Emerging Work: Global Education in the Early Years

Young Children as Advocates

Dana Bentley, Beginner North Teacher

Betty Chan, Beginner North Teacher

Over the past week we have been doing some critical reading of the text The Water Princess. Through our readings, and critical thinking about this book, we are working on several different issues, and some fascinating plans are emerging. We would like to share with you some conversation that emerged from the book, and our curricular thinking around these discussions.

Re-Reading, Re-Telling, and Thinking Critically

What do we know about The Water Princess?  What is important to know about this story?

Alex: When they collect the water it was dirty.
Christopher: They don’t have any sinks.

Joe: That there is real pictures of the water princess.

Audrey: Those are people who are actually getting real water.

Gia: They boil it to get it clean.

Nyla: They have to walk so far.

Alex: When they rested, they ate the shea nuts and we don’t know what shea nuts are.

Thomas: We do know about chestnuts.

Teacher Reflection

In this retelling of our memories we are working on several elements of learning. We are working on comprehension, illuminating essential components of the story, and integrating our memories with the memories of others. When engaging deeply with a text, we read it many times, developing deep understandings, questions, and critical questions that can only emerge from developing strong relationships with a work.

Emergent Curriculum and Combating Stereotypes

Why are we reading The Water Princess?

Gia: Shreya's Word Wizard was "princess" and people were talking about princesses, the ones which were not what Shreya drew. So Shreya is right about some princesses but some are not like that.
Audrey: Everyone was talking about princesses like Mulan and Moana.

Thomas: It’s just like Wonder Woman.

Eleanor: It’s the water princess.

Audrey: It means she can go in the water.

Teacher Reflection

This question and the following responses exemplify the ways that provocations in the classroom inspire children’s critical thinking, and how those ideas and discussions are then reframed as curriculum.  Through the practice of Word Wizard, a complex discussion about the highly gendered construct of “princess” emerged. The children offered different perspectives on this concept; we as teachers used this as a inspiration to begin problematizing the stereotype through rich discussion and literature, such as The Water Princess. The children see themselves, their story, and their questions reflected in the ever-evolving curriculum challenging them to engage authentically with anti-bias work.

Connecting with the Larger World: Global Education in Early Childhood

Is this story happening now, or a long time ago?

Tom: It's a long time ago.  Because there is no airplanes in the desert and the desert is not near the earth.

Gia: I think it’s a long, long time ago. Because princesses were a long, long time and they are now extinct.

Eleanor: She couldn’t control the water. It’s the only thing she could not control.

Nyla: I think it’s real because princesses are alive right now. And I heard you say it was now.

Joe: It was a long time ago but not really. Because it was like this long.

Audrey: It was a really, really long time ago. Because the book makes it seem a really long time ago. It was real. It seems like it was really long. It might be right now.

Shreya: it was a long, long time ago because maybe then they don’t know yet if that’s its true but they know a little but of that.

Eleanor: The book is a long time ago because those houses don’t look like what they are now.

Audrey: We can go to the supermarket and get that we are lucky. Since we have a supermarket, we can go and we don’t have to walk

Thomas: We can bring all the water jugs we don’t need and bring to goodwill and they can have it. It sells it to kids and people that are homeless that don’t have money!

Teacher Reflection

We framed this question because we want to support the children in understanding the larger world and needs beyond their own. When reading books such as these, it is easy for the children to distance themselves with ideas of “long, long ago” because global realities are so far from their experiences.  Through these conversations, we work with the children to understand their thinking, and to help them develop an age-appropriate awareness of larger needs in the world and the ways they might have an impact.

Identifying an Issue, Making a Plan: Initial Conversations in Global Projects

At this point, we chose to share some information with the children.  Beginners North was awarded an Urban Connections Grant for the 2017-2018 year, entitled Young Children as Advocates.  We have been working with the children over the course of the year, looking for the ways in which advocacy would emerge from their work.  We shared this information with them, explaining:

We got something called a grant. This means that we have a little bit of money and we have to use it for our class to help people. We have been worrying about this, and wondering what we should do
with the money.  We have been wondering about how you would like to help.  What do you think? What are your ideas?

Nyla: We could go to the supermarket and buy all those things, and then we can donate them to places and to kids who walk (like in the Water Princess).  And if we have leftovers, we can just go to the supermarket and buy more stuff.  In the book they have no water and no food.  Oh wait, I think they have food!
Gia: They have shea nuts.

Eleanor We can’t go to the supermarket. We have to go on a long field trip and we have to go on a school bus to a supermarket. It would take a long time. Also, kids might want to buy food for themselves!

Tom: I don’t think that it would be long. I know a market.

Thomas: The teachers won’t buy you something because they are teachers. Teachers don’t buy stuff.  Remember those money boxes  that we made? (referring to our Halloween UNICEF boxes) 

Eleanor: People that want their money to come to this class, you can give it to them and they can give it you back.  Then they can come to this class.

Thomas: We could bring it (money) to the delivery plane and it could fly to Africa.

Shreya: We could. Sometimes I see a truck that sells me some mail. I think maybe we could mail the water to the girls. And the people that need it. And it put it in the mail airplane and because I see it when I was at a beach.

Joe: So you should actually if people give you more money then you will get a lot of groceries. For our class in case we run out.

Nyla: We could donate the money to the shop people and we could get all the food and people need and deliver it to Africa and every other kid that needs it. And if I had a little more money I could deliver it to the school and we could add it.

Alex: The people that don’t have food are the poor people. Poor means you don’t have a lot of money and drinks.

Eleanor: Maybe we could like take a field trip and then donate some money.

Teacher reflection

To begin this conversation, we presented the children with a genuine problem/question, framing them as problem solvers and planners. This process supports children in engaging in deep critical thinking, as they are given real information, framed within their understandings of real issues in the world. The authenticity inherent in this process frames children as leader and change makers in the world. In these early conversations, you will notice that we give children the flexibility to express all of their ideas.  If you listen closely to the conversation, they are offering perspectives and plans, shifting their own thinking, and coming closer to developing cohesive thinking about social action.  Our conversation closed with the children noticing, “We have lots of different ideas!  But only a little bit of money.”  There was silence in the room, soon followed by Eleanor’s voice:

“We could put our ideas all together!”

This solution was met with enthusiasm from the rest of the class.  We look forward to the unfolding of this important work in Beginners North.