Creating Affirming Environments

         This blog assignment is timely in that I am currently in the midst of setting up a classroom. In making decisions about what to include, there are important considerations that make the difference between a traditional environment and an anti-bias learning community.

First, setting up a home center involves creating an area to welcome families. Both the family and the child must be comfortable with the arrival process in order to ensure a positive experience. To meet the varied needs of families, I would set up a board detailing what we have planned for the week, and how they can be involved. Purposeful planning gives parents a chance to know what is going on in their child’s care, and also allows them to preplan opportunities to participate in the center around their schedule. In addition, in the arrival area, I would add a small seating area in case the child is uncomfortable or unready for their parent to leave. This gives the myself and the parent a place to sit with the child or read to them until they are ready to stay. Adriana made a good point in the video, about giving the child time to acclimate, and a quiet space to do so, which inspired me to include this area in the center (Laureate Education, 2011).

            In the center, I would separate the area into play centers with toys such as blocks and dolls, creative supplies, and quiet play such as puzzles and picture books. Basic toys such as blocks and dolls leaves the play open for children to create their own scenarios and experiment with materials. Dolls must include both boys, girls, a variety of skin tones. The books would represent a variety of cultures and abilities as well as people doing all types of jobs. Children can use these toys to begin understanding what they have experienced and try out their theories based on those observations about roles and culture (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010). Another set of books I made for my own children and would make for the children in a home care are photo albums. These can be snapshots of the families in the center, photos of the children interacting at the center, or photos from magazines representing populations outside the stereotypes. Giving the children photo albums allows them to tell stories based on their memories and interact with one another as they discover the other student’s photos in the books.

            Another area in the center would be dedicated to gathering the children. This would be a place for making music, a critical part of brain development, and for interacting with a focus. Additionally, providing chances to interact through music gives children exposure to diverse music, and allows the teacher to model respect as well as celebration of the various cultural differences (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010). In this area, I would include artifacts and photos aligned with the children’s background, including older people and young, and people doing different jobs. When children see people different than themselves, it gives them an option to ask questions, express any bias so they can learn from it, and helps them recognize the stereotypes that make the pictures different. Recognizing this bias and creating a safe space to talk is central to anti-bias education (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010). This area would give me a place to gather the children and sing, discuss what we’ve experienced in our playtime, and introduce them to concepts. In this area, I would include items brought in by the families. As Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2010) explain, what is made visible is important, and shows children they are included when they see themselves in the environment. This allows the children to share the pieces of their home culture they are proud of and gives the other children an opportunity to learn about difference in a way that is comfortable as they are learn about their friends. In the video, Adriana provided a similar plan, allowing one child at a time to bring in items they would like to share (Laureate Education, 2011). While I think this is helpful, my center would include artifacts from each family and allow the children to change the objects based on our conversations such as jobs your parents do or a favorite book. The idea is to give the children many opportunities to express themselves and learn using their unique style and based on their specific background.

These various areas and contribute to an environment where children feel included, represented, and treated with kindness. The hope is that in such an environment the child develops a strong sense of self, an ability to interact with others in a respectful way, and a beginning of understanding the world around them.

Reference:

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).

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. Baltimore, MD: Author