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Leadership and Empowerment for All Ages Issue 3 - Season 4: Big Kids Edition 2 Season 4 : Big Kids EditionLeadership and Empowerment for All Ages Creator: Gail Joseph Managing Editor: Melissa Woodrow Authors: Sophie Biddle, Amber Costello Contributing Authors: Sheely Mauck Designer: Ceci Skolrud Copy Editor: Callie Stoker-Graham Circle Time Magazine Issue 3, 2021 For questions or comments contact ctmag@uw.edu This document was prepared with support from the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and in partnership with School’s Out Washington (SOWA). For more great resources on this topic, and to watch the Circle Time Magazine professional development talk show series, check us out at: Circle Time Magazine – Cultivate Learning. 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 13 16 17 Contents Notes to Educators Highlights and Key Ideas Youth Voices Let’s Talk About It Pyramids for All Ages Resources for Educators Strategy Spotlight: Stop, Drop, and Roll Two-Minute Tips Lesson Plan Child-Led Planning and Reflection Sheet Practical Strategies: Promoting Dive Into Books Library Time Let’s Reflect! 18 19 203 Season 4 : Big Kids EditionLeadership and Empowerment for All Ages Notes to Educators This season we are focusing on supporting school-age children in Expanded Learning Opportunities (ELO) programs. ELO programs include places where children are cared for before school, after school, or during summer and school vacations. Many providers serve both early childhood and school-age children. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some providers are serving school-age kids for the first time; other ELO programs are serving school-age kids all day while also supporting remote learning. This issue will review practices to support both experienced and new ELO providers. In this issue we will be diving into leadership opportunities and empowerment strategies for all ages. We will continue to focus on what it means to have an anti-bias, antiracist, and culturally responsive program. When thinking about children’s leadership and empowerment, it is important to reflect on our own beliefs about a person’s age and their leadership capabilities. Children are often discounted or dismissed due to their age. This is a type of bias called adultism. Adultism refers to behaviors and attitudes based on the assumption that adults are better than children and are entitled to act upon children without their agreement. This mistreatment is reinforced by social institutions, laws, customs, and attitudes. We may also dismiss a person’s capacity for leadership based on biases around developmental and physical disabilities. Dismissing “If you give kids the chance to lead, I feel like they could really surprise you.” - Cydalise, Youth Voices, Jr. Host children’s thoughts, feelings, and ideas means missing out on a wealth of information, experience, and opportunities. 1 There are varying degrees in which we have absorbed these ideas. Some examples are overt, like dismissing children when they contribute thoughts, or actively excluding children from a leadership opportunity based on their disability. Other examples might be less obvious or happen subconsciously. Everyone, regardless of age or ability, has the capacity for leadership. Finding ways to provide leadership opportunities and empowering children is important. You can do this by asking children to decide how they want to spend their time. Letting them make choices about activities helps you better adapt your program to the specific children in your care. Creating opportunities for young children to have choice builds important decision-making skills that lay the foundation for fostering responsibility and leadership skills. When children get to choose what activities to opt in to, they are more likely to stay engaged, which can also reduce challenging behavior. Over time you’ll build a sense of what activities your children are most likely to be interested in, which will make your program even more effective and engaging. 1 Polakow, V. (2018). None for you: Children’s capabilities and rights in profoundly unequal times. In M. N. Bloch, B. B. Swadener, and G. S. Cannella (Eds.), Reconceptualizing early childhood education and care—A reader (2nd ed.). Peter Lang. Season 4 : Big Kids EditionLeadership and Empowerment for All Ages 4 Definitions and key terms: What is an ELO program? ELO stands for Expanded Learning Opportunities. ELO programs include places where children go before school, after school, or during the summer. Adultism: “Refers to behaviors and attitudes based on the assumption that adults are better than young people, and entitled to act upon young people without their agreement. This mistreatment is reinforced by social institutions, laws, customs, and attitudes.” 2 Ageism: A form of discrimination based on stereotypes or assumptions about people’s capabilities based on their age alone. Anti-bias: The act of actively opposing or prohibiting unfair discrimination against people based on race, religion, abilities, gender, apperance, and other unchangeable aspects of one’s identity. It means preventing or counteracting bias. Being anti-bias includes values of respecting and embracing difference. Highlights and Key Ideas Antiracist: The active and conscious effort to oppose acts of racism. Antiracism requires the active resistance of racism and the creation of policies, practices, and procedures to promote racial equity. Culturally responsive: When providers are aware of and support children’s backgrounds. There are materials that reflect diverse cultures, languages, and experiences in the program space, as well as connections to children’s family and community resources. Key objectives in this issue: 1. Understand that leadership opportunities are possible for children across the development spectrum. 2. Understand connections and complexities of supporting leadership and empowerment within an anti-bias, antiracist, and culturally responsive program environment. 3. Identify strategies for empowering children and scaffolding leadership skills. 2 Bell, J. (1995). Understanding Adultism: https://actioncivics.scoe.net/ pdf/Understanding_Adultism.pdf A key tenant of high-quality ELO programming is centering youth voice. This season we’re lucky to have two Jr. Hosts to help us hear directly from children about the topics we’re exploring. Our Jr. Hosts, Gabby (age 10) and Cydalise (age 12), asked their friends Olivia (age 10) and Wesley (age 13) questions about youth leadership. Below are some of their responses. Q: What makes someone a leader? Wesley: “It is not about social status but instead the ability to help people and make sure that everyone in your group wins.” Gabby: “I think what makes someone a leader is someone who is passionate, someone that has patience, waits for someone to figure out what to do, and someone who’s not rude and yelling at people.” Q: When was a time you had to be a leader? Wesley: “In my martial arts class, since I had been training for a while, I would be asked to help train the other group. It was my job to help them with forms and technique.” Gabby: “In karate, a time I got to be a leader would be showing a group how to do something, like he would call on me and I would show people how to do a kick or block. It made me feel really warm inside because I was one of the people that he chose to let me do that.” Q: How do you feel when adults let you lead? Wesley: “It depends on the situation. As a true Gemini, I have two forms: I can be really outgoing and be a great leader, or I can be very shy and not want to be the leader. If it is just dumped on me, it creates a bunch of stress, making it harder to lead. If I’m asked to lead or I lead voluntarily and help others how I’m supposed to, then I feel good about it.” Q: What does leadership teach you? Olivia: “What leadership should teach you is to listen and to be kind and to respect others, not only for yourself, but not to be selfish when other people are asking for something that you don’t want to help with. You must help because it’s the right thing to do.” Q: What would you like to tell adults about kids’ leadership abilities? Cydalise: “I think that kids’ leading abilities are amazing and that they can almost be limitless. If you give kids the chance to lead, I feel like they could really surprise you.” These kids say it is important that adults: • Trust children to be leaders; it makes children feel important. • Nurture a child’s ability to be more independent. • Give children the opportunity to lead but don’t force them to do it. • Be a positive role model as a leader, so children see what to do when they lead others. • Give younger children the opportunity to lead, rather than choosing older children more often. • Know the children you work with and give equal opportunities to lead. Season 4 : Big Kids EditionLeadership and Empowerment for All Ages 5 Youth VoicesSeason 4 : Big Kids EditionLeadership and Empowerment for All Ages 6 Morgan Fu-Mueller, a nonbinary high school student, joined us at Circle Time Magazine to talk about youth-led ELO programs and empowering queer youth. Morgan talked about their empowering experiences while creating their own podcast about nonbinary people in history and leading school mock trial club. They shared some strategies for adults to support queer youth. Here are some of the responses from Morgan’s interview: Q: How has leading mock trial shaped your understanding of yourself as a leader? “Having done it for a year, it was surprising I knew enough to teach other people. I just really consistently underestimated myself during my sophomore/freshman year in mock trial. It was really validating for me to be able to help all of our new lawyers and witness them develop into active competitors. It was amazing to see them grow like that and gain confidence with this very specific skill set.” Q: Could you share about an empowering experience you had in your elementary or middle school years? “In elementary and middle school, the most empowering parts were where I felt most like I was part of the community. When I moved to Seattle in second grade, they had a peer show me around the school for a couple weeks before I really settled in, which made the adjustment period much less scary for me. In middle school, I was out as bi. My friends helped run the school GSA. It was really cool to have the space to talk about queer stuff. It was really nice to have a school-sanctioned space for that. It was very important that the school was sanctioning us and that we knew the school was behind us on that. One of the best experiences I’ve had with being nonbinary [has happened when] I have introduced myself with pronouns in courtrooms in state competitions and judges have just absolutely immediately called me ‘counsel’ instead of ‘Mrs.,’ even when they call my co-counsel ‘Mr.’ It’s very refreshing to have that automatic acceptance.” Q: What advice do you have for adults who want to support child-led activities? “Feel out what role you can take that will allow you to give the students space to breathe. Try to gauge how much the students are capable of; let them tell you they can do something. Ask them to do something, and if they can’t do something, they will ask you. Make yourself available as a resource and not as the president of the club.” Q: What advice you would give to educators or adults who aren’t sure how to best support queer kids? “I feel a little uncomfortable speaking for the community as a whole, so I actually crowd-sourced a lot of answers from my queer friends on my Instagram account. We all essentially came up with two consensus opinions. Empowering LGBTQ+ Young People Let’s Talk About ItSeason 4 : Big Kids EditionLeadership and Empowerment for All Ages 7 First, it is important to educate about the queer identity in a way that isn’t bad. It is important not to focus on the tragedy that the community faces and instead focus on what the community is—the labels that we use and the way we think of identity now. The second important thing is, we have been talking about pronouns a lot lately. It is more common nowadays that teachers will ask you for your pronouns, but what is more important is keeping students safe. Because not all students have an accepting home environment, not all students are comfortable being out to their parents, even though they are comfortable being out at school.” Terms and Definitions: Bi, or Bisexual: A sexual orientation where a person is not exclusively attracted to people of one particular gender. Nonbinary, or Genderqueer: An umbrella term for gender identities that are neither male nor female—identities that are outside the gender binary. Queer: An umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities who are not heterosexual or are not cisgender. This term has historically been used negatively, though in recent years the LGBTQ+ community has reclaimed the term in a positive light. Pause and Reflect • Did you have an empowering relationship with an adult in your childhood? • How did that shape your leadership skills? • How has that affected the way you work with children? Morgan shared a strategy used by some teachers in their school that has been greatly appreciated. Morgan’s teachers sent out a Google form or paper form at the beginning of the school year and asked students to fill it out. The form includes these questions: • What is your preferred name to be called in class? • What are your preferred pronouns for me to use in class? • What name and pronouns do you want me to use in emails home and with your parents/ guardians? The last question is especially important for keeping children safe. Help make your program be a safe place for all children by respecting their privacy. Morgan’s tips to support and empower children: • Provide a safe school-sanctioned space such as GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) clubs for children to discuss LGBTQ+ identities. • Give children the opportunity to mentor other children, especially in a new environment or subject. • Acknowledge that children are capable of doing great things. Let them lead, and listen to what they want to do. • Pronounce a child’s name correctly; don’t ask them to shorten it or simplify it for your comfort. You can find more information about Morgan Fu- Mueller’s podcast in the Resources for Educators section of this issue. Season 4 : Big Kids EditionLeadership and Empowerment for All Ages 8 Pyramids for All Ages The Pyramid Model (Teaching Pyramid) The Teaching Pyramid is a multi-tiered system of support framework often used in early childhood settings for high-quality teaching. The Social Emotional Learning Pyramid of Program Quality is a framework often used in school-age and youth care settings to measure staff practice and instructional quality. The base of the Teaching Pyramid includes scaffolding and leadership for young children. This includes language modeling for infants, offering discrete choice opportunities for toddlers, and moving towards open- ended choice for preschool-age children. The Social Emotional Learning Pyramid of Program Quality The Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Pyramid of Program Quality as a whole, which is used to measure staff practice and instructional quality, could be housed in the “all” and “some” parts of the Teaching Pyramid. We can see in the SEL Pyramid that you need a safe and supportive space to support children’s growing responsibility and leadership skills. Once this is established, educators can provide more explicit and intentional opportunities for children to take the lead and drive their own learning. Ultimately, we are seeking to move from doing things for children to doing things with or alongside children. ALL SOME FEW Adapted from the David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality. Social Emotional Learning Pyramid of Program Quality (2020).Season 4 : Big Kids EditionLeadership and Empowerment for All Ages 9 School’s Out Washington School’s Out Washington (SOWA) is dedicated to building community systems that support quality afterschool, youth development, and summer programs for Washington’s children and youth ages five through young adulthood. SOWA provides training for youth development professionals and it advocates for the Expanded Learning Opportunities field statewide. NB: An Introduction to Gender Theory and Nonbinary History Listen to one of our featured guests, Seattle-area student Morgan Fu-Muller, share about their nonbinary identity and nonbinary people across cultures and throughout history. This poignant and well-researched video is a strong introduction for anyone looking to learn more about supporting nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people. Rooted in Rights Rooted in Rights tells authentic, accessible stories to challenge stigma and redefine narratives around disability, mental health, and chronic illness. They offer a collection of videos by young people discussing their experiences and ways adults can best support them. MyPronouns.Org This website provides clear education on what pronouns are and why they matter. There are resources on how to handle pronoun mistakes, sharing your own pronouns, and using gender-inclusive language. Youth-Led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) Hub YPAR trains youth, using principles of social justice, to conduct research to improve the lives of young people, their communities, and the institutions that serve them. Welcoming Schools Project This website offers bullying-prevention resources including training, lesson plans, and book lists geared towards children in pre-k through eighth grade. Check out these one-pagers: Be Prepared for Questions and Put-Downs Around Gender, Be Prepared for LGBTQ Questions & Concerns, and What Do You Say to “That’s So Gay” and Other Anti-LGBTQ Comments? Giving Children Responsibilities | ECLKC This in-service suite offers ideas early childhood teachers can use to engage children in classroom activities and routines. Learn how giving simple tasks to children keeps them engaged. Resources for Educators Here are some additional resources to explore for scaffolding leadership skills and creating empowering, safe program spaces for all the children in your care.Next >