Friday, May 23, 2014
Homophobia in Early Childhood Education
While doing research to complete my blog entry this week, I found a wonderful handbook online called “BUILDING BRIDGES: Queer Families in Early Childhood Education” here is the link http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/atkinson/UserFiles/File/Resources_Topics/Resources_Topics_Diversity/BuildingBridges.pdf I found this information to be laid out in a very organized and easy to understand format, as well as extremely informative. The book includes a timeline of legal precedence in LGBT cases as well vocabulary definitions. I would suggest any educator, especially those working with young children and families to go through this hand book.
Some of the ways you noticed that homophobia and heterosexism permeate the world of young children including books, movies, toys, stores, culture of early childhood centers, and schools.
Heterosexism is very prominent in Early Childhood Education, but easily goes unnoticed. The most prominent example is in the make-up of the staff. The majority of the staff in an Early Childhood facility is primarily made up of women. (Janmohamed and Campbell 2009) This automatically stereotypes women as caregivers. When programs do hire men they are usually not working with the children who are in diapers or still potty training. The reluctance to allow men to attend to toileting needs limits the amount of men who can work in a program. (2009)
Many teachers who are biased themselves encourage gender stereotypes. They do this indiscreetly by not permitting boys to wear dress up clothes or play with dolls and giving boys preference over playing in the block area over girls. It is also done by excluding books and other teaching materials that depict LGBT families. This indirectly gives the message that these types of families are not normal and that the subject is taboo.
Personally, I can relate this feeling to not seeing any toys, literature, movies, T.V. shows, etc. depicting bi-racial families. This made me feel as though my family was not being acknowledged and in a way, rejected.
Your response to those who believe that early childhood centers should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families.
My response to those who wish to keep materials that include LGBT families out of Early Childhood programs is that the world is changing and we need to change to. We do not even teach the same content that was 30 years ago, why keep the same bigoted mentality from 30 years ago? As educators our job is not to agree with the families and children that we work with, but to support them and encourage them. I think that many teachers feel that by offering materials that depict LGBT families that they are promoting a life style that they may not believe in. What teachers need to realize, is that by putting their own feelings aside and showing LGBT families in a positive light, they are building that child’s self esteem and self worth.
References
Zeenat Janmohamed and Ryan Campbell, Building Bridges: Queer Families in Early Childhood Education. 2009 Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development, Toronto, Ontario Canada. Retrieved from: http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/atkinson/UserFiles/File/Resources_Topics/Resources_Topics_Diversity/BuildingBridges.pdf
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi April,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post on LGBT families! Your right, as eductors we need to support and nuture all types of families that walk into our centers. Also, as eductors we must accept the practices of all families as valid and important.
I agree that sometimes teachers can feel like they are promoting a lifestyle. I think we need to think about it is showing children the world and exposing them to life around them. This is reality in our community and we are just helping them learn correctly about it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the resource you found! I also thank you for bringing up the issue with the absence of males in the field. I recently had a male preschool teacher who got a lot of looks and questions of why he wanted to work with children. I had so many conversations with parents who didn’t want him to supervise their child while in the bathroom and even some who didn’t want him in the classroom during nap time. He has been in the field for a while, and sadly would be very self-conscious about his interactions with the children in the center. I really feel like this hampered his ability to work with young children.
ReplyDeleteYou make a very bold statement when you say it is not our job to agree with the children and families we work with, but to encourage and to strengthen them. This is a powerful statement! It is so hard for people to put their own biases aside when working with children. Often times people think that because they are the "teacher" that they have all the right answers, and this is not the case. There is so much for teachers to learn, especially when they put their own biases to the side!
ReplyDelete