Luckily, teachers and parents were very consistent and motivated to teacher their children how to be cooperative, collaborative, and able to problem solve. The reason this was so successful is because teachers and parents presented different perspectives for the children to visualize on why legos could be a bad influence with inequality. Even when the children could not see the bad side teachers and parents did not give up, but gave different examples for children to solve on their own to understand the problem.
From reading these two stories made me realize how careful you have to be on selecting activities for children. We as teachers need to find appropriate and effective activities to help children grow with all developmental areas. Since we live in Hawaii we have a large ethnic diversity. For that reason we need to be open-minded and able to adapt with different beliefs and habits. For example, I work with a girl who have a strong Filipino background. I make sure to research on their culture and customs so I can make her feel comfortable. I would ask about their food and traditions. She was happy to share her culture and also asked about mine. This created a stronger bond because this shows that we respect each other and willing to work with one another.
Hi Bree,
ReplyDeleteI want to focus on a statement within your blog -- From reading these two stories made me realize how careful you have to be on selecting activities for children -- I wonder who has the power in selecting the activities. Does this assume the teacher should be selecting the activities? Where is the child's voice? How can the equality and teacher responsiveness discussed in the readings inspire teachers to see beyond their own control in order to truly listen and respond to children?
In your own example with the Filipino child you begin to respond to the child, how might you further respond to the child?
Jeanne
How do activities that are presented in class determined? Is it by theme, mastery objectives, curriculum area? Teachers often look for activities that would promote learning at the different centers that revolve around a theme. We, at least I, never think about the underlying meaning behind the activity and I think it would be very difficult for us to predetermine what might transpire when it is presented to the children, we can only observe and work with it as it arises. Children will let you know if what you have set out is interesting and fun by how much they play at it, or how much in demand that center is. They have no reservation in telling you that it is boring or junk, they will either voice it out or never play with it.
ReplyDeleteI like it that you mentioned about giving different perspectives. We all see things differently and we act accordingly. It would take us to be willing to accepts other peoples perspective an be willing to act accordingly to their views to make changes.
Hi Bree,
ReplyDeleteHow many other things are we missing? As we advance in our education we add to our base knowledge acquired from our lower division classes. Creating age-appropriate activities FOR children based on observations of their play was a revelation for me. As I continue to learn, I see that there is more that I am missing. I guess it's like building a house right? KNOWING that we must choose age appropriate activities is the foundation, letting the children CHOOSE their study is the structure...now I see that taking in different perspective is the interior base work. So what are we missing in the form of the furnishings? I guess we must continue on our educational journey to find out!
Seeing ones view from a different perspective is a hard yet simple thing to do. When I read your blog, I automatically thought about the children and how teachers asks the children, "How would you feel if he hurt you like that?" or "If he did that to you, wouldn't your feelings be hurt?" Children in preschool can't put themselves in other shoes and can't look at things at different perspectives. But teachers can and we need to do this in order to change things around in your classroom, to expand the childrens learning.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned how careful a teacher has to be when picking an activity. I think what made the lego incident so remarkable was the fact that teachers picked up on the power struggles which provided an opportunity to have these deep meaningful conversations with the children. Teachers do need to pick activities that promote growth but we can't ban all materials that might be unfair. If we pick careful activities, children might not have the opportunity to have such meaningful conversations. Sometimes a conflic in the class rises some interesting learning opportunities for the children and the teachers.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to see the world from other perspectives because we can realize that there’s more than one way to look at something. In doing so, we can open up our mind to ideas that we previously might never had considered to be a possibility. It is also important to be sensitive to the culture and beliefs of others, particularly with the ethnic diversity here in Hawaii, because as you mentioned, it shows respect for and willingness to work with another person. Helping children to see the world through the eyes of another person will help them to become sensitive and tolerant individuals as they grow up.
ReplyDelete