By not having children of my own, I always imagined that I would be able to help more. And over the past 25 years, I have helped many children and families through transitioning into preschool programs, coping with changing family dynamics, adjusting to new social, emotional, academic and care needs, overcoming their challenges and celebrating their milestones and triumphs. However, it has been through my education in anti-bias work with young children that I truly feel I have found my calling.
The road to get here has been long and winding, and I'll admit there were more than a few detours along the way. That's life, I guess--never a straight line. Yet, it's all brought me to this point in life and my professional career as an Early Childhood Educator. Now, I can see the path unfolding in front of me. Whether I take it one step at a time or one step forward and two steps back is irrelevant, because I finally feel like I know where I'm going, and I'm excited about the journey. I am filling my tank with my most passionate hope for the future which is to share what I have learned about diversity and anti-bias education with as many as possible. By conducting teacher training workshops, parent coaching, program consulting, and openly advocating for early childhood education that includes anti-bias work, I hope to travel far and wide spreading optimism and excitement about the future of early childhood education as well as the positive outcomes it can render for children, families, and communities toward a peaceful, global society.
I would also like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Kien and all of my colleagues in the Walden University Early Childhood Studies Master's program. Your words, experience, diverse perspectives, learning process and response to my own have been greatly appreciated, tremendously supportive, and have certainly helped me grow to be a better person and teacher. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors and hope that our paths cross many times down the road. I will be continuing my blog and invite you all to click to follow me on your regular email. Please keep checking back and posting to share your own exciting experiences as together we learn to write our own Roadmaps to Wonderland. Happy travels!
Dear Angela,
ReplyDeleteWhat an exciting adventure ahead of you. Thank you for all your thoughtful comments and posts throughout this journey. I always enjoy reading your work. It does bring true happiness to find a cause that is important and meaningful on a personal level. My job has brought that joy to me as well. -Mary
Hi Angie,
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you have found your calling for teaching children. You seem very enthusiastic about teaching children and we need more enthusiastic educators that are excited about their jobs. We as educators play an influential part in the lives of the children we teach. With that being said, "[an] anti-bias education is an integral part of the "bricks and mortar" of emotional well-being as an emotional foundation upon which children fully develop their cognitive capacities" (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 17). More and more should be implementing an anti-bias approach in their classroom, as it will only benefit the students.
Reference:
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
Elizabeth