Blog Assignment: Reflecting on Learning

~Week 8 Blog Assignment EDUC 6358~Professor Weems~

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth, Psalm 46:10 ~American King James Version~

An explanation of my most passionate hope for my future as an early childhood professional and for the children and families with whom I work or will work with:

I am very passionate about teaching young children from Birth through 3^rd grade. This is a time where they are developing cognitively, socially, emotionally and physically. This is a time to impress and assist in learning good skills on equality. I hope that I am selected as a Special Education teacher, working with a diverse group of children with disabilities. My goal is to teach equality, diversity and fairness to each child. I want to integrate the parent in the class as much as possible and as an advocate for their child.  It is the families who know what is best for their child. The community is also part of the child’s ecosystem. I want to bring the community into the classroom as a partnership in lifelong learning.

A brief note of thanks to my colleagues:

I want to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues and professor for all the assistance you offered in your Blogs, Discussions and open forums. You have been a valuable imprint on my learning about Diversity and the anti-bias curriculum.And if you got a moment, check out this site:

http://www.preschoolpalace.org

Week 7~Blog Assignment: Impacts on Early Emotional Development

~Strategies in Early Childhood Diversity ~EDUC 6358-6 ~Professor Weems~

Oprah Winfrey & Aboriginal Children

                                                              ~Australia ~

Australian Flag

Australia

They have many children called Australian Aboriginal children. They are poor, living in poverty and lack education, among other things. UNICEF research shows that 10.9 per cent of children in Australia live in relative poverty. The most at-risk groups are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children in out-of-home care and children of asylum seekers. Cultural disparity and culture norms make parenting difficult for mothers of these children.

You’re more likely to have a disability if you live in poverty:
Poverty causes disability through many factors including a lack of access to health care, adequate nutrition, clean water and sanitation, and unsafe working conditions.

Aboriginese Boys

Describe in detail some of the challenges that children in this region of the world are confronting.

Australian children living with disability can also face challenges other kids don’t. Recently the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child recommended that the Australian Government immediately addresses the following issues here at home:

• Clearly define disability in law so that people seeking help know where they stand and the support they are entitled to
• Strengthen support measures for parents caring for children with a disability
• Address attitudes and environmental barriers  that may mean children living with disability  are discriminated against 
• Ensure education is inclusive and wherever possible ensure children are included in the mainstream system
• Prohibit  non- therapeutic sterilization of all children

Aboriginal Child

Explain how these experiences might have an effect on children’s emotional wellbeing and development.

The cycle continues:
Because people with a disability are less likely to have access to education, skills training and employment opportunities due to discrimination and institutional barriers which can then keep them entrenched in poverty.

Aboriginal Children

Include a personal and professional reflection. Explain the insights you gained and the influences they may have on you as a person and as an early childhood professional.

“If the school close to the child’s house is accessible, a child can go to school with their siblings and a mother can go to work. If you have a child with a disability, normally the mother or the oldest girl child stays home taking care of the child with a disability. This function takes about 10 hours a day so there are now two people in the household who can’t go to school or work because of this cycle.”  (UNICEF Disabilities Chief Rosangela Berman-Bieler, March 4, 2013)

This statement by Ms. Berman-Bieler is true for children in the United States. Often mothers are made to sit home and care for their disabled child. Educators should seek out mothers in rural and urban areas and do a full assessment and get the families on their road to independence instead of dependency.  Most of these families are single parents or the mother is at home and the father is working. Many people other than the family are not skilled to work with children with disabilities.

Personally, I am facing the dilemma of finishing my Masters degree and having to stay home with my Autistic son. We live in a rural area and care-providers do not want to travel to my home. I am constantly faced with finding reliable professional help. Most of the time, when I need a break, my son’s oldest brother will watch him. His oldest brother just mentioned that his greatest fear is that he will be faced with staying home while I seek employment. 

References:

Australian Committee for UNICEF.  Australia’s Children.

Retrieved:http://www.unicef.org.au/Discover/Australia-s-children.aspx

 Australian Committee for UNICEF. Disabilities.

Retrieved: http://www.unicef.org.au/Discover/What-we-do/Disabilities.aspx        

Berman-Bieler, R. (March 4, 2013). [Address] Presented at UNICEF Australia and Australian

Disability and Development Consortium, Sydney, Australia. Retrieved from:

http://www.unicef.org.au/Discover/News/April-2013/UNICEF-disability-chief-shares-vision-for-inclusiv.aspx

"The Sexualization of Early Childhood"

~Blog Assignment~Week 6~ CD 6358-6 ~ Strategies for with Working with Diverse Families~

"Too young for Make-up?"

Share your reaction to the topic of the sexualization of early childhood. 

Sexualization is not the same as sexuality or sex. Sexualization has to do with treating other people and sometimes oneself, as “objects of sexual desire… as things rather than as people with legitimate sexual feelings of their own” According to a Report of an American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls (APA, 2007). Sex and childhood do not go together in regard to sexualization. Sexualization is pure exploitation stemming from the media (books, magazines and store advertisement) television, internet as well as social media (facebook, twitter, i-phones, etc.). 

Provide three or more examples, from your personal or professional experience, that further illustrate the exposure of young children to a highly sexualized environment. 

1. Social media, Facebook, InstaGram, is now exploiting young girls in mature attire saying that they are young Diva’s. These young toddlers have high heels on, make-up and teen-age up-do’s.

2. Young children in our local elementary school (Kindergarten to 5^th grade) are smoking cigarettes and marijuana. This was noticed by a local high school student while walking from school.

3. Boys and girls as young as kindergarten are coming home telling their parents that they have several “girlfriends” / "boyfriends", girls are saying they kissed a boy. Boys are saying they kissed a girl. 

4. When I taught an infant class, one mother came in with an infant about 12-15 months old saying let me go get her cell phone out of the car, she does not like to be without it. It was a toy very similar to the real cell phone. 

Explain the implications this may have on children’s healthy development. Include ideas you might have, as an early childhood professional, to best respond to these concerns and to reduce the negative impact on children. 

Children learn at a very young age that their value is determined by how beautiful, thin, “hot” and sexy they are. Yet, this behavior makes sense given the sexualized environment that surrounds them ~ social media (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). Children will suffer from poor self-image and self-esteem. Their understanding of gender, sexuality and relationships will suffer.  Children will get mixed messages that relationships are bad; they won’t know what constitutes good behaviors. 

 
Describe the ways in which your awareness of the sexualization of early childhood has been influenced and/or modified by studying the topic this week.


We studied and read about gender identity. At an early age children recognize differences in male and female relationships.  Boys are made to believe they are the stronger sex and girls are made to believe they are the lighter more free flowing sex. We learned this is not true. Yet, social media is still hosting impressions by sexy clothing, lip stick, make-up for very young girls. Also, that girl’s are cute when they are thin, have long hair and pretty eyes and light skin. Studying anti-bias curriculum refutes all the myths that society places on gender. 

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.