In thinking about my hopes for working with diverse
families, I hope that first and foremost, every student and their family feel
accepted and loved when they walk through the doors of my classroom. I have realized that this takes a great deal
of work, but it is worthwhile. All
children need to be recognized in my class, and the dominant culture does not
need to be the only culture expressed and represented. I am working on this in my own class, and
this course has helped me learn how I can use self-reflection to aid me in
this. Another key component in this is education. Sometimes educating families and myself on issues
of diversity is needed.
A goal I have is for
those in the field to “keep on keeping on” as sometimes the passion
diminishes. Teachers need time for self-reflection
to see how their contributions are aiding in the quest for anti-bias
education. Burnout often occurs, and I
think that self-reflection would aid in the rekindling of passion. To help with this goal, I think there needs
to be more support from other colleagues, to know that you are not in this
alone. Having collaborative groups that
meet to discuss issues, topics, and solutions, in a safe environment, could
also assist in this.
I want to thank each of you for aiding my understanding of
diversity in this course. I have grown
personally and professionally because of your contributions. Thanks for your questions that caused me to
think. Tammy, thank you for navigating
us through this course, and for your wealth of resources you shared. This has been an awesome class and I look
forward to more with you all! Best wishes!
Hi Kristi, I enjoyed reading your post. I agree that sometimes a teacher does get burned out and reflection does help. Sometimes you have to re-evaluate the situation and realize why you are in this field to begin with.Children are special and sometimes you have to dig deep inside to regain that passion that you once had in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristi
ReplyDeleteSelf reflection is the key to development in all areas of our lives, not just diversity training. Our team meetings always have a topic that we discuss and reflect on, so that everyone can discuss their perspective and so that we present a united front to families.
Carolyn
Hi Kristi, you made some great points in your post. Every child should feel welcomed when walking through the doors of their classroom, irrespective of what the dominant culture is and whether or not they are a part of the dominant culture. Having collaborative groups is also a great idea because teachers also need to conduct their own self assessments. All the best in your future courses.
ReplyDeleteBurnout happens to all of us. I have found that taken these coures has re-light my passion for the early childhood field. Every child needs to feel that they are important part of the classroom. This will give them a sense of worth that will last forever. Good luck to you, Lisa
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