Understanding Diversity

Being able to work with children from different backgrounds and who have varying needs is a fulfilling aspect of teaching in general. With my personal long term goal of working with impoverished children, I aim to learn more about the effects of trauma on children and ways in which I, as an educator, am able to reduce its impact on their development and future learning.

For early childhood education as a whole, I think that an aim should be for curricula to be developed in such a way that encourages acceptance of diversity in everyday life, embracing differences and reducing bias through teaching that promotes healthy, unprejudiced everyday thinking amongst individuals and collectively. 

As a part of my course, specifically learning about diversity and equity in early childhood, I would like to verbalize my gratitude towards my fellow colleagues who have provided me with perspectives I have never considered, ideas that I will integrate into my own teaching, and their moral support that has been offered through common achievements and challenges. 

Trauma's Impact on Children

This first picture that I drew depicts a child cowering in the corner as we see her father's shadow screaming at her. It is meant to display how some children deal with certain trauma, removing themselves from situations, both during the traumatic occurrence and in other situations post trauma. It conveys the idea that the abuse children receive can haunt a child for a prolonged period of time, being "pushed into hiding" (Ryan, n.d.).

The second picture shows the faded image of a sad child grasping at a way to get out. Children should feel the ability to reach out to someone when they are in need and keeping them trapped in a horrific situation will encourage children to develop new fears, become sad, have reduced concentration, become angry, and feel irritable amongst more severe issues that may occur as they become older (Children and trauma, 2008). 

The last image drawn displays children holding hands and is meant to convey resilience. With the opportunity to build a support system, children have a greater chance of suffering less after traumatic incidents or being able to remove themselves from traumatic situations, thus becoming stronger individuals (Resilience in child post-traumatic stress disorder, 2007). 

References:

Children and trauma. (2008). American Psychological Association. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/children-trauma-update.aspx

Resilience in child post-traumatic stress disorder. (2007). Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science. Retrieved from http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/fall-2007/resilience-in-child-post-traumatic-stress-disorder#.U_BFwdwxFFI

Ryan, J. (n.d.). Recovery from childhood trauma. The National Association for Christian Recovery.  Retrieved from http://www.nacr.org/wordpress/37/recovery-from-childhood-abuse

Communicating Differences to Children

At a school I used to work at, there was a young girl who had only 2 fingers on one hand. The children would ask her questions about her hand, for example "why is your hand like that?" and she would simply reply "because I was born that way." When asked how she is able to play the piano, a teacher assistant overheard and stepped in to confront the children. She spoke with a harsh tone and told the children to leave the girl alone and that one should not ask questions such as those. 

By dismissing the children's natural curiosity, the teacher assistant, let's call her Anne, was giving the idea that there was something wrong with this child and actually highlighting her differences to a negative degree. Anne also provides children with the opportunity to ostracize the girl because of her difference. By dismissing their questions, instead of allowing appropriate questions and the ability to gain more information about other individuals, Anne has in a sense created a potential bias about someone by allowing the children to develop a judgment based on limited information and on a face value basis (Avoiding bias, n.d.).

In a similar situation, it would be more ideal to address the children's curiosity and put the discussion on hold but get back to the topic once one has gained more information from the parents and the child, given their permission to discuss it as well and allow an open discussion to be had about various differences in general so as not to single out the girl as well. 

Resources:

Avoiding bias. (n.d.). Walden University. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/774.htm