Ask a question from expert

Ask now

Case Study : Sarah’s Confusing Behaviour

5 Pages2469 Words1292 Views
   

Added on  2019-09-30

Case Study : Sarah’s Confusing Behaviour

   Added on 2019-09-30

BookmarkShareRelated Documents
Case Study “Queer families are an abomination... a threat to the natural order... Their blood will be on their own heads.” I stare at my computer screen in disbelief. My eyes frantically scan the page in front of me, desperate to discover if I’ve mistakenly been re-directed to the site of some homophobic hate group. After what feelslike an eternity, I sadly realize this is not what happened. In full colour, at the top left corner of my screen, a familiar face smirks back at me – the face of my preschool room partner, Sarah*. She has posted on the wall of a social media site set up by a conservative religious organization that supports traditional images of what constitutes a family. My mind’s eye retreats to the past year of my professional life when I began my work as an early childhood educator. In particular, I am recalling the day I was first introduced to Sarah, a senior staff member in the preschool program where I was hired. Sarah was from a Caribbean island and had a reputation for ensuring that racial, ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity was an integral part of the centre’s programs. She received an award of distinction forthis reason. One of my first tasks as her room partner was to assist her with the planning of the organization’s upcoming African cultural celebration, an annual event that recognizes and celebrates African culture. As a novice employee, I intended to learn from this woman who had several years of experience at this centre, demonstrated leadership skills and earned an assistant supervisor position shortly following her hiring. Sarah stood directly in front of me. She was a thin woman, but with broad shoulders and thick arms. Herengaging smile and booming voice conveyed a depth of knowledge and insight. Truthfully, in spite of all my work and research in equity, I was a bit awed by her. I really did hope we might become more than just professional colleagues. But even then, there was something about Sarah that bothered me. I remembered the words on my computer screen. My initial confusion shifted as memories of my work with Sarah over the past year flooded my consciousness. Slowly, I recalled events that might be representative of the blatantly ugly words posted on the social media site. “Welcome to our preschool room!” Sarah sang out enthusiastically. “As you can see, the children are busy creating art work for tomorrow’s celebration. Feel free to jump right in!” She danced to the bookshelf to replace some of the current titles with children’s books that prominently featured black characters. I had accepted Sarah’s invitation to “jump right in” and opened the cloth bag I carried, clapped my hands in delight and cried out, “I’ve got some books for you!” I pulled out two titles that were personal favourites: Asha’s Mums and My Princess Boy. Each, I believed, would support Sarah’s commitment to racial diversity while simultaneously infusing gender and sexuality into the curriculum. I handed the books to Sarah, anticipating immediate confirmation of her approval.
Case Study : Sarah’s Confusing Behaviour_1
Instead, as Sarah surveyed each cover, an incredulous expression replaced her wide smile. Shifting her gaze to my expectant face she remarked, quite matter-of-factly, “Thanks, but the children selected thesebooks themselves. As you can see, there’s hardly enough room on *The name of the early childhood educator who wrote the story is not provided. Names, locations, contexts and/or dilemmas presented in the case have been modified for the purposes of confidentiality. My supervisor had assured me that Sarah would be delighted to work with someone as committed to issues of equity and inclusion as I was. I had just graduated from a program in early childhood education with a research interest in broadening approaches to multicultural curriculum. My focus included the full scope of human diversity that characterizes contemporary Canadian society. College of Early Childhood Educators | Case Study 1: Sarah’s Confusing Behaviour 4 the shelf for them as it is.” She thrust the books back in my direction and returned to her work, visibly uncomfortable. I wondered if I’d been too presumptuous in assuming that Sarah’s commitment to diversity extended beyond theoretical support for race, ethnicity, culture and language. However, I grinned in her direction, eager to show her that I understood. As the months progressed, there was nothing that really rankled me. Sometimes I wondered, however, why our relationship hadn’t developed beyond the professional. Sarah was never blatantly disrespectful,yet she failed to make any real effort to get to know me. Our daily exchanges were limited to discussionsabout the program, the children and the families we supported. Until now, I had never questioned the deliberate distance she had maintained. Perhaps I was still in awe of a reputation that had appeared, at least initially, to support my values of inclusion. In early October, we welcomed Rory, a post secondary student in an early childhood education program,to our room. Sarah greeted the announcement of his pending start with overt annoyance. “Another student? And a male no less! Shouldn’t he be assigned to Jonas’s room?” “I thought you enjoyed having students,” I replied. “I’m excited to have a male presence in our program.Aren’t you?” Rory began his placement experience with us, much to the delight of the preschoolers. Lauren, in particular, followed him around the room like a shadow, sitting on his lap every chance she got and offering incessant displays of affection. Just before lunch Sarah, scrutinizing the room, snapped, “Lauren, you need to sit on the carpet like all of the other children! Please move your body so that Rory can start the story!” Lauren’s bottom lip quivered. Clearly saddened, Lauren slowly slid from Rory’s lap. She sat on the floor to his immediate right, her head hung in disappointment. Later, as the children ate lunch, Lauren asked Rory to take her to the washroom. Without pausing, Sarahquipped, “I will take you to the washroom, Lauren. Rory, placement students are not allowed to be alone with the children.” Dismayed again, Lauren took Sarah’s hand and followed her to the washroom, a pained look on her face.
Case Study : Sarah’s Confusing Behaviour_2

End of preview

Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.

Related Documents
Psychodynamic Case Study of a Client with Borderline Personality Disorder
|55
|16268
|205