By: Kim Siffring, Director of Montview Community Preschool & Kindergarten
Montview Community Preschool and Kindergarten is a parent cooperative that honors childhood by supporting diverse families and by educating children in a play-based environment, emphasizing the joy of discovery, creativity, wonder, and empowerment.
When reading over the mission statement what strikes me is that the first reference to how we honor childhood is “by supporting diverse families.” The school has consistently approached this founding principle with conscious and consistent examination of our practices. Along with knowing the importance of always learning more about the families that make up the Montview community, we dedicate time to study together to grow in our understanding of the field of diversity.
Every year the staff takes time to dig deeper into our individual comprehension of subjects that are beyond our day to day experiences. We do that to build our discernment of what others may be experiencing so we can become more empathetic and expand our teaching to better meet the needs of everyone who comes into our school. We each take the tenant of supporting diverse families seriously as does the school by dedicating time for these in-depth investigations.
The Staff Yearly Inclusion goals have varied through the years. The 2014 -2015 school year brought a deep study of the book, Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves written by Loise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards. The learning opportunities that this study offered included learning first hand from parent’s experiences at Montview through the lens of families of color, families with adopted children, families who received financial aid, families whose home language wasn’t English, single parents, LGBTQ parents, parents of children with special needs, and families of many religious backgrounds. The book is still used in the school and new staff members are expected to be familiar with the book.
The next year the staff studied and looked at the Food and Snack policy resulting in the policies we currently have. They worked hard to find a compromise between diverse family need and safety of children while at school. An expert was brought in to guide and add a professional opinion to the drafting of the policies we have now.
Inclusive Celebrations was the next study with the goal of building a more consistent approach to celebrations from classroom to classroom. This year-long investigation allowed the staff to develop a deeper comprehension of the importance that celebrations and rituals play in the lives of young children; being respectful to all the cultures represented in our school and not excluding one cultures rituals at the cost of another’s.
The following year found the staff tackling the heart wrenching topic of Gun Violence in Schools and Communities and the effect that has on young children. A child psychologist shared with the staff a personal perspective and research on the affects that gun violence may have on children ages 3 – 6. This study is a great example of how the staff at Montview doesn’t back down from looking deep into hard subjects.
Last year the study was about Gender Identity and what we need to know, as early childhood professionals, about the development of gender identity in young children. We learned so much from Dr. Sarah Burgamy, an expert in the field. She answered our questions and brought a lot of insight to our grasp of what children between the ages of 3 and 6 are experiencing in their perception of their personal gender identity.
This year we are looking at the topic of food scarcity and socio-economic diversity. The topic stemmed from a book all the classes read titled Thank You, Omu! By Oge Mora. After previewing the book the staff wanted to give back to the community in some manner around food scarcity which led us to volunteer at Metro Caring for a half day.
All of these opportunities have strengthened our commitment to put into action “supporting diverse families.” Thank you for the time away from the classroom so we can, as a cohesive group, work together to strengthen our knowledge of these important topics. These studies influence and support our growth so we can be more inclusive and thoughtful professionals that children and families ultimately benefit from.
A generous thanks to Kathy Bruce who shares her passion on this subject year round and specifically for sharing the most current history of the Staff Inclusion Goals that I used as research and a jumping off point for this article. If there are any mistakes they are all mine.
Most Sincerely,
Kim
