Why We Can’t Wait…(to teach this stuff)
Inspired by the book, “Why We Can’t Wait,” by Martin Luther King, Jr.
THAT’S NOT FAIR!
…it’s a phrase we hear ringing out in all early-childhood classrooms throughout this country.
Fair vs. Unfair is a concept we’ve come to learn during the beginning Wonder Years of our development. When we’re Children, we are the center of our universes; our main goal in the earliest years of life is to get what we want, starting on the day we’re born. If we cry, we’re fed. If we smile, we get love.
As we grow older, we begin to notice that others live in this world as well. We interact and experiment with them. We give away belongings to friends and we take what isn’t ours, all while studying the reactions of the people amongst us. By the age of five, we’ve mastered The Art of Giving & Taking, and our attention and intention begins to focus on Fairness and Equality. Our primary questions of concern become, “Do I have the same amount of blocks to build with as they do?”, or “Do I have the same size piece of birthday cake?”, and “If I have to do my work, they should have to too, right?”
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I attained my Masters of Elementary Education in a program that focused on social justice practices in the classroom.
For two years, we grappled the question, “How do we teach issues regarding fairness, equality and justice to our earliest learners?” Out of a program of 30 students, only 5 of us kept thinking in response to that question. The majority thought kindergarten was strictly about primary colors, the alphabet, and teddy bears.
Equality, Rights, and Justice are vocabulary words that are used frequently inside our K-3 classroom.
They’re concepts we examine from the first day our community comes together. What rights do children have? Adults? All humans?
Earlier in the year, we experimented. Lucy had K’lyn stand in front of the class and then her classmates began speaking the rights that she holds as a child.
She has the right to:
sleep
eat
play
catch frogs
read
sing
dance
to love and be loved
Building on this idea, we then posed the questions, “What would happen if one of these rights were taken away from K’lyn? What would happen if she could no longer sleep, and that if anytime she were about to fall asleep, someone would poke her to wake her up?” Nikhil answered, “That would be unjust!”
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Having spent The Fall setting the stage for these big concepts, it was no surprise when Martin Luther King, Jr. Day came in January that the kids already had a deep and thorough understanding of Civil Rights issues.
Some of the children already knew who Martin Luther King, Jr. was and could explain how he helped to change Unfair Laws. We spent days studying the words of MLK by watching and discussing his I Have A Dream speech, as well as reading stories about his personal life, work, and family. We acted out different scenarios, allowing the children to feel, both, inclusion and exclusion from situations. “Only children with blue eyes can play in the block area and only children with black hair can read books.” These unjust rules stung, and to 5-8 year olds, it drove the constantly relevant and apparent issue of segregation home.
Another way we grew the understanding of these ideas is through music.
The kids enjoyed singing folk songs such as, This Land Is Your Land by Woodie Guthrie, and, If I Had A Hammer by Pete Seeger, both tunes written in the 60’s during a civil and non-violent call to support the social movement towards freedom.
We also shared stories about The Freedom Riders, who, in the 60’s, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, were Women & Men of all ages, cultures, and creeds who boarded buses to show their support and to protest on behalf of the movement.
While on these bus rides, in transit, The Freedom Riders would sing unanimously, boldly, loudly, and harmoniously, sharing The Universal Message to all:
Freedom is coming, oh yeah..
Freedom is coming, oh yeah..
Freedom is coming, freedom is coming, freedom is coming, oh yeah.
These songs can currently be heard echoing out of our classroom, everyday. The children even make up new versus to sing with their friends. It’s truly extraordinary to witness.
Rev., Dr., Martin Luther King, Jr., in his famous writing entitled, Letter From Birmingham Jail, explains to the public political figures and clergical colleagues of the day, why he, and those that think like him, will not wait any longer to fight for freedom:
“This wait, has almost meant, never,” King states..
..and the same is true for teaching..
If we, as parents and educators continue to wait to teach this stuff until we feel they’re ready, it may never happen. Our children are saying that they are ready to learn ideas of Equality & Justice when they shout that common phrase, as they often do, “THAT’S NOT FAIR!”