Shandy Gledhill

HD 25: Anti-Bias Blog Project

     Imagine for a moment how music makes you feel.  Think about the different types of music you seek out to accompany your different moods.    What does your body do naturally to the rhythm of music?  Also think about the different people who introduce you to new music.  How are you affected by the music in relation to who introduced it to you?  How would your life be different without music?  Often music contributes to how I imbed my memories. When music is a part of an event I experience, I recall the moment when I hear the song.  Do you do this?  Music is in many aspects of our lives.  It is the sound, nature makes when she speaks.  This sound is so powerful we can feel its vibrations.  I hope I am setting the stage for defining how music has powerful effects on each one of us in many ways.  Due to this fact I view music as a tool to teach multiple lessons in Early Childhood Education Facilities. 

     Children are naturally drawn to the pleasant elements of music and dance.  I have seen this displayed in children I know who are a part of my friends and family.  I have also seen this displayed in child care facilities, and preschools.  At my current place of employment we have morning circle time that focuses on interactive song and dance activities.  This is a nice way for us to formally acknowledge who is in class for the day, while having a pleasant kinesthetic, auditory, and visual experience.  It appears to promote uplifted spirits in children and staff.  I decided to hone in on this wonderful fact and create a lesson plan titled “Cultural Dances”.  This activity can be found in our text “Roots and Wings”, on page 194.  For this curriculum to be successful families, staff, and the local community should be invited to participate.  In many cases I believe in the saying “It takes a village to raise a child”.  Involve these various groups by asking if anyone would be willing to come and demonstrate a traditional dance from their child’s home culture.  For community involvement, focus on the cultures that are represented in the classroom.  Ask that these performances are done in current/ nontraditional clothing.  As children engage in dancing ask them to notice how they feel. Guide them to pay attention to the movement of their bodies, and how the sounds affect their mood.

     I suggest presenting this activity in the beginning of the school year so that it can be utilized as a tool throughout the program term.  I think this activity should be presented at large group time.  Begin by talking about music.  Ask children about music they like, and don’t like.  This will help identify where potential bias may be hidden.  This information will also help the teacher know where, and when to present challenging material to counter these bias.  I believe children will respond in a positive manner due to the nature of the activity.  It provides an opportunity for children to be active, silly, and play with each other.  This playful environment establishes a positive atmosphere that encourages children to learn about unfamiliar concepts.  The materials need for this activity include: CD’s of diverse cultural music, musical instruments, and people relevant to the classroom who are willing to share their cultural dances with the group. 

         I believe at any age children are ready to hear and see cultural music.  For this activity I think the developmentally appropriate age is 5 years old and above.  I have several reasons for this.  The primary reason is that noticing similarities and differences starts in infancy, and is further developed through our early childhood teaching style of classification.  It is our job as teachers to provide curriculum which recognizes and promotes respect for these concepts.  In our text “Roots and Wings”, page 42, it states that white children’s self-esteem seems to be associated with their race.  In other words, they use race as one way to feel good about themselves.  For this fact it is important to expose white children to diverse cultures in a positive manner.  This activity is great because, cultural dance is something that is regarded as special.  People within these cultures love, value, and appreciate the beauty of this tradition.  White children need to see what diverse cultures take pride in and why.  Ideas, values and morals that we take pride in establish the foundation for our self-concept, and self-esteem.  On page 43 in our text “Roots and Wings”, it also states that children of color who have had negative attitudes about their black racial identity tended to also have negative attitudes towards white people.  This means the teachers need to provide positive experiences for children of color with white children.  If this is not accomplished the classroom environment is in jeopardy of perpetuating racism, and prejudiced.  Dancing….dancing……dancing….I this this is an awesome way to promote peace. 

     Children are long-time fans of story books.  When introducing any activity into the classroom always consider how a book might help aid in presenting concepts.  One book I enjoy is titled “Charley Parker Played Be Bop”, by: Chris Raschka.  It is a fun book about the famous saxophone player.  This type of music can also be played during nap time to connect the relation.  Another book I find children like is titled “Let’s Make Music”, by: Jessica Baro Turner.  This book is about how to make musical instruments children can use while participating in cultural dances.  I like this because it adds extension to the activity, and promotes more interaction through scaffolding from the original concept.

       In the handout “Anti-Bias Activity Goals,” I noticed several goals that are met when presenting cultural music, and dance in this manner.  I specifically chose these 3 to be what I feel the dominate goals of this activity.  1) “Introduce children to other cultures.”  By inviting family, and community member into the classroom children are presented an opportunity to interact with more people in an environment they know and feel safe in.  As discussed earlier this type of environment encourages, and supports closer and more in depth interactions with those who are otherwise unfamiliar.  2) “Provide children with a positive experience exploring similarities and differences.”  Providing children with an opportunity to be active promotes the release of endorphins, which provide a pleasant experience to our mind and bodies. In this state of being children are more likely to be accepting and have a positive experience with cultural diversity.  3) “Increase children’s ability to interact, talk and play with people who are different from them.”  By presenting cultural music and dance represented in the classroom provides an authentic experience, which allows children to make connections to larger concepts/ pictures easier.

     To further extend this activity I encourage taking a fieldtrip to a live cultural dance performance.  This allows children a chance to experience a professional view of practiced performers.  I also think creating a personalized or group dance curriculum activity would be fun.  Many children are already natural performers.  Start by letting children choose music styles from what has been a part of the curriculum, or their own home dance.  Encourage children to choreograph their own dances for classroom performances.  Another activity should include instrument exposure, followed by instrument making. 

     Anti-bias curriculum is as we have learned, extremely important.  As todays early childhood education teachers, social and emotional development is at the core of what we do.  In order to be successful to the children and families we serve we must recognize them for who they are and what they contribute to our society.