PART 1-

Upbringing Discussion #1-Reflecting on Your Upbringing

This week you will begin to reflect on bias and how it is formed. This requires us to reflect on our own upbringing.

Take some time to reflect on the questions below before you begin to write your post. There are no right or wrong answers to the questions in this assignment. It is important to think about how your upbringing made you the person you are today.

We ALL have bias, it is unavoidable to be a human and not have conscious or unconscious bias. Our goal as teachers, or future teachers, is to confront our bias and to be role models for working on ourselves to become more accepting. As a teacher, you will work with all types of people and you’ll need to be able to work as a team with any parent for the benefit of their child.

IMPORTANT! It is up to you to reveal as much or as little as you are comfortable with here. The purpose of this discussion is for YOU to think more deeply about how you have become the person you are today. Our parents, home culture, our religious training, the economic circumstances we grow up with, our home language and our experiences as a child, and much more combine to make us who we are.

The following questions are only for you to think about and consider. You do not need to respond to each question. After you spend this week thinking about these questions and how you have become the person you are today, please answer the questions at the bottom of this discussion assignment by the due date. It is optional to reply to your peers this week but you may if you choose to.

GENERAL MESSAGES-Reflection questions only

• Where geographically were you were born or adopted?
• Did you grow up in a traditional or non–traditional family? Same sex parents, single parent, blended family, raised in foster care, or by a grandparent or guardians, or in a two parent family.
• Your parent(s) racial and ethnic background(s)–if known
• The number of siblings you grew up with
• Was your first language English or other?

FAMILY MESSAGES-Reflection questions only

• What messages were you given by the people in your immediate family and extended family members about your abilities, your challenges and your appearance?
• What did/does your family value? These core values are often about what is very important in the family.
• How did these spoken or unspoken messages affect you as a child? How do they affect you today?
• Do you still hold these same values today? If not what changed?
• Were you told by parents or extended family members to avoid any particular group or type of person as a child?
• Did you ever begin to question your parent’s views about people who looked or behaved or believed differently?

MESSAGES FROM YOUR WIDER COMMUNITY-Reflection questions only

• What do you recall about your personal experiences related to how you were treated by others in your community, school, religious organization, or other social groups?
• Was there any social/societal group that you were part of where you did not feel socially, emotionally or physically safe or accepted for who you are? What were the circumstances and how did you deal with this?
• How do you think the messages you received as a child impacted you in your life choices and personal development?
• Did you ever experience mistreatment or bullying in school based on your appearance, your characteristics or who you are in terms of racial, ethnic, cultural identity, your abilities, your gender your sexual orientation or other?
• Did you discuss the mistreatment with others? What was the result?
  
• Did you ever notice others being bullied? What was the reason this person was targeted by bullies? What did you want to do about this?
• Did you ever see anyone stand up to a bully? What was the situation? Have you personally ever stood up to a bully?

PERSONAL REFLECTION/CONCLUSION -Required discussion questions

After spending some time thinking about the questions above, answer the following discussion prompts.

1. What question or questions above impacted you when you were thinking about them?
2. Did anything come up in your memory while thinking about your childhood or upbringing?
3. Is there anything that happened as a child that you as a teacher or educator would want to help children in your classroom deal with?
4. Did you identify any personal bias in yourself that was part of your upbringing? How do you feel about it? Is it a bias you want to work to change?
5. Is there anything you want to share about your experience reflecting on these questions?

Word Count” 150-200 words

PART 2

family?Discussion #2-Your Personal Experiences-What is a “normal” family?

As a teacher you will work with many different families throughout your career. Our perception of family generally comes from our own experiences with our own family. We may think of our own family as normal, and the ways of other families as unusual or strange.

1. Think back to your childhood and your memories of your family. Did you think of your family as normal when you were a child?

1. Did this perception change at all as you grew up, or did something happen to change your view of your family?

1. For those of you who are teaching, do you tend to assess or judge parenting behaviors and styles of the parents in your programs from the lens of your own experience?

1. Did your family have customs or traditions that were different from the other children you knew growing up? This could be languages used, holidays celebrated, religious practices, foods your family enjoyed, your economic situation, or other elements of culture.

1. Is there such a thing as a normal family in America today? How might it negatively affect your interaction with children and families to view a child’s family as abnormal?

After posting your own responses to these questions, please reply to at least two of your learning community members. You will be able to view the posts of your peers after your post your initial response.

As always, spelling and grammar of posts will be considered when grading the discussions.

Word Count: 150-200 words

PART 3-

3Week 2 Discussion #3

What Are Your Thoughts on the Anti-Bias Classroom?

After reading the previous article on selecting children’s books, and the information on what to look for in the learning environment, please post your response to the following prompts and engage in discussion with your learning peers.

1. Have you visited or observed a preschool classroom?

NOTE: The question above is particularly important for your instructor as I assume some basic understanding of preschool classrooms that not all of you may have. If there are students without this experience we may need to backtrack and have a refresher on learning centers and basic preschool classroom design.

1. If you are teaching or working in a preschool, have you seen multicultural materials in the classroom?

NOTE: It is actually not common to find a preschool classroom that meets the criteria of an Anti-Bias classroom. Another thing to consider is intentionality—has the classroom been intentionally and thoughtfully designed with an Anti-Bias perspective or are the few multicultural materials accidentally or haphazardly included.

1. What are your initial thoughts about choosing materials, and props with an Anti-Bias mindset?

Typically this class has many weeks to build up to the discussion of how to design an Anti-Bias classroom, but we have so little time during intersession that we are jumping ahead before you may fully understand the rationale for Anti-Bias work with children.

1. What concerns do you have about Anti-Bias teaching for preschool children?

PART 4

Purpose

The purpose of the reflective journal is for you to take time to reflect on your role as an administrator and how you can be an effective leader.

Journal Expectation

Please ensure that your journal entries are at least one paragraph in length. Remember that your responses will be assessed based on their depth, rather than their correctness.

You can submit your journal in written format, which should be a minimum of 150 words, or as a media recording, which should last between 3 to 5 minutes.

Reflective Prompt

NAEYC Article:

After reading the article, please reflect on how these insights can enhance your effectiveness in your role as an administrator.
Consider specific two strategies or approaches presented in the article that you can implement in your leadership style or program management to foster a supportive and effective learning environment.

Grading:

You may submit your journal in written format, which must be a minimum of 150 words, consisting of complete sentences and at least two paragraphs, or as a media recording that lasts between 3 to 5 minutes.