One of my
hopes is to reduce some of the differences that children feel between home and
school. Making the classroom warm, inviting and a place that they can come to
feel safe and secure to be themselves. To become a facilitator in engaging
children and their families with other families who live in the same
neighborhood to build a stronger sense of community.
Getting to know our families is so important.The National Association for the Education of Young Children(NAEYC) reminds us that one in order to engage families teachers must be trained and receive the reports needed to fully engage families(Engaging Diverse Families, n.d} . Many teachers are not prepared for working with diverse families. .Despite the large numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse student populations in schools, not all programs that train new teachers, embrace culturally responsive teacher education.
One goal that we should focus on in early childhood education is to develop mentoring programs that will help new teachers address diversity and equity.It is one of my professional goals to help mentor new teachers coming into our field. We have to ensure that teachers are educated in the culture beliefs of the families they may serve. Culturally responsive teaching should be included in all aspects of learning. Anti-bias education promotes an environment of positive self and group identity development, through which every child will achieve her or his fullest potential(Derman-Sparks, & Olsen Edwards, 2010).
Getting to know our families is so important.The National Association for the Education of Young Children(NAEYC) reminds us that one in order to engage families teachers must be trained and receive the reports needed to fully engage families(Engaging Diverse Families, n.d} . Many teachers are not prepared for working with diverse families. .Despite the large numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse student populations in schools, not all programs that train new teachers, embrace culturally responsive teacher education.
One goal that we should focus on in early childhood education is to develop mentoring programs that will help new teachers address diversity and equity.It is one of my professional goals to help mentor new teachers coming into our field. We have to ensure that teachers are educated in the culture beliefs of the families they may serve. Culturally responsive teaching should be included in all aspects of learning. Anti-bias education promotes an environment of positive self and group identity development, through which every child will achieve her or his fullest potential(Derman-Sparks, & Olsen Edwards, 2010).
Thank you
to all my classmates for the support and participation in discussions and on
the blogs. Your professionalism and the personal reflections that you shared
provided a vast amount of knowledge and expertise that I can use in the future.
I look forward to continuing the journey with you and sharing our
experiences. Thank you, Dr. Kien, for
the constructive feedback on all the assignments which has greatly enhanced my
knowledge in the early childhood field.
References
Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen
Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves.
Washington, DC: NAEYC.
Engaging Diverse Families | National Association for the ...
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/ecp/trainings/edf
Hello Anita, great input and pictures
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed important that our children get the best educational experiences that they can. Relationships that are formed between families and teachers are challenging as well as with the children, teacher relationships with colleagues, with communities are challenging and challenging ourselves as mentors to our children and their families. Creating a rich and strong environment for our children will involve all of these components in order for our children to have positive outcomes and relationships with all they interact with. “Family-teacher relationships are essential for learning about the children from an additional and valuable source, promoting children’s emotional health, and helping children deal with difficult problems that may have lifelong consequences (Klein & Miller, 2008)”.
Gonzalez-Mena (2000) states, “reminds teachers that when children come to school, it is important that the child does not lose her own culture while becoming part of the mainstream culture, since cultural identity and family connectedness are crucial for emotional health (Klein & Miller, 2008).” There are lots of many challenges that both family and parents face in the development of our children such as, cultural background differences through languages and social economic status, stress, both of families and teachers, long hours, time for families, mutual set of our values, our experiences in expectations, lack of openness with outside entities invading their space, school and home, as well as our communication that lacks the ability in identifying and sharing key communication experiences, our issues and our ideas. These and more are all challenging improve for both families, teachers, and our communities, and yes the world at large can learn about our children’s families and their way of culture, if there is to be a positive relationship between all involved.
Reference
Klein, A. S., & Miller, M. (2008). In support of family-teacher partnerships. Retrieved from: http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=359
Anita,
ReplyDeleteI love your goal of smoothing the transition from home to school! Creating a nurturing and caring community of learners is my first priority of a school year. The learning we have done during the Master’s program has really highlighted the importance of family in building this sense of community. Best wishes in your early childhood journey.
Kimberlee
Hi Anita,
ReplyDeleteIt is important getting to know the families of the children we teach. Many teachers find this an unimportant factor at least at the center where I teach. They feel the families are not interested in them therefore, why bother? I stress finding a way to involve families and make time t get to know them better.
Yvonne
Hi Anita,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your inspiring thoughts. You are an inspiration and a great teacher. Families are lucky to have you. Good luck in all you do!
Hi Anita.
ReplyDeleteYour work has always inspired me. I have read all the blogs and the discussions that you have posted. I do hope that we will still continue together in the next courses that are coming.
Hello Anita, great information
ReplyDeleteWhen teachers get parents involved in their children’s early learning education, both will likely benefit from each other. Parents participate more than not, they can help to enhance their children’s self-esteem, improve their academic achievements, improve relationships, have positive attitudes for school and its process. As teachers need to get parents involved, we need to know what their children’s health issues are, their behavioral patterns, and their learning patterns. This are the things that are essential for their learning process. “Recently, teachers and other school staff have made special efforts to increase communication with parents and encourage involvement in children's learning experiences (Brown, 2000).”
Reference
Brown, P. C. (2000). Involving parents in the education of their children. Retrieved from: http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/Involving_parents.html