Reflecting and Learning

 

Clipartbest.com

    What I hope for the future of my professional teaching career, is that I continue to strive and build those positive relationship with my families. To continue to think outside the box and create an safe environment that all families feels welcome. I am also going to incorporate things that I have learned and found interesting during this course, like for example the (persona dolls) that Eric Hoffman introduced me too. That really stuck out for me. The importance of teaching similarities as well as the differences by using dolls (Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Another thing that I have enjoyed is introducing things that I have learned to other teachers that I work with. 

    I also by watching the media clips Leslie Cheung introduced me to the term "cross culture" and also gave me so good ideas on how to bring her families together by using food to promote inclusion and diversity (Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). I also learned from Jan Keyser that it essential that the early childhood professional focus on children's strengths rather than deficits (Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). This opened my eyes to how I create goals for my children as well as how I do assessments as well as my lesson plans.

Canstockphoto.com

To thank you for all of the guidance, encouragement and ideas that you guys has given me. Like always it's been a pleasure, for those who journey is coming to a close with Walden University, we have one more class to go!💃😁 Have a wonderful rest of the week and see you guys in a few days.

References

Clipartbest.com

Canstockphoto.com

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Building on children's strengths. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Learning about fairness: culture, language, and economic class. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Impacts on Early Development

   

Impacts on Early Development

CanStockPhoto.com 

The country/region that I chosen to learn or research about is  Aweil South Sudan. The article that I read talked about the women and children of the South Sudan and how famine has affected that region. The article mentions how women would walk with their sick children for days through the burning heat to get to the only health clinic in Aweil North Country, Northern Bar el Ghazal State that border Sudan (Gridneff, L. (2013).

Abuk Wal, a 29 year old mother of 7 has spent the last week in the nutrition stabilization center looking after her 3 year old son that is severely malnourished boy Madouk Deng.  Her son has been admitted six times  with symptoms of (diarrhea, vomiting and sickness) since he has been 7 months old (Gridneff, L. (2013).

Despite the spread of famine being reversed in South Sudan, almost 276,000 children are severely malnourished and in need of immediate life-saving aid.  The children are even more vulnerable to the threat of air borne diseases such as measles (Gridneff, L. (2013).

In result of the famine it caused two countries to move 1.83 million people across the borders (Gridneff, L. (2013).  More than 1,000 children are now fleeing South Sudan everyday (Gridneff, L. (2013). 

 Since January this year, UNICEF and partners have treated more than 56,000 children aged 6 to 59 months for severe acute malnutrition in South Sudan, and aim to treat more than 200,000 severely malnourished children by the end of the year (Gridneff, L. (2013). The challenges these children face educationally is very much so impacted by the lack of nutrition that they are receiving if a child is sick or hungry it will be very hard to focus and attend school. Emotionally the children are lacking the fundamentals of who they are and how they should feel. With the combine work of UNICEF and others they are able to provide these children with some hope.

References

Gridneff, I. (2017). Fighting famine in Aweil South Sudan, as acute malnutrition rates continues to rise. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/

CanStockPhoto.com 

Sexualization of Early Childhood

 The Sexualization of Early Childhood

https://eviemagazine.com

American children are exposed to a barrage of sexual images in television, movies, music and the internet (Levin, D.E., & Kilbourne, J. 2009).  What I found to be interesting about this topic is that how it has become a norm and I am not really shocked about it. When they started having beauty pageants for the young girls that started from the age of five, and dressing them up as little women, I felt that was to much. The pageants was fine, but let them dress and look like children. 

https://stylisheve.com

Young men and women are spoon-fed images that equate sex with violence, paint women as sexually subservient to men and encourage "hooking up" rather than meaningful connections (Levin, D.E., & Kilbourne, J. 2009). 

https://stylisheve.com 

As young men and young girls see children see children their own age dress and act a certain way, they tend to look to what they are doing and try to mock that same behavior or style. The result is that kids are having younger and with more partners than ever before. Eating disorders and body image issues are common as early as grade school (Levin, D.E., & Kilbourne, J. 2009). One way that I have observed the sexualization is in my own personal life. My cousin has a daughter and the clothes that she buys for her is cute, but I noticed that the clothes are crop tops, so she has to put a tee shirts underneath so her seven year old daughter don't look to grown. Children these days bodies are more developed so they already look maturer than they really are. 

• The messages that I  have found with the sexualization of early childhood is that the kids don't get to develop a sense of self.
• The influence that it can have is children identifying with gender specific roles and what they must look like or act like.  

https://shuttershock.com 

What can early childhood professionals do to tackle this problem and reduce the negative effects that it has on young children?

• As an early childhood educator, we can provide materials and activities that are inclusive and diverse for every gender and culture. 
• We can read books, use puppets and songs to promote diversity.
• Model positive behaviors and use encouraging words to identify feelings/emotions or events.

References

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, Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf 

https://eviemagazine.com

https://stylisheve.com 

https://shuttershock.com 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

When I think of an "isms" as it pertains to my professional aspect I think of  is classism.  Classism is the prejudice against or in favor of people belonging to a particular social class (New Oxford American Dictionary). In the textbook Anti-bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves it mentions how no one is unaffected by economic class issues, including those in the early childhood profession (Derman-Sparks. L., & Olsen Edwards. J., (2010).

  While taking these different classes that deals with Anti-bias and diversity, I found that it stress the need for diversity in the classroom is key and early childhood intervention is best. While saying that teachers that work out of a daycare based program, like NCPrek is valued less as teachers but expected to have and maintain the same type of license like as the teachers in the public school system, and yet get paid extremely less and has less respect given to them form some families and other teachers.
  The textbook also mentions how these low wages increase the staff turnovers. When staff leave because they cannot afford to stay, it puts at risk deep bonds and consistent relationships with children; on going, integrated curriculum; and strong family-schooled and inter-staff relationship(Derman-Sparks. L., & Olsen Edwards. J., (2010).

  The way that I feel when I am looked or talked down to as an early childhood provider, I feel annoyed. It's like I have to prove myself even though, I have the education and the licensed and experience with working in the education field. I just chose to work with the younger children 3 to 5 years old in the NCPreK program. Hopefully one day the respect and pay to our early childhood educators will be valued and respected by everyone.

References

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

New Oxford American Dictionary