Anti-bias Goal 3
According to Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2010), bias has permeated the system, making children grow up with some form of prejudice or the other. The antibias goal I have chosen is the one that that aims at ensuring that each child will be able to identify unfairness, describe it using the right language, and understand the hurtful effects of unfairness on other people. This goal means that children that go through my hands would be in a position to accurately spot bias in whichever form that it might present itself and use the right term to describe it. Children are the only chance that educators have in shaping the mindsets of the next generation, making them aware that bias is not a solution but a problem that requires the collective efforts of everyone to crush. By achieving this goal, people would have taken the first step in achieving social justice.
To foster an understanding of the goal, I would first evaluate the stereotypes that the children might possess on diversity. This evaluation would give me an idea of where the children stand in terms of their attitudes. I would then ensure that the children from diverse groups interact together under supervision, and if one of them crosses the line, I would gently correct the child and explain the right way. I would also pair the children to cultivate strong friendship ties, where they would have to do most things together. It would teach them how to be sensitive to others.
In efforts to achieve this goal, I might experience challenges that include parents who have a biased way of thinking. Parents shape the characters and behaviours of the children since they are the ones who are at home with the children. Children are very impressionable, especially at young ages. They tend to emulate what they see and hear. Cohen (1987), parents act as a basis for emulation for their children. The other challenge I might encounter is children that do not want to change and instead continue harbouring their biases.
To curb the challenge presented by the parents, I would hold meetings with them and try and explain the goal that I want to achieve, stressing on the benefits of having a child that does not harbour any biases. For the second challenge, I would persistently continue to educate the child, making sure that I try and get through to the child.
To try and achieve this goal, I would make use of a couple of developmentally appropriate methods, which include grouping them in small groups, allowing them to work with each other and collaborate in different settings. The other method is reading to them texts that aim to breakdown bias and show the effects of bias in ways that they can understand.
Reference
Cohen, J. (1987). Parents as educational models and definers. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 339-351.
Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-Bias Education. Antibias education for young children and ourselves, 1-10.