In Appreciation

Dear Early Childhood Colleagues,

I hesitate to post this message as it means I have come to the juncture where I will no longer be urged weekly to reflect with each of you on topics that challenge me to consider new ways of understanding the world.  Instead, I am charged with continuing my lifelong learning with the option of choosing my focus and the path of inquiry to follow.  I will miss the contrasting opinions and thought provoking questions.  Thank you for exposing me to a world I would not have seen had it not been for your stories and insights.

Dr. Teri Davis, I want to express how much I appreciate the encouragement and feedback you provided in the course.  Your willingness to respond to our reflections and insights seven days a week demonstrates an exceptional level of commitment that I want you to know I recognized and have valued.  Your attention to detail has helped me make progress and reach personal goals, building my confidence as an early childhood professional.  Thank you.

There have been many key concepts that will continue to fuel my passion for change and to inspire my self-discovery to act in ways that make my community a better place for children as I train and mentor early childhood teachers.

I want to remember……

Equity

“Internalized privilege functions as a set of lenses, making it more difficult for an advantaged person who has internalized this sense of privilege to see that not everyone is so lucky as he is.  These lenses lead the person to wrongly assume that everyone else has his same opportunities for smooth access to institutions and acceptance and that people who are unsuccessful in society had his opportunities but were not smart enough or didn’t work hard enough to make use of them.” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p.26).

Creating Meaning

For a young child a close, emotionally rich relationship with a responsive caregiver develops an understanding of the mind of others and shared meaning; and interacting with others provides experiences that shape learning, reflect culture and develop skills. “Shared meaning making requires paying attention” (Smidt, 2006, p. 62).

“Children look at the world through the lens of their culture.  Family is the first culture” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).

“Culture does not determine a child’s ability or intelligence.  But it can produce many different ways of knowing and learning.” (Leona M. Johnson, author of “What We know about Culture and Learning”)

Health

“Health is more than merely the absence of disease--it is an evolving human resource that helps children and adults adapt to the challenges of everyday life, resist infections, cope with adversity, feel a sense of personal well-being, and interact with their surroundings in ways that promote successful development.”  (Center on the Developing Child Harvard University, 2010, p. 2).

Building Adult Capabilities

We should change our strategy for improving children’s healthy development from “giving information and advice to people who we need to do active skill building with, skill building by coaching, by training, by practice” (Center on the Developing Child, 2013, min: 3:09).

Encouragement

“Experiencing ego-deflating episodes of disappointment and demoralization is quite normal….Teaching is in many ways the educational equivalent of white-water rafting.  Periods of apparent calm are interspersed with sudden frenetic turbulence” (Brookfield, 2006, p. 6).

Passion

“What unites them [passionate creatives] is the desire to make a difference, to leave the world a better place than they found it, and to engage with those who share their passion so they can get better faster” (Hagel, Brown, & Davison, 2010, p. 4).

References

Brookfield, S. D. (2006). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom. San Francisco, CA:  Jossey-Bass

Center on the Developing Child Harvard University. (2013).  Building adult capabilities to improve child outcomes: A theory of change.  Frontiers of Innovation.  Retrieved from http://developingchildharvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/theory_of_change

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2010). The Foundations of Lifelong Health Are Built in Early Childhood. http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu

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

Hagel, J., Brown, J. S., & Davison, D. (2010, May 5). The power of passionate creatives. Retrieved from http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/70.06.PassionateCreatives#disqus_thread

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010).  Sectors in the early childhood field. [Multimedia program].  Baltimore, MD: Author

Smidt, S. (2006).  The developing child in the 21^st century, a global perspective on child development.  New York, NY:  Routledge