children play. There would be space for notices and announcements from the centre and from the surrounding community. Families would also be welcome to add to this space with birth notices, vacation photos or significant events from their day-to-day life. This space would be sheltered from the elements and accessible when the centre is not open. It would be a gathering place for the community we are building with the families in our centre. "Comprehensive approaches that integrate families as valuable and indispensable partners in the learning community are part of early childhood education's professional vision and responsibility." (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010, p 36), By having an area for families to gather and share news I am showing that our centre values their help and views, that we are working together to create a learning environment for their children.

As you enter the centre, there would be a quiet room much like the one in Adriana's facility. As she points out, many children and adults find it difficult to separate from each other. Having a space where these feelings can be expressed openly helps everyone to work through them. Children can sit with adults and cry or snuggle. There are distractions like pictures and songs on the walls. The lighting is low and comforting and the furniture is soft and welcoming. There is a rocking chair which many people associate with calm. I would have quiet music playing in the background to further enhance the calm feeling in the room. This space is important so that the children have a place they can go to when they are feeling overwhelmed or they need some quiet time.

The main area of my centre would include different play areas that would have a variety of materials for the children to explore. I would work hard to reflect all the children, their families, the staff and their families who are involved in the program. I would also include groups that are not represented by the people in my centre. I would make sure that these representations are balanced and non stereotypical. There would be pictures of the children in my centre playing with the various materials so that they can see themselves and their friends on the walls. I would have books and puzzles that support both our theme and the anti-bias goals of identity creation and caring connections between people who have differences. "What children do not see in the classroom teaches children as much as what they do see." (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010, p 43). By including as many different groups as I can, children will learn to embrace differences instead of fearing them.

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 Educations, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. Baltimore, MD: Author.

What I Have Learned (EDUC 6357)

One hope that I have when I think about working with diverse families and children is that they will grow up to be more accepting of differences. I hope that by exposing them to a variety of people in a variety of ways they will see the benefits we get from having many types. I hope that teaching them how to express interest and wonder without being rude will help them to relate to others in society and will give them tools to deal with new and unexpected situations.

One goal that I have for the early childhood field is to continue to push for quality education for all children. Although there are many problems with the No Child Left Behind legislation in the states, the sentiment behind it is sound. All children deserve a good start in life. It is the responsibility of society to help them achieve this.

On a personal note, I'd like to thank my colleagues in this class for your support and comments throughout the last 8 weeks. Your thoughts and ideas have pushed me to think more and harder about different aspects of diversity. Through the discussions I have broadened my views on diversity, equity and anti-bias education. Thank you.

Start Seeing Diversity (EDUC 6357)

For my art project I created a web page. The link is below.

https://sites.google.com/a/blijberg.nl/group-1-2/home/start-seeing-diversity

We Don't Say Those Words in Class! (EDUC 6357)

When I think of a time when a child made a comment about someone, the object of the comment was me. When I first moved to the Netherlands, I didn't speak any Dutch. I still tried to interact with the children of my husband's friends though. I remember one time when the 3 year old son of one friend was playing soccer with me. I said something to him in English about what a good shot he'd made. He looked at his mother and said something in Dutch. I later found out that it translated to " She makes funny noises." to which his mother replied "Just ignore it" or something similar.

The messages from this interaction are that people who speak differently don't really matter and there is no need to try to understand. When the mom told him to ignore it she was also implying that it was ok to ignore me. I don't think she meant it that way. I think she was suggesting that he keep playing and not worry that he couldn't understand me. That also gives the message that it isn't important to try to understand people who might speak differently to you.

In the video "Start seeing diversity: Race/ethnicity" (n.d.) the narrator remarks that when you don't acknowledge a difference children receive the message that there is something wrong with being different. An anti-bias educator could have used the situation described above to encourage a recognition that not everyone speaks the same way. The educator could have translated what was said and talked about other ways the child could figure out what was being said. I often use this approach in my class. When learning new vocabulary, I encourage children who are learning English to teach us that word in their home language.

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Race/ethnicity [Video file].