Reading with Mrs. Shivers

This is the final blog of my graduate program, and as such, it is a chance to think about what my hope is going forward. I have learned more about myself as well as the profession than I thought possible, and am incredibly grateful for the interactions with my colleagues along the way. Each person that challenged my thinking, inspired me to look into an area of learning I had not considered, and supported me with positive feedback has helped shape be into a better educator. You each have my gratitude. My hope for my future as an early childhood professional is simple- to be the difference a a child's life. I want the children I work with to understand that even if I did not come from the same background, or do not speak the same language at home, or have not had the same trauma they face, that I care more about their success in life than their grades. I want them to understand that I am here to support them, and will work until I find their unique niche that makes learning enjo...

I chose to study UNICEF’s reporting and efforts in the Middle East and Northern African region. This is a region from which many of our school’s students and their families have immigrated, so I felt it would be useful to have a better working knowledge of their background. The Middle East and Northern African (MENA) region has seen mass destruction and a large refugee crisis as the result of extensive conflict for years. For instance, families in Gaza whose homes have been destroyed are living in the school buildings. Children whose school are still being used for education report not feeling safe as their schools have been attacked and their friends or family have been injured (UNICEF, 2015). In Iraq and across Syria, the case for schools is similar with multiple families sharing classrooms as shelters. Additionally, UNICEF (2015) reports in Syria roughly 25% of schools are unusable because of the shelters, damage, or destruction, and for many children who can go to school they hav...

The reading, So Sexy So Soon , was unfortunate but not altogether shocking. Whether it is movies, books, TV shows, music videos, or the images in children’s games, often too often girls are viewed as sex objects and boys are portrayed as aggressors. These images are not presented in a way that would be alarming to children, but instead normalized as if they were reminiscent  of everyday life children should expect to experience. Thinking about movies, such as Frozen the central character Elsa sings about being free while her dress updates from covering her body to cleavage baring with a thigh high slit.  The male who her sister Ana decides she wants to marry also uses a sexual act, kissing her, as a trick in the movie. More recently for girls the Descendants movies specifically address being more desirable to boys by using spells to change their hair, and clothes. The girls then approach the boys in the movie with suggestive body mannerisms, while the boys make it literal...

Education is the key to success in life. This is a statement we’ve heard many times over, and maybe even espoused a few times ourselves. While there is much truth to education’s critical role, we must take a more broad view that encompasses the role equity has in achieving that success. The barrier to that equity I chose to address is sexism. Sue (2010) describes this issue poignantly, writing “sexism is still confused with nature, because anything that affects males is seen as males is still seen as more serious that things affecting women, because women are still raised mainly by women, and because there is still not right way to be a woman in public power without being considered using negative stereotypes” (p. 161). In achieving equity, I would rather see women treated as equals, provided the respect and afforded the opportunity to speak for themselves without judgement or assumptions based on the “needs” of their gender as if we cannot sustain ourselves on our own. Often sexism...