I began by looking around my own classroom. At Head Start we value diversity and different cultures. We even have policies in place to make sure we have books to include fathers, grandparents, and depict multi-racial families. When I look at all the books we have in regard to families all of them have a heterosexism undertone. Either the books are two parent families with a man and a woman, or a single parent family. I did find one book about adoption, but the family who adopted the child was a two parent family with a male and female. I have two children and have watched and looked at a multitude of media targeted for young children. I can’t think of one instance where a same sex partnership was displayed. Looking around at the walls of the elementary school we are located in there are not any signs of different family dynamics. The fifth grade actually had a family tree displayed earlier in the year, but there were still no signs of same sex partnerships.
When I think of early childhood centers avoiding the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same sex partnered families I think this is a wonderful idea. Especially if you have children in your center or classroom who have these family dynamics. We as educators want all children to feel welcome and a part of the classroom environment. Children thrive in school when families are involved. When a family is validated and included it makes them want to be a part of their child’s schooling. This helps children with their self-concept and the connection to their own family. The world is such a diverse place with all different types of people in it. I believe we should do whatever possible to help each child feel included.
I could not agree with you more we do live in a diverse world and we need to help our young learners make sense of it. Having the right tools to aid us in their development is very useful in these teaching moments that arise. What better way to explain these differences to the children than with books, videos, posters and many other resources.
ReplyDeleteThe challenge here is to work with educators so they feel comfortable to offer books that show diversity. Parents can help teachers by asking and demanding a anti-bias education for their children.
ReplyDeleteCarolina
I currently work in a program that has a lot of family diversity. Many of the children bring topics up at circle time or ask why does she have two moms? We also have a little girl whose mother died and she and her siblings are being raised by their grandmother. I think most of our families are accepting of the topics and issues that have come up in the classroom and have offered great support to other families faced with adversity. I feel having the families involved really helps support diversity in the classroom. However, it is not always easy to convince families opposed to such diversity to include each family's individual circumstance. Always lots of explaining to do it seems on behalf of the best interests of children and their development.
ReplyDelete