"You’re not supposed to be wearing that; that’s for boys," said *Jacob to *Sierra who was wearing work boots and a Home Depot racing jacket, during literacy time one day in my kindergarten classroom.
The teacher quickly spoke up and said "students can dress however they want Jacob; Sierra is cold and that jacket looks good and warm!" This distracted the students and got them back to literacy!
Society has already drilled into the heads of these kindergarten students what is socially acceptable, and the “Metonymic Fallacy,” the portrayal of white middle class women as standing in for the experiences of all women (to be considered "normal" boys and girls must act a certain way). Just because Sierra was wearing something that society has portrayed as being "masculine." Sierra was considered abnormal by Jacob because she is a girl, and in Jacobs mind (and many others) girls should be wearing "girl like" things (dresses, pink clothes, etc.).
I could relate Sierra to the Mansfield girls in Lyn Michael Browns article "In the Bad or Good of Girlhood." The girls in this article were all great girls, but did things a little differently than society constructs, so they were left out, and not made to feel welcome. This feeling of not belonging can be a real boundary for children, and it's probably only a matter of time before Sierra, and other students who want to wear something that is not usually considered "normal" do not feel as though they can wear what they want because there will be social consequences for wearing something that is seemingly “abnormal.” I think that Sierra expected that the teacher would say something (and she did) which made Sierra feel more comfortable, unlike in the Mansfield girl's case, when the teacher was not even on their side when it came to differences.
I thought the teacher in this classroom handled this disruption in a fast efficient way, which worked for the time being. But Jacob and the other students in the class probably did not understand what they were doing that was so wrong in the first place (they have always learned that girls should be “girls” and boys should be “boys”), and would surely benefit from learning information about peoples differences.
No child is exactly the same, and all children deserve to come to school without the worry of being left out and made fun of. This school has a wide variety of students from different cultures, and backgrounds, who have different beliefs and thoughts. This school, and all schools, need culturally competent teachers, who incorporate different cultures, encourage children to talk about differences, and encourages children to learn. Teachers must be aware of, and account for, all the differences that students have and educate students about people’s differences. It will be very difficult, in this day and age, to stop all of this discrimination because so much of our society depicts boys and girls to be a certain way. But no progress is made unless we, as teachers, take small steps to stop this in our classrooms.
*Not actual names
Janna this is a great example. I agree that the teacher handled it very well, but you still wonder what Sierra thought. Will that comment have a lasting effect on her? You are so right, I am sure Jacob did not have any idea what he was doing and did not even mean his comments in a mean way. I did not experience anything like this in my VIPS tutoring, but I think my teacher would have handled it in the same way. Children are all different and I think as a teacher we should encourage and celebrate students differences. We can learn so much from our students and they can learn a lot from their peers, if they were all the same just think of how boring the classroom would be. I also agree the culturally competency is so important, if your teacher had not been she may not have corrected Jacob when he made the comment to Sierra. Great story!
ReplyDeleteJana,
ReplyDeleteI can’t believe that children at such a young age already have all of this knowledge about what is socially acceptable. I completely agree with you that the teacher handled it well and that she needs to explain to Jacob why it is wrong to say those types of comments. When I read this I immediately thought of Megan Boler’s article “All Speech is Not Free” and how she proposes an affirmative action pedagogy. She states that we must challenge students to critically analyze any statement made in a classroom especially statements that on the basis of race, gender, class or sexual orientation. By doing this we can create a safe environment for the students where they are not judged based on their differences. If a child can say what he said then imagine what else these children would say if we do not speak up especially seeing as how your school is so diverse. I know that when I become a teacher I want to promote difference and celebrate diversity in my classroom. I think that it is crucial for students to be educated about peoples differences at a young age so they can grow up knowing why it is wrong to make those kinds of comments.
Jana,
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the incident between *Jacob and *Sierra, it instantly reminded me of a similar situation at my school placement. I tutored five, third grade students and two of them were twin girls. Every time I tutored the group, the twin girls were dressed identically. They enjoyed dressing alike and they didn’t think anything was wrong with their appearance. But the other children in the group, loved to comment about it. The children found it funny that the girls dressed alike. One twin preferred the color blue and the other twin loved the color pink, yet they still dressed alike. The children were also jealous that the girls were allowed to work together in the group. They also disliked the fact that they received attention from teachers about how cute they looked being dressed alike.
As I continued to read your blog, I realized that the children at both school placements, were very quick to criticize the other children who dressed differently, just because they did not follow the norms of society according to dress. I feel the teacher responded appropriately to *Jacob when she said students can dress however they want. I know the twins in my classroom felt reassured when I complemented them on their outfits after the other children picked on them. Unfortunately society has influenced these young children into distinguishing between “normal” and “abnormal” appearances.
Unlike *Sierra, the twin girls in my classroom, did not care about what their fellow peers thought of them. They felt confident in their choice to dress alike. Teachers today need to instill that confidence in all students so they can feel comfortable with the decisions that they make. Not like the Mansfield teacher, who was not on the student’s side when it came to differences. In my opinion she acted just as ignorant as the other students.
-Amanda L.
This is an exceptionally thoughtful post, Jana. I love your Home Depot jacket! Your application of Brown's study is relevant and strong.
ReplyDeleteWell done,
Dr. August