Capstone Welcome

Welcome to the final set of blogs for our masters in teaching and diversity.  I hope you enjoy my blog these next eight weeks.

Hopes, inspirations and thank you

My most impassionate hope for the children, families and professional in regards to anti-bias education would have to be one of looking beyond.  Looking beyond what they see as a skin color, a disability, and a family structure. Looking to who is this person, how can I best serve him and what can this family teach me.  Asking the questions that are hard to ask, and patiently waiting for the answer that may have to come weeks later.  That we can look at each other as being on the same team, wanting what is best for all children.  So that all children can be seen as equals that help each other out in times of need. 

I would also like to take the time to thank all of you who have read my blog and discussion post the past eight weeks.  You have made me think beyond my world to the large picture.  I hope as we move to our last class and capstone projects we can continue to be a source of help and inspiration

UNICEF Costa Rica

I chose the area of Latin America more specifically Costa Rica because of an upcoming trip my youngest daughter is taking next year through Girl Scouting.

Many of the articles on the web site are a year or two old so accuracy is a bit harder.  But what I was able to gather from for the statistics portion is that poverty and young mothers are still prevalent in Costa Rica.  Many families live on $6580.00 a year and that motherhood comes at a young age for most girls before they are 18 years old but the percentage number is not giving.  The same hold true for marriages or unions or those whose spouses who endorse wife beating. 

Many of the children do attend school.  Most of them appear to have a basic education preschool-6 grade with some going on to higher education, mostly boys.

When living with a mom who has a lower education level they may become overwhelmed with care for infant and toddlers.  These moms may not have the support network to know what is appropriate for a child to do or even how to go about basic care routines for their child. The mothers are educated on vaccines but few of them breast feed past the first 6 months, if at all.    

On the more positive note Costa Rica has signed the Child Public Policy and is starting to make strides towards seeing that children are place first when decision are made. I see this as a giant step in the right direction so that the children of Costa Rica can have a childhood and education like my daughter has received.  As I help her understand the sights she will be seeing as her travels from the larger city of San Jose to the rainforest ranch I plan on letting her know she may see families that look to have a mother her age.  Also I think about what I want to be able to do impact the children in Costa Rica. I feel that it could go beyond supporting UNICEF but maybe see what my church is doing there and supporting that mission field with what is needed.     

Sexualization of young girls

Wow! Has always been my reaction to the sexualization of young children! From ads on TV for this type of doll to the clothes that are market to young children.  As an Early Childhood Educator I have strived to make sure that the children I care for have a healthy image of themselves both how they look and who they are as a person.  My children come in all sort of sizes and shape and in both sexes here no one person is better than the next and what they might see on TV in relation to how to behave stay on the front porch.  Girls do not have to play the victim and boys the aggressor all the time.  And it is not OK for them to either dress in a provocative way or need to show off muscle to gain attention from a friend. 

Personally as a mother of two daughters I have fought back against the norm for what my daughters wear and how they behave.  When shopping for clothes it is hard to find clothes that fit without being too revealing, tight or for girls that are older than what I am shopping for, but we have found them.  Also giving into girls wanting Barbie doll at a young age, I have had girls ask for them when they are three or four.  I just simple explain that their finger muscles are not ready for dressing them at that age and I will give you one when you are six.  When parents ask me about this I say the same thing but also add they do not need to be exposed to wanting to be like Barbie at a young age and the unreal expectation her body type send to them.   I am happy to say by waiting and send them messages that their body is fine the way it is none of the girls I have care for feel that they are too fat, thin, ugly, and pretty or any other “too” you could add. Then I have also seen the other side of girls wanting so much to please a boy or their dad they will do anything, from wearing the skimpy clothes to walking provocatively to them.  Some of the girls doing this without even thinking about what they are doing because of what has gone on in the family and what the father or father figure has exposed the daughter too.  Most of the time these girls have been removed from the house and the male has been charged with molestation and it takes a lot of working with the girls to let them see themselves as a person and not an extension of their dad.

As I work with girls in the different parts of my life I let them know they are in control of their body.  I tell them they are the way God planned them to be. They do not need to act or be “sexy” to get a boy that in fact if they are true to whom they are the boy will like them even more.  So it is fine if you like to play with trucks and want to be a firefighter that there is a boy out there for you but it is also fine if you prefer to play with dolls and read.  There is no right way to behave or be no matter who you are as a person.   

Experiencing an "-ism".

      
The "-ism" I can most relate and have had happen to me would be ageism, both being the youngest employee as well as one of the oldest. In my first job I was not even finished with college and having to work with others who were older than me and had more knowledge about how therapeutic child care worked. I came in with lots of wonderful ideas only to have most of them shot down without even a reason why they would not work. But I stay with the job and realized that to change things it would have to come slowly and carefully.


The other teachers saw me as the "newbie" grilling me about my past and what I like to do in my free time and if I had ever done anything illegal. Making it hard for me to want to share anything with them or even share what I had just learned from college about child development. Then the children had a hard time listening to me because they knew I was new and may not stay long. I guess I had been the third or fourth new teacher they had had in the classroom in as many months. So when I found this out I was determined to stay and show them I cared when the second month came and went they realized that I was going to stay.  Some of the staff started to listen as well as the children but I was still seen as the “newbie”.


The changes happened when our license change to having toddler and the preschool age teachers wondering why the toddlers would listen and follow direction better than the preschool age children. First my new co-teacher and I set out clear rule and role for the children and us. I was not the one who neither was always on bathroom duty nor was I the one in charge of cleaning up every mess the children made. These are a few of the jobs I was first assigned to when I arrived to working at my first child care job. The co-teacher I worked with taught me about working with children in chaos or "at risk" and with special needs and I taught her about making schedules and keeping to a routine.


Now I am at the other end of the spectrum.  Realizing that I have a lot to share but I have learned to wait to share until asked.  I am also older than many of the families I serve and have no problem sharing that fact with any of them.  I keep my gray hair (its been gray for a number of years)  to lend some credibility to what I say and have experienced but I also feel it may be something that is holding me back from getting some of the jobs I have applied for, cannot prove it type of thing.  


Remembering how I was treated as the young new person. I choose to treat the new teachers I hire very differently and listen to what they say and try out the new ideas and if they work great or change them if needed.  I feel no matter how old you are respect is important to how things get done in the work place.  You can still be the boss and friend as the role fits within your work day.  Listen to the young employees they have new knowledge but do not discount those who are older because they are most likely willing to learn new things as well.