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“It’s Mine! I Don’t Want To Share It!” How do we teach our children equity?
Among all of us, I am sure one of the biggest problem in our classroom is to teach our young children to share their toys. I have half of my class four-year-old and the other half three-year-old children. The older children tend to build with the classroom materials either the Lego pieces or any manipulative toys in some degree of higher complexity. Just like the Hilltop Elementary School children, I experience everyday of “Power, Ownership and Equity” in my classroom. Sometimes I suggest some sort of rules and regulations to ensure the fairness to children all ages. But sometimes nothing seems to work. Then the last resort: Take the toys away. Ha! Peace at last! Problem solved! But after I read “Why We Banned Lego” by Ann Pelo and Kendra PeloJoaquin, I realized the importance of helping our young children to put the true meaning of power and ownership under the magnifying glasses. In our everyday life, we experience inequality everywhere. Whether it is our gender, our race, our age or our religion, we see inequity prevalent. Should we just silently accepted that this is just the way how it is or should we stand up for the injustice? Sometime we are so afraid of “Rock the boat” and we hesitate to fight what is being just. Our upbringing and our past experiences manifested our definition of equity. But if we are aware of them then we will instill in our young children what is just and how we would like to be treated justly. I read somewhere of this saying: When the power of love overcome the love of power, that is when the world sees peace.
“Pono” Doing the right thing.
I can’t believe all the negative criticism Ann Pelo and Kendra PeloJoiquin got from all the angry parents and even the Fox news. We understand that we are living in an unjustifiable world. But should we encourage our children to continue this social injustice? It may seems to be a small issue of teaching our children to share the Lego toys. But what we are teaching our next generation is the awareness of social injustice and how to become fair to all.
What do you mean you are not doing “This” way?
We are a culture that we think only our American way is the only right way and there is no other way. Other cultures may think that: Why your American way is better than our way? Because other countries do things differently that does not make them less important. As an educator, I always remind myself to have an open mind to accept other cultures different ways and learn from them.
Hi Ivy,
ReplyDeleteEducation is often said to be the means for making the world a better place. The point raised in the Facists article positions school as a place where social injustice should occur in order to prepare children for life. This whole frame of mind frustrates me so much! Essentially, these people are saying it is okay for people to be left out and for others to be privileged. So is it assumed that our job as teachers is to perpetuate this status quo?
I like your saying --When the power of love overcome the love of power, that is when the world sees peace. I wonder how schools and classroom dynamics might change if this was the mantra of schooling. When teachers really consider the presence of power in their classrooms and if they are the tolls which perpetuate it, could teaching become more about response to children and developing an understanding of humanity?
Jeanne
Hi Ivy,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that teaching children how to share toys with others is a big problem. In Japan,all students are taught "Follow the rules." Period! No excuse accepted! Teachers do not discipline students at school. It is parent's job. If some students do not share the school materials or play with others nicely, their parents are asked to come to school to discuss the issue. If big brother A hit younger brother B, their parent allows B to hit A back. This is an example how children learn to be equal. My mother always bought 2 cups of ice cream. one for my big sister and one for me. She always taught us to be equal even though there was age differences. I think I also learned how to respect each other. I respect my sister and appreciate her kindness because she have never taken away my toys and snack from me. She treated me as a person, not as a younger sister who does not have a power like her.
Since moving to Hawaii, I have learned that children in Hawaii are more aggressive and self-assertion like " Me, Myself,& I!" I agree with you that we need to flexible to accept culture differences.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI believe that sharing is something that has to be taught. Children don't know any better that's why we as teachers and parents need to teach children from infant and toddler age and on. Believe it or not children are bright people. They are able to catch on things that we don't even realize it. Children are mature enough to learn how to resolve problems and learn how to cooperate with others.
I also agree with being open-minded because our country is very diverse with many different ethnic backgrounds. Children should take the opportunity to learn different cultures and beliefs so they are able to adapt with different surroundings in life.
Aloha,
ReplyDeleteTeaching children to share is hard. But when a child is not done playing with a toy, he/she is not done. You can't take it away and give it to someone else. But yet, taking turns to play with the toy is more appropriate. It also depend on the age group. I like you phrase "The power of love overcome the love of power :)
Aloha Ivy,
ReplyDeleteYou discuss issues that I'm sure many early childhood educators can relate to. Why should we teach children about social injustice by allowing them to experience social injustice? That's like allowing them to feel pain by allowing them to get hurt (something we would never think of doing). I believe as advocates for young children we need to "rock the boat" in order to get our message across to others who don't see the significance of things--like teaching children about issues like power and equality. How have you taken a stand for young children? Did it require you to "rock the boat"?
You also mention about a core Hawaiian value "pono". Pono also resembles equality and justice and is a way we as teachers can help children learn more about social injustice. Through actions that are "pono" children can learn how to see the world through peace and live harmoniously.
Hi Ivy!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you regarding experiencing inequality in our everyday lives. To answer your question: “Should we just silently accept that this is just the way how it is or should we stand up for the injustice?” It depends on the situation. If you can win the argument speak up, if you can’t wait until you can. This way you won’t be wasting your time and energy. As far as teaching our children we (as teachers should teach them right and wrong. Give them the free choice to choose what is fair and not fair and the tools to change the things that is not fair.
Also, I like what you said: “When the power of love overcome the love of power, that is when the world sees peace.” This is so true “Happy Easter!”
When you were mentioned rocking the boat it really made me think of how many early childhood educators rather stay out of a situation rather than step in and do something about it. What is important to remember is that our main responsibility is the children. It is our job to look our for their best interest and do whatever is in our will to provide them with such. It may be a bit uncomfortable to rock the boat but sometimes it is necessary in order for things to change and hopefully improve. You mentioned our culture believing that there is one right way to do things and I have noticed that with many teachers. They have their way of doing things and this is how you would handle it if the situation were to ever arise.
ReplyDelete