In Support of Children and Families

In Support of Children and Families

Josephine Diete-Spiff

Walden University

My Experience with an Ally

I had an experience at the age of 9 that remain evergreen in my memory. It happened at my school. My teacher was used to hitting our knuckles with a wooden ruler for coming to school late. On that fateful day, I have arrived at school late because I had to help my mom to cook that morning. She did major cooking because she was traveling and wanted to stockpile the home with food for the family. I being the eldest daughter, had to assist her and take instructions on how to prepare meals in her absence. 

I started cooking at the age of seven, but major meals like soups were still done by her then. Equally, I had to trek to school, and it was quite a distance from my home. I arrived trembling, knowing the outcome. I would have preferred to stay at home that day, but my mom insisted I go to school, and I was too afraid of my teacher to tell her the outcome of being late to school. So, I walked into the class, trembling and terrified. 

The teacher roared at me and started approaching me with the ruler, I frost, closed my eyes, and cliched to suppress the pain. The last I saw and heard from the teacher was he moving towards me with his hand raised ruler and his commands to me to stretch out the back of my palm. I obeyed and waited, but nothing happened, then I opened my eyes slowly when I heard whispers. My classmates were very quiet; you could have heard a pin drop. Then I looked towards the teacher and behold there was a lady holding his raised hand and whispering to him. 

Then, I heard what she was saying, which was; please do not hit her, she is too young, and you have not even asked why she is late to school. The teacher replied; she knows, it is a standing rule. She then asked me to go to my seat, but I hesitated, and my teacher puts down his hand, beacon on me to obey her, and I did. I could not believe it; I went trembling to my seat, praying silently that the teacher does not call me back. I could not believe my luck. 

I felt relieved when the lecture continued and ended with no incident. I noticed the lady stayed in the class throughout the day. However, I approached her at break time to thank her, and to apologize for my lateness to school. She listened to my reasons and hugged me and told me not to worry but to try to come to school early in the future in other not to miss lectures. I later found out she was a new teacher on teaching practice attached to my school and class. My classmates and I were grateful because her stay with us did change our teacher's harshness towards us. 

How do I Interact with Children?

Q1: Do I recognize, understand, acknowledge, and respect each children's individual cultural and learning styles? Do I make provisions for children who prefer to play and work alone and for those who prefer being peers? 

Call to Action Statements 1

We Need Cultural Knowledge in Schools.

To encourage our children learning, and understanding we must

·      Improve the recognition, understanding, respect for culture and learning styles among children.

·      Build and incorporate in the school curriculum in ways that allow each child's preferences in play.

Q2: Do I invite Children to try new ways of interacting with people and materials, while also supporting preferred learning styles?

Call to Action Statements 2

We Need Schools to Improve Children's Learning.

To provide services that can assist children's learning, we must:

·      Develop children's understanding to accept new forms of interaction and information gathering.

·      Create acceptable children's preferences in learning. 

How do I interact with Staff and Parents?

Q3: Do I ask each family for information about their child? In the classroom, do I use what I learn about children? 

Call to Action Statement 3

We Need Partnership in Children's Education.

To build a staff-parents relationship, we must:

·      Communicate with each parent about their child or children 

·      Ensure children capabilities and background remain supported in teaching

Action Statement on Stand Up for Children and Family

To support children and their families, schools must:

·      Stand up as an anti-bias institution for children and their families (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). For instance, educators can protect, prevent bias, prejudice, discrimination, and oppression towards children and their families. 

·      Ensure children are bodily, emotional, knowledgeable, socially safe, and related to home language and culture (NAEYC, 2009). For example, educators can stand up for children against bodily harm, emotional stress, knowledge acquisition, social vices, bias against language, and culture. 

·      Ensure that families get included in the strategies and policies that concern the academic, social, and cognitive reasoning of the child (NAEYC, 2009). In this instant, institutions can ensure that children and families get included in decision-making that affects them. The educators can stand up for the children to involve them in the form of the school activities as it affects their learning and assimilation process.

·       Ensure strength-based assessment that proffers the strategy for enabling children and their parents to build on individual strengths and resources (Rudolph & Epstein, 2000; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). Thus, educators should allow a strength-based assessment, which will create a sense of achievement, provide fulfilling relationships with families, improving their capacity to deal with difficulties and pressures to promote their individual, social, and educational development. 

·      Ensure intervention and management planning for children and their parents (Rudolph & Epstein, 2000). Educators should stand up for families and children by intervening, managing their schedules, and curriculum towards their positive growth.    

Conclusion

As an educationist, we meet children every day except on holidays to attain knowledge. We educators should stand up for a safe, secure environment for children. Educationists should stand up for children's happiness, peace of mind, relaxed situation, and troubled-free classroom. Educators should encourage diversity learning within the school. Educationists should protect children, their families from oppression, and bias within a diverse environment, teaching the children to do the same.  

References

DEC/NAEYC. (2009). Early childhood inclusion: A joint position statement of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_EC_updatedKS.pdf

Derman-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2009). Where we stand on responding to cultural and linguistic diversity. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf

Rudolph, S. M. & Epstein, M. H.  (2000). Empowering children and families through strength-based assessment. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 8(4), 207-209.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2008). An individualized, strengths-based approach in public child welfare systems of care. Retrieved from http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/acloserlook/strengthsbased/strengthsbased1.cfm