Within the NAEYC organization,
it publishes a monthly magazine that provides stories of growth and development
of early childhood educators and their students. For the February/March issue, it featured an article on “Cultivated
the Identity, Agency and Voice of Young Black
Boys”. This
was intriguing to me because in many facets African American adolescent boys are scrutinized and viewed negatively. There are some that may disagree and
think that young African American boys are troublemakers and that they have an issue
with authoritative figures.
The article starts by describing parent
of a young African American couple attending a parent-teacher conference.
During the conference, the lead teacher
informs the parent that their child’s social and development is below average,
and his intellectual potential is average (Wright, 2019). The parents are
shocked by this information. However, the assistant teacher steps up to provide
the parents with an example of how the
child is overly energetic when playing with his fellow students. At the end of
the conference, the lead teacher admits
that she prejudged the child and that his behavior was indicative of a child first
time in a program (Wright, 2019).
According to Brian Wright(2019) “adults
often see Black boys as older and less innocent than their White peers (a
practice called adultification), and
their play is perceived as more
dangerous, violent, and not developmentally appropriate.” This highlights the notion of racial biases of
young African American boys in classrooms today. It is something I have witnessed
in conducting observations of childcare centers. These biases can create an
unwelcoming and discourage attitude towards these children and create an
environment where they are denied opportunities
to grow and excel academically. At the end of this article, it outlined several questions to ask yourself to do a self-reflection of yourself. Helping one to identify your pitfalls/ bias towards these young boys. For me, this article was able to bring light to an issue that is controversial to some but a reality to many. I believe that regardless of your race, culture, or gender that equal opportunity to learn and grow must be afforded to all. Do not be so quick to judge and place people or children into a box without getting to know their story.
References:
Wright, B. L.
(2019, February). Black Boys Matter: Cultivating Their Identity, Agency, and
Voice. Teaching Young Children, 12(3). Retrieved from
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/feb2019/black-boys-matter
This is very interesting and sad information. I really like your final statement, we need to get to know our students. To form relationship with and become knowledgeable about their story and how we can reach them.
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