<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you remember the show Cheers<\/em>?\nFor me, like many (I assume) this show struck a chord with a young me. I loved\nto hear how each character was greeted with enthusiastic glee each time they\nentered the establishment. That fictional bar created an atmosphere that we\nearly educators should strive for; each character, with all their quirks and\nflaws, basked in the warm glow of belinging. This show stayed with me well\nbeyond its run many years ago. I yearn to be a regular somewhere; to hear my\nname exclaimed with joy when I arrived; to know that my presence and absence both\nmean something to someone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Close your eyes and picture the last time you truly felt\nlike you belonged somewhere. How would you define that feeling? Recently, I was\nat a conference and one of the presenters shared the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Inclusion is being invited to the party. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Acceptance is being asked\nto dance. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Belonging is\nbeing allowed to dance like no one is watching. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Such simple, but powerful imagery. And, a great analogy for the\nclassrooms we create for young children. For some time now, the world of\neducation has talked about inclusion; that it is important that we invite\neveryone to the party; including those that we may have passed over because\nthey are different or overlooked as \u201cless than\u201d. As educators, we have come to\nrealize that this inclusion is not only to the benefit of those we are now\ninviting, but that when we fold diversity into the party, it makes it better\nfor everyone, especially those already in the room. When we open our classrooms\nto all children, we are creating a learning environment that is richer for every\nchild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over time, we have come to realize that inclusion is only\nthe beginning of a just and equitable classroom. It is not enough to just invite\npeople to the party, we must be intentional about bringing people together within\nthat room. It is human nature to be drawn to people that look like you; this tribal\nmentality kept our species alive for millennial. However, just because it is our\nnature does not mean that we need to let it control us. If inclusion is about inviting\neveryone into the classroom; acceptance is about asking those guests to dance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The act of inclusion is easy, \u201cforcing\u201d people to be\ntogether in the same space can be mandated and governed. And many say that the\nwork is done when inclusion is the law. But we will never get better as a world\nif we stop there. We must be intentional about helping children see \u201cother\u201d as\nopportunity instead of threat. Inclusion is sometimes about pity; about giving \u201cthem\u201d\nan equal chance. Acceptance is about you. Asking someone to dance is to broaden\nyour world. Asking someone to dance is to maybe learn a new step or two. Asking\nsomeone to dance is to take a chance and grow as a human being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As educators, it is our job to help children see the value\nand joy in asking someone else to dance. The contention that children are color\nblind; that they do not see differences is a fallacy. Of course they see\ndifferences between people (to suggest otherwise is ludicrous and a copout);\njust like they notice differences between cars and flavors of ice cream. While\nchildren see differences, it is adults who teach them to judge these\ndifferences and to see them as barriers between us and them. A classroom of\nacceptance is intentional about bringing people together, about celebrating all\nthat makes us different while we value all that we have in common. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I used to think acceptance was a great goal for a classroom;\nthat each child can feel like they will be invited and asked to dance. But, when\nI stopped to think about is, this isn\u2019t really belonging. If you are being asked\nto dance, you better have an idea of how to move. If you are at a swing dance,\nyou better know how to Shag. If hip-hop is the music of the day, hopefully someone\nhas shown you how to Dougie. And, you don\u2019t want to embarrass yourself by tripping\nover your feet during the latest line dance if you are at a country dance (sorry,\ncan\u2019t name a line dance \u2013 not my thing). In all these instances, to be accepted,\none most often fold into the dominant culture of the space. To belong is to be\nvalued for who you are and to not be asked to be anyone but who you are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This idea of belonging also plays into challenging\nbehaviors. Conforming is exhausting. Having to constantly be on watch to make\nsure you are doing it right or that you will not be singled out for doing it\nwrong eventually erodes at your sense of self. Noticing differences is not a learned\ntrait, but shame is. And, when children feel like they don\u2019t belong, that\ninternalized shame and confusion can (and often will) lead to challenging\nbehaviors in the classroom. Cultivating an environment of belonging not only\nhonors and values each child, it will make your classroom a more joyful and\npeaceful place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I have been so lucky to find some places I belong; some\nwonderful spaces filled with amazing people who shout my name when I enter a\nroom. I am honored to share my life with some people who value me for who I am\nand allow me to dance as if no one were watching. Are children allowed to dance\nlike no one is watching in your classroom? How do you foster this sense of\nbelonging in your learning environment? <\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you think?\nEngage with me and others in the ECE community on my social media outlets. You\ncan also find more information about my book and available training sessions,\non any of the following: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook: Teacher as Gardener<\/p>\n\n\n\n LinkedIn: Michelle Salcedo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Website: michellesalcedo.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n My book Uncover the Roots of Challenging Behavior can\nbe purchased at Free Spirit Publishing or Amazon\n\nInterested\nin hearing more? Consider bringing me in as a speaker for your next\nProfessional Development event (you won\u2019t regret it). \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Do you remember the show Cheers? For me, like many (I assume) this show struck a chord with a young me. I loved to hear how each character was greeted with enthusiastic glee each time they entered the establishment. That fictional bar created an atmosphere that we early educators should strive for; each character, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,44,18,5,54,22,24,45,20,6,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/michellesalcedo.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/michellesalcedo.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/michellesalcedo.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michellesalcedo.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michellesalcedo.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/michellesalcedo.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336,"href":"http:\/\/michellesalcedo.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions\/336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/michellesalcedo.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michellesalcedo.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michellesalcedo.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}