We Don't Say Those Words In Class!

         Children tend to innocently voice their observations out loud.  They have no malice in their observations. Children just simply state what they see and I think in most cases they are curious and want to know more in that they do not quite understand what they are observing.  In our program we have a little girl (blonde hair and blue eyes) who at two and a half loved playing with the babies in the dramatic play nursery.  She would come in and ask, “Where is the white baby, the white baby is mine.”  I heard one of the teachers explain to her that we do not refer to the babies or people by the color of their skin and that we are all the same on the inside (I personally don’t feel we are all the same on the inside, though we may have the same parts).  I felt there was more to this whole situation.  I thought the teacher’s words were inappropriate and even more uncalled for without further investigation.  I think that immediate message could have made that child feel like she was doing something wrong or that her own identity, race, or ethnicity was unvalued by the teacher.  

After inserting myself into the interactions in the baby area I noticed several things. First, there are a number of babies of different ethnicities and races and just one baby with a soft cloth body with hard arms, head, and legs, which just happened to be this child’s favorite to play with.  I also noticed that the muslin fabric that made up the body of the baby was white in comparison to the flesh tones of the other babies.  After playing and interacting with the small group of children taking care of their babies, I deduced that this child’s reference to her white baby had nothing to do with race or ethnicity, yet she had been reprimanded for her innocence.  I later discussed this with the teacher who had talked to her earlier explaining what I had found out about the “white baby” to dispel any bias that teacher may harbor in the future towards that child for her innocent words. 

  Taking an anti-biased approach isn’t easy to do all the time, however after working with children for so many years I cherish the innocence and (sometimes brutal) honesty of children.  I feel that it is important for us as educators to be the observers that children tend to be and not jump to the first conclusion our adult minds conclude about any situation with children.  A great way to address sensitive topics such as race and ethnicity in the classroom are persona dolls (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).  Nancy Spangler explains persona dolls are a great way to open up dialog with children in that the dolls are the focus rather than the children thus relieving possible feelings of personal guilt related to those topics (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).  I absolutely agree with Eric Hoffman’s approach of not saying no to undesirable behaviors, but saying yes in how to get what they need in a positive way by providing children with real experiences rather than telling children they are wrong (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).   

References

Laureate Education Inc. (n.d.). Learning from Another's Life Story [Video file]. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6357/CH/mm/audio_player/index_week6.html