Plan of Action Form
Early Childhood Education Undergraduate Diversity Experience
Student Name:____Ericka Velez____ Advisor:___Sudha Swaminathan______
Statement of the Problem:
(In this section discuss what you think the main need/issue/concern is and why you are choosing this focus)
The world that we live in is full of diversity, from the different ethnicities, cultures, genders, class, and sexual identities, to the different sized families we come from. As a teacher we must be acknowledgeable of all these differences and have a genuine understanding of them all in order to work with children from diverse backgrounds. It is through experiences that I will be able to better prepare myself to teach in such a diverse society.
For this experience I have decided to expose myself to the different types of families that children are being raised from. Right now our society is going through a change; it is now becoming more accepting of gay couples and marriages. Thus having an effect on the type of families that children are being raised in. It is my job as an aspiring teacher to get more comfortable with this matter and to be more informed about it. I feel this is important because the families that children come from have a great impact on children and I would not want any child feeling uncomfortable or ashamed about talking about their family. Children should be able to openly express and discuss what their home life is like; because in the end the only thing that matters is that children are from a loving family not who the family is composed of.
Main Objectives or Purpose:
(Discuss both what you hope to get from this experience and what you hope your efforts will accomplish)
From this experience I plan on seeing how children react to the different types of families mentioned in the story as well as the families mentioned from their fellow classmates. Children are more tolerant of different things but they also can sometimes be a little harsh when they lack understanding of a matter. I hope to give the children in these two classrooms some understanding on different types of families so that they can be accepting of the different types of families their classmates have.
My goal for this experience is to help these children understand that everyone has different families and that it is okay for their family to be different. In return I will be able to see how children view these different families and what they think about it. As well as how diverse each classroom is, after having this experience I will see how many children have actually have the not so typical family household of a mom, dad, and brother or sister.
Location:
(Be sure you provide evidence of permission or contact with the individual or group with whom you plan to work)
I plan on visiting two different kindergarten classes in elementary schools from different developed environments. The first school I plan on visiting is Dwight Elementary in Hartford; I chose this school because it was located in an urban area and because I attended it from kindergarten to second grade. The school I plan on visiting is HebronAvenueElementary School located in Glastonbury.
I have not yet received permission from these schools but plan on contacting them before and getting their permission before the end of their school term this year.
Details/Procedures:
(Be very specific by stating step-by-step procedures to implement your experience)
For my experience I plan on arriving to the classrooms early in the day and interacting with the children so that they can become familiar with me; and so that the activity can go smoother. To begin the lesson I will read The Family Book by Todd Parr and then have the children discuss what they thought of the families in the story. I will then have different colored construction paper laid out on the tables with crayons, makers, pencils, and pens. I will show the children a hand drawn picture of my family and explain who is in my picture. I will then ask the children to draw a picture of their own families, as they finish I will put together a family book for their classroom. When everyone is done I will have them all meet on the rug so that we can go through the book together and each child can explain who is in the picture they drew.
Timeline of Implementation:
In the month of June I will contact the two schools I plan to visit and make arrangements for me to carryout this experience in the fall.
Over the summer I will do research on the different types of families that children have and the affect of having these types of families have on children. I will read Widening The Family Circle: New Research On Family Communicationby Kory FloydandMark T. Morman, Baby Steps: How Lesbian Alternative Insemination Is Changing the World by Amy Agigian, and any other books I can find that will give me more background information better preparing myself before going into these classrooms.
In September I will call the schools again and confirm my visits and then I will carry out the experience sometime in October or November depending on the school’s schedules.
Student Signature:______Date:______Advisor Signature:______Date:______