As I consider my future as an early childhood professional, my most passionate hope is for the children and families to feel welcome and understood in my classroom. Castillo has helped me to understand the importance of children and their families feeling welcome within the classroom of a daycare center. She shared several ways that she has helped families feel welcome. For example, providing a space where families can display photographs and information about their families. In addition to this, Castillo provides a location within the center where families can sit with their children to say goodbye each day in order to feel comfortable leaving their children (Laureate Education, 2011). Aside from the information Castillo shared, I have also learned that when working with children who have varying abilities and children and families who are diverse, they must feel understood. Wardle (2011) explains that having children and their parents explain about themselves will help educators to better understand their families and their children. These conversations will also provide insight into how families handle issues related to race and ethnicity (Wardle, 2011). I think this is my most passionate hope for my classroom because without establishing these relationships with your students and their families, it will be challenging to effectively educate children about issues related not only to bias but also to establish a positive relationship with these individuals. In addition to this, if children do not feel welcome and understood, their development and learning could be impacted because they may not feel safe within in the classroom and may not work to their full potential.
Learning with each and every one of you over the last eight weeks has helped me to grow tremendously as an educator. Not only have we been able to share ideas with one another, but hearing each of your personal stories has deepened my understanding of the topics discussed throughout this course. I would like to say thank you to my colleagues in this course for the honesty that has been shared over the last eight weeks and the commitment that you have shown to this course in order to help us all learn. I look forward to finishing this program with all of you!!
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. Baltimore, MD: Author
Wardle, F. (2011). Responding to racial and ethnic diversity in early childhood programs. Exchange, 198, 68-71.
Brianna,
ReplyDeleteThe passion you described is one that I share as well, and I hope that all educators have this goal. We want our children and families to feel welcome and secure in the classroom environment and throughout this program we have learned many ways for how to make that a reality. Without relationships it's hard to overcome challenges that may arise or find ways to communicate effectively. Thanks for a great eight weeks! It's been wonderful learning from you.
Tara
Brianna,
ReplyDeleteYour passion to make families feel welcome and understood in your classroom is indeed an important aspect of our jobs as anti-bias educators. Without respectful and honest communication, we cannot build positive relationships. We also need to use what we learn about each family so that each family culture is visible in the classroom. When we do this, all children and their families will feel safe, welcomed, and nurtured. It has been a pleasure to have you in another course. Best of luck to you!
Trish
Brianna, I think you have a wonderful outlook. We must do all that we can to make sure families truly feel welcome. Often times, it is easy to say that; but we must do our due diligence to help families understand that they are truly welcome! Taking the time to talk to them and get to know them is imperative for the best possible outcome. I wish you all the best!
ReplyDelete