Child's Idea About A Different Group of People

When I was in my field placement last week, I overheard a very interesting conversation between a few of my first graders. Many of the students live in the same apartment building and talk about their experiences together about being at home. One student was talking about the building she lives in. She started describing to me that all of the doors in the apartment were green. This really bugged her and she said that she wished they could all be a different color. The other girl agreed and said she wished she could change it too. I suggested to the girls that maybe they could make some artwork and hang it outside the door to decorate a little more. The girls thought this was a good a idea but then started complaining about the smell in the hallway. The first girl said, "Those dang Russians are always stinking up the hallway." I was really taken off guard by this comment. She went on, "Those Russians stink up the hallway because of all the food they make. Their food smells sooooo bad. And they cook a lot. But sometimes though they can cook up some really good meals." Well, I asked her how she knew they were Russian, and she tried to avoid my question. The best answer I got was that she had heard it from an older girl who also lives in the building. Then from the rest of the conversation I got the impression that she had been invited to dinner to eat sometime before, but I wasn't entirely sure because her comments were not consistent. This made me think that this girl had these preconceived notions about the "Russians," based on what she had been told by different people. It seemed to me however, that she very strongly believed that only the Russians in her building would cook strong smelling food. I just found this conversation very interesting and found it worth mentioning. This was the result of a young impressionable girl taking on ideas that may or may not be true of a group of people. I fear that these notions will stick with her, and begin a cycle of stereotypes or worse. It is important that as teachers, we realize how impressionable these kids really are, and that they are influenced by many outside sources. This is why in teaching it is so important to get at the students misconceptions and previous knowledge, ideas, and understandings, in order to start breaking those walls down.

First Grade Religion Debate

In my field placement full of first graders, we were discussing a social studies lesson on leadership. The students were generating a list of leaders on the white board, when one child raised her hand and said, "God." Another child raised his hand and said his leader was Jesus. This sparked a debate between five or six children. They were debating whether God and Jesus were the same person or not. One child said, "God is Jesus so he doesn't count as two different leaders." Another child said, "No God is Jesus' dad so they are two different leaders." My teacher proceeded to write both names on the board and allowed the children to talk it out with each other. Some children did not even know who "Jesus" was. This conversation among six year olds, made me come to a very important realization. Children are bringing their backgrounds, culture, religion, and diverse beliefs to the classroom even this early in their education. It is important to keep this in mind as teachers, even in the younger grades because it does have an effect on the students and how they accept your teaching.