Considerations, reflections and aspirations

I feel privileged to have worked in four different International school in three different countries. I feel that the diversity adds a richness to not only the students experience but to my personal experience as a teacher. I have learned so much from the international community that I have had the privilege of being a part of. I have learned about different cultures and different education methods. When I focus on what one hope would be for me it would be simple. I would hope that the diversity that I provide in my classroom creates a place were children and families feel safe and secure, respected and appreciated. I see my classroom as a global village, a safe haven where we all come together to learn and discover new and exciting things. We learn from one another and from one another’s differences and diversities. The families make up our school community is part of the global education and awareness I want all my learners to be a part of.

As an Early Childhood teacher I feel strongly about the importance of quality ECE for all children. The foundations that we set from young are part of a child’s development and they need to strong, rich and solid. I feel that no matter where children come from, their background, colors, languages they speak or gender - they all essentially have the same needs and desires. It is wonderful to stand back and watch young children interacting in the role play area or in the sand pit together. Their conversations and the roles they choose to play tell us so much about their home culture and about their self identity. Having said all this I guess my goal would be to have a classroom or environment that is rich in diversity and is welcoming and familiar to all the children. I want the children to come to school excited and be confident within themselves. I encourage the children to be independent and make choices for their learning. I want to be able to stand back and see that all the children are engaged in an activity that they have chosen and are actively learning. The environment should lend itself to Independence and inquiry based learning. I would also aim to have good relationships with the families of my learners. For them to know they can come to me with questions and concerns at any stage. I will make the time for them as it is important to see the family and the child as a whole. If a family feel settled and secure so will a child and visa versa.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and found it so helpful in my daily teaching and even in my family life. I would like to thank all my fellow students for your weekly discussion posts and blogs. I found them to be insightful and make me stop to think about opinions and my own beliefs. A big thank you to Dr Williams for your comments and your words of support. I felt that the course was well communicated and if I may say - it has been my favorite course this far.  Good luck to the rest of you with your studies and don’t hesitate to be in touch if I can help with anything in the future. Good bye from a cold and wintery Holland.

Welcoming new families to school and the community

Welcoming new families to school and the community

Welcoming new families into the school community is such an important thing.

I have done this many time in different countries and school and also been welcomed by schools with my own children.  From both sides I know the importance of having a warm and open welcoming. Providing families with information that will help them integrate smoothly into the community.

I have experiences families with different religions, languages and educational backgrounds. I have children at my school that are immigrant children that come to Holland to escape their war ridden country.

For my story I will choose Zimbabwe in Africa. In order to get ready and welcome the child and their family I look at the records provided and try to get as much information I can regarding the families languages, religion and educational experiences.  I will try to make contact with the family before their arrival and welcome them to their new environment. I will ask the family to bring photos of their family and their country. As much background I can gather will help me to properly welcome the family. I will research Zimbabwe and the local language so that I can use a few words to make them feel at home. Knowing a bit about the reasons for moving to the new country and school is helpful for a teacher to prepare for a new family’s arrival.  I will see if I have anyone in the community that comes from Zimbabwe or a neighboring country that would be able to help welcome them.  I will make contact with the parent teacher committee so they too can welcome the family and introduce them to other families. It is important that my colleagues and other children know that the family will arrive and that they know the child’s name and do their best to welcome them.

I always like to have the children’s name visible where they can hang their coat and bag and somewhere in the classroom too. In this way they feel valued and have a place in this new environment. I will make sure to have some pictures of Zimbabwe in the classroom so the child has something familiar to connect with. It is essential to include the whole family in the integration of the school and the host country and culture. If a family feel comfortable and settled a child has a higher chance of success at school, Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010).

 

References:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

My Personal Experiences 

I go back to my upbringing as a white girl in an Apartheid era in South Africa in the late 1970’s. A country so divided by bias and racist laws. A beautiful country filled with hatred and sadness. A country I call home. 

I am slightly relieved when I am able to recount the days differently from my other white friends, who’s only contact with black people where those who cleaned their houses or worked in their garden. My father was a true freedom fighter, a passionate individual who put sport first. His sport saw no boundaries and he fought hard to have any South African be part of his dojo (karate school) regardless of color. He fought so hard that he landed up in compromising situations. I recall a certain scenario where I was out at a local swimming pool with my friends, the pool was divided into whites and non-whites. White people got the grassy shady area, which I never thought to question why. I saw a friend from karate, a black friend, excited to spot one another we ran over to each other to say hello. The whistle blew and the life guard came rushing over, as if someone may be drowning. Instead he asked what we were doing and that my friend should stop bothering me and stay in her area. When I recount the events of that day I can hardly believe it. This is beyond diminishing equality and beyond biases, the brutal racism and the mere fact that a law allowed for this is inconceivable.

When recalling these events I feel so angry that this was allowed to happen for so long but at the same time I feel proud that this country has managed to move through and beyond this. The great Nelson Mandela helped to heal the wounds of the past and tried to have people forgive and move on. A rainbow nation with a brutal past and a colorful future. I choose to think that due to the political prejudices from the past this country and it’s many culture have an opportunity to learn and make conscious changes to never have history repeat itself.

 

Microaggressions around us

It was really very interesting to be consciously looking for signs of discrimination and microaggressions. I think that when you are aware of this and making an effort to hear and see them you will be surprised how often and how many times it occurs.  Often it is unintentional and no harm intended, more ignorant than anything else.

People seem to say and do things and not even realize that it is inappropriate and harmful to others. It was enlightening to listen to Dr Sue (Laureate Education, 2010), where she addresses the issues around microaggressions.

Being born and raised in South Africa one can only imagine the constant micro insults that would occur.  Sadly it was often more direct and outright racism.  Although there were ignorant people who thought they were not racism but there actions were enough to see that they were. An example is our neighbour when I was growing up.  An elderly lady who had a Black maid working in the house and a gardener who was referred to as the garden boy, even though he was a man in his late 60’s.  She lived alone and they helped her to run her home. Without them she would not have been able to stay in the house alone.  I can remember going over to visit and play with the dog and at lunch time the maid and the gardener would get their lunch, made by the maid, on separate tin plates and cups.  These cups and plates were not kept in the kitchen but in the scullery away from the old ladies own crockery.  They had to eat outside and there was a separate toilet for them outside as well.  Perhaps these are drastic forms of aggression and insults and not micro at all.  However the old lady did not see or realise that she was treating them differently or badly.  This is what was done in those times by many white people. She was sweet to them and they were happy to have a job.  It strikes me that even as a young child I questioned this and noticed the separation.

Having looked around me this week and trying to notice more of these things in daily life was interesting.  The Dutch are extremely liberal people and very aware of these things.  They are aware of categorizing and labeling people.  I did however witness something at school.  We had a boy of 10 years old (South American) and the teacher (British) was complaining that he had not finished his homework for the 3^rd time this week. Another teacher (Australian) commented, “oh but you know the South Americans, they so laid back and late with everything, he probably doesn’t even realize that it needs to be done today”. No one really thought the comment was inappropriate. I do feel that was a microinsult towards a boy and his culture.

Stereotyping is not appropriate and can be harmful to others. We need to be aware of our words and our actions as teachers.  As teachers we need to role models of the correct behaviors towards one another as well as being aware of any microaggressions or harmful behaviors that are occurring and help children or staff and families to deal with these issues.

References
Laureate education, Inc. (Executive producer). (2010). "Microaggressions in Everyday life"Baltimore, MD: Author