I believe what I have learned the most form this program and
was the most profound for me is that are silence can be are biases. I never thought in my years of teaching that
because the culture was not present in my classroom that I was teaching a
prejudice by not speaking about it. Anti-bias
education is about awareness and for me that silence was my awareness and it
seems everywhere I go I am aware of my silence.
I believe the next thing I learned from this program is the
meaning behind Martin Luther King Jr. quote “Intelligence plus character is the
true goal of education” (King). My capstone project was based on raising
awareness and training professionals on anti-bias education so that children
will have social confidence. What I
learned was without anti-bias education children will never have character
because they will continue to judge based on misinformation rather than
education.
The last deeply heartfelt learning I gained from this
program is the passion we all have for early childhood education and our jobs
as professionals. In the beginning we
often told stories of how we had to advocate that we are not babysitters. However, today are stories have change to
advocates in early childhood and how we are going to change the world.
My long term goal after receiving my master’s degree is to
focus on getting a director’s position in early childhood education and going
back to get my doctoral and just maybe when all my kids are grown I would love
to be part of the Teaching for Change team and become a full-time advocate in
anti-bias education.
To everyone thank you so much for the encouragement I could
not have done it without you. Although,
I never saw your faces your words were often the strength I needed when I felt like
giving up. You all are remarkable
educators and should be proud of completing this journey of receiving your
master’s degree. I wish you much success
and happiness in your future endeavors and may God continue to shine on your
passion. I love you all!!!!!!!!!
King, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/character.html
Michele,
ReplyDeleteI agree that one of the most convicting concepts I learned was the idea that silence regarding certain aspects of identity is the same as discounting it. That concept really changed my approach to teaching. Best wishes in finding a director's position! You will love it - I have! Thank you for your encouraging words along the way. I have needed and appreciated them. God Bless!
Suzanne
Dear Michele,
ReplyDeleteI have learned a lot through your insightful post and comments. I am very proud to say we started this journey together and I look forward to hearing more about your future journeys. We are not that far away from each other, we may one day meet. I will be at the NCaeyc conference on September 12-14th. If you are going to be there maybe we could do lunch or dinner. My email address is lucibarnes@hotmail.com. Thank you for all your support.
Luci
Michelle
ReplyDeleteYour learning about silence and biases touch my heart. It is so comforting to hear how people now view culture as an important addition to the classroom. I would also like to get my doctorate. Maybe I will see you in a future class. Thank you for all your support you have given me through our journey. Your comments and input has been vital to my learning process. Thank You! WE MADE IT! ☺
Michele,
ReplyDeleteI love the quote you posted by Dr. Martin Luther King. I also believe that raising awareness and educating professionals is the first step in creating an educational system that it truly anti-bias. By supporting anti-bias education, we are supporting all of our children and encouraging them to support one another. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with us during the past eight weeks on this topic.
I also want to thank you for your support and personal encouragement throughout this program. I wish you the best of luck in the future!
Hi Michele
ReplyDeleteIt’s been a pleasure working throughout the program with you. Congratulations and best wishes.
Carolyn
Michele-The emails we shared back and forth were a true life saver for this course. I was so happy to hear from you and know I wasn't the only one that was struggling, stressed or had questions. I hope that my answers to you were as valuable as yours were to me. Thanks for everything and good luck with all of your future goals. Maybe we'll run into each other in Orlando in Jan.
ReplyDeleteDear Michele,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your help throughout this course and knew that you, like the rest of us, were helping any way possible. Best of luck in all your future endeavors. You will be great!
Lori
Thank you for sharing with us during this class. I have enjoyed reading your post. Good luck in your search for a position as a director. I am sure that you will be successful. Getting a doctorate will be a huge accomplishment. I am sure you will have no problems receiving it.
ReplyDeleteI show up record it. I ache for to catch included this topic…i am respecting the time and fulfillment you put in your site,
ReplyDeletePSY 315 Week 5 Individual Assignment