As I consider different items that
a young child may find throughout their childhood, I considered different
messages young children may interpret from those items. For example, movies and
toys definitely portray an image of specific jobs or skills based on gender. When
you see advertisements for different dolls, you do not typically see a young
boy playing with the dolls and in contrast, an advertisement for trucks and cars
is typically presented using a boy within the commercial. In addition to this, clothing
typically depicts the gender of an individual based on what that individual is
wearing. For example, boys typically wear blue while girls where pink. However,
style of clothing is also gender specific where you typically see a girl wearing
a skirt or dress aside from a typical shirt and pant that a boy would wear. Within
the media segment, it is clear that many children base their understanding of
gender roles strictly from the different stereotypes they are aware of
(Laureate Education, (n.d.).
I can
recall several times in my childhood where I would be at a friend’s house, have
friends over or even in school where I would hear “boys cannot play dress-up
only girls” and “only boys can be super heroes”’. I think these messages were
conveyed through society where your gender determined what you could do in your
life and presented a picture of what it “was supposed to be like”. I feel today
in early childhood centers, we are more aware of difference among families and our
society is pushing for less role-specific tasks or biases that depict a
traditional family. Within the media segment, the individuals explained that having
an open conversation with their students about biases in relation to sexual
orientation or gender roles helps children understand and become aware of these
biases Laureate Education, (n.d.). They also explained that sharing different books,
and having materials in the classroom that explain diverse families helped
children to understand and not use homophobic terms as a “put down”.
Just the other day in my classroom,
another child came over to me and said “Wyatt called me gay”. This student was
very upset and did not like the fact that this child said that. When the rest
of the class heard this, they immediately began to say “ooooo” when they know
someone will get in trouble or they agree that someone did something wrong/bad.
I am always unsure how to address times like this because I am not sure where
the take the conversation. In the media segment, a similar incident occurred and
the teacher stepped in and explained that some people are gay but others felt
that children did not understand what this means (Laureate Education, (n.d.). I
feel that in my classroom, my students are unaware of this meaning, and I should
ask my students what they believe this means, and have a meaningful conversation
about what this means to help my students understand and refrain from saying comments
like this in the future. Once students
understand, they are less likely to conform to these biases and will become
more aware of their role and their actions.
References
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Gender [Video file]. Re-trieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Sexual orientation [Video file]. Re-trieved
from https://class.waldenu.edu
Brianna,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about gender roles and what children learn through seeing pictures and commercials about who should play with what. Children do need to learn that certain toys and professions are not gender-specific. Girls should be able to play with blocks and cars and boys should be able to play in dramatic play. Girls and boys also need to learn that certain professions are also not gender specific. Women can be engineers, pilots, and doctors and men can be teachers, dancers, and nurses. In the media segment "Start seeing diversity: Gender" (Laureate Education, 2010), they mentioned bringing in a male nurse to show that both genders can be nurses. I had a similar experience with two children playing this week. A girl had a toy plane and was putting a female figurine in the cockpit when a boy grabbed it and tried to get her to use the male pilot figurine in the cockpit instead and I heard him say that "mommies can't be pilots". I asked him why he thought that and we had a short conversation about me being a mommy and a teacher while a male teacher at our school is a daddy and a teacher. The girl mentioned that her mom was a doctor and the boy mentioned that his dad was a doctor. It was an "aha" moment for the boy. I agree that it is important that we teach young children that roles and professions do not need to be gender specific to show that their possibilities for development and learning are limitless.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts,
Trish
References
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Gender [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://class.waldenu.edu
Brianna,
ReplyDeleteYou brought up some really interesting and controversial points! When children are playing in my classroom I try to encourage them in gender neutral ways. No matter the gender of the child, I let all children play with all kinds of toys and color with any color. I have had students in the past make fun of boys for coloring with or liking the color pink, and I immediately have the conversation about identity expression regardless of gender stereotyping. Putting the conversation in the children's hands, like you did with the "gay" situation, helps them come to deeper realizations and keeps them accountable. Thank you for sharing!
Tara