Working
with young children, I often hear comments made about others because they are
unsure of the correct thing to say and may not have witnessed that difference
before. For example, we had a child who was in a wheel chair in our school and
was unable to participate in some activities. One of my students had pointed
out this child was in a wheel chair and said they looked funny. I asked the student
to not say that and I tried to explain that they are unaware of why the child
is in a wheel chair and looks that way. In addition to this, I try and have my
students put themselves in the other person’s shoes. I will ask them if their
feelings would be hurt if someone said that to them.
At the
start of the conversation with the child, they may get the impression that we
do not talk about individuals who are different from us because we are
basically asking them to hush and that there is something wrong with this
person. However, as I continued my conversation with my student, I hope they
were able to understand the perspective that we do not always have the answers,
and we need to respect every individual regardless of their differences. I also
think it is important to teach children that it is okay to ask questions and
notice these differences as long as it is done in a respectful way.
An
anti-bias educator may respond by having a conversation with their students
about differences among individuals, and ask them questions about why they made
the comment they did and what they know about the differences among people. For
example, Pelo (2008), explains that teachers should have an open discussion
with children about what has been said because a lot of times their meaning of
a term, phrase, or individual is skewed, and they do not always understand what
they are saying. These understandings come from conversations with adults and
peers to help create meaning. In addition to this, the media segment showed
educators addressing different bias that young children may have spoken about by
showing them pictures which contradict the bias. This helps children to see
that the bias is untrue, and gain a better understanding.
References
Laureate
Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Physical ability and characteristics
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Pelo, A. (2008). Rethinking early childhood education. Milwaukee,
WI: Rethinking Schools.
Brianna,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this story! Children often say these types of comments because they do not understand they are harmful. At our school we incorporate restorative practices which assists the children in unpacking these types of situations and discussing them on a personal level. It's important that children understand diversity and also understand how their comments affect others. You did the right thing by asking the child to put themselves in their shoes and imagine how it would feel! :)
Tara
Brianna, thanks for sharing! I think that as a society, we are so used to not offending people that we often do so (by ignoring them). I have been guilty of telling my daughter do not stare and I have done the same in an attempt to make sure the person doesn't feel as thought they're the center of attention. However, I saw a social media post in which the parent of a child with Rett's Syndrome and she made a good point. So often, people tell their children not to stare at her daughter, but they also avoid interacting with them. Her solution, tell the kids to come over and say hi. I think this is a great plan, as the children may feel more comfortable asking questions and by interacting, they can become more comfortable around those who are different than they are.
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