Professional Hopes and Goals

The one hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from divers backgrounds would be that I am able to help them by providing a support system and resources.  By providing these things I would hope that they feel comfortable with me so that they would come talk to me and know that I am working in their behalf and their child's so that they feel welcome to the program and to the community.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice would be that we educate the early childhood teachers on a regular basis on the every changing culture that is around us.  It is so important that they are aware of the diversity of the children in their classroom and how to address questions with parents so that they are able to work with them so their child will feel included in the classroom.  

I would like to thank my colleagues for their insights into culture and diversity and for sharing their experiences.  I have learned a lot from reading posts and gotten some useful information so that I may have a better understanding of how to become more aware of diversity.

"It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the treads of that tapestry are equal in value no matter their color.”
- Maya Angelou, Author

Welcoming Families From Around the World

When I think of having a new family start in our program that is new to this country I feel that I want to help them and their child transition into to the program with as much ease as possible.  A family who has recently immigrated from India would be culture shock for them to come to the United States.  I know nothing about India so in order to prepare for their arrival I would learn some key words and phrases that may help us communicate and understand each other a little better.  I would do research on the culture and religion of India so that as a staff we keep in mind their cultural beliefs and adjust our holiday celebrations to include the new family or to respect them when they are not able to participate.  This will also help me to think of alternative celebrations or themes for the classroom. I would also research the beliefs that the people of India have about children and early childhood education so that I can have a better understanding of what the parents may expect from me as their child's teacher.  I would also try to find a translator who could be present during our initial meeting to go over any questions about the program they may have and that I may ask questions about their religion, traditions and culture so that I can have a better understanding.  I would also look at my curriculum and environment and adjust it to include information about India and the culture so that the family will feel welcome to come in and share about their family with the classroom.

I hope that these preparations would help me to become more aware of the culture of India so that I can create a welcoming environment for the family and their child and that I would have also prepared the other children and families to welcome them to our program as well.  I would hope that my preparation for the family would help them to feel welcome and see that I am making an effort to get to know them and to understand and respect their culture.  I would hope that they would feel comfortable in communicating with me about the program and about their child's success in school.  I would hope that they would also feel comfortable enough to also come in and volunteer in the classroom of come in and share with the class about their culture.

My main goal would be that they feel included and welcome.  Ultimately this is what is important for the child so that they feel that they are part of the classroom and that their culture is respected.   

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

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When reading about our assignment and thinking of an incident where I have seen bias, prejudice, and/or oppression the movie about Erin Brockovich's experience came to mind.  In specifically dealing with Erin, the people who had to change their beliefs and values in order for there to be equity for her were the people with whom she worked. Being a single mother she had to prove to her new boss at a small law firm that she could do a good job and that she was motivated and eager to learn.  Because she dressed differently and did not have the same education as the other staff in the law firm she had to work harder to prove her abilities were a viable part of the firm.  Also because she is a women she had to prove that she did her research so that others, especially the men, would take her seriously.  Once people saw that she was serious their attitudes changed toward her but some still had reservations.  She had to work twice as hard as a man would have had to do in order to be taken seriously at her job and this is what if feel diminished equity for her.    

When watching the movie the feelings about how she as a women was treated were frustrating because you could see the determination she had to succeed and passion for helping other to have equity.  In most cases some women would have conformed to what society thought about them and would not have pursued the career in the law firm.  The determination that Erin has to prove that she could contribute to the firm and that she could work with the clients in a more personal way was encouraging to see.  She did not give up even though at times she felt like it was to hard to continue the up hill battle.  I feel overwhelmed thinking of having to raise children by myself and also have to work extra hard to prove that I could do a good job at work and that being a women is an asset and that it should not be a strike against me. 

Erin is a consumer advocate who believes in helping others and finding the truth.

Erin Brockovich

Practicing Awareness of Microagressions

Microaggression probably happens more than we realize to us and to others but we are not always aware of it because we have become accustomed to it or numb to it.  One microaggression that I came across was thought to be humorous and was posted by a teacher.  On a math test the student was to look at a math problem and find what the person in the problem had done incorrectly and they were supposed to correct the math.  The person in the question was a woman so instead of figuring out the problem the student simply wrote that the problem with the math was because it was done by a women. That used to be the way people thought, that girls are not good at math and society has worked hard to change that image but unfortunately some people still think that way.  This message was one that I got as a child in a subtle way so I was never confident that I could learn math and that I could understand it and solve the math problems.

Another microaggression that I remember is a 4 year old referring to the Mexican children in her class as those kids who don't speak English very well.  She had categorized them all as not able to speak English even though their was only one child who did not speak English as well. The teacher told her that they all have names and she needed to use their names and that they did speak English as well as Spanish.  The little girl did not mean this to be mean it is just what she has heard form the society around her.  The comment the little girl made was disheartening because I thought that I lived in a community that much more accepting and it made me realize that prejudice is an issue and as a teacher I feel that it needs to be talked about with children in the classroom.

My observation of these microaggressions has shown me that stereotypes are still used in our society and that young children pick up on these at a very young age.  If we want the perceptions to change then it needs to start with us, the adults and society.  The effects of prejudice and stereotyping people can reach deep into a person and they may never be able to overcome the effects of this.  It is important that we are educated on diversity and culture so that we are aware of how others live and learn in our society.      

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I talked with three people on what their definition of culture and diversity was.  The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course that I noticed in the answers were that culture is mainly the influences of the society or group that you associate with.  Some examples that I was given were the customs and beliefs of the people in your group, where you live, where you grew up, habits you have and food you eat are all aspects of culture.  Diversity was described as people being different but similar, different nationalities coming together.  The teacher I talked with said she thought of diversity when having a divers classroom where the children would be from different cultures around the world and she would incorporate this diversity into her classroom.  Another person described diversity as people having different ideas and living differently.

The aspects of culture and diversity that I noticed that they did not mention were the abilities of others and how that can be part of culture and diversity.  They did not mention class, age or gender.  I think that we have become a society that pays more attention to ethnicity and so the other areas do not stand out as strongly as ethnicity.  We also look only on the surface and see the holidays that are celebrated, food that is typical of a culture and other common traits.

What I have learned is that a teacher thinks a little bit differently than a person that does not work with children and families on a day to day bases.  I also noticed that the people I talked with each had a little bit of a different take on culture and diversity.  The young person called it customs and beliefs, the man saw it as everything around us that influences how we live and the lady in her 70's saw it as influences from where she was born and raised which was a different country.  Where we are currently can influences but where we may have come from also has a big impact on our perspective on culture and diversity.


Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.
Jawaharlal Nehru

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/culture_2.html#Zbag4Hk6HHjgCFRV.99

My Family Culture

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country.  The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees.  You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event.  However, you have absolutely no input into the final decision or in any other evacuation details.  You are told that your host country's culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently.  You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you.  You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represents your family culture.

The scenario of having to uproot my family and live an another country that had a much different culture than what I am used to would be scary at first but but I would have to put my self in the mind set that it would be an experience that I would have to keep my self open to accepting for the good of my family.  In having to choose three items that I feel represent my family and that are my most important items would be my Bible, pictures of my family and my wedding ring.

In explaining to others what these items mean to me;

• My Bible represents my Christian faith.
• My family pictures would be a visual reminder of them and help with family memories.
• My wedding ring is important to me because it represents then family unity with my husband and the commitment to our family and each other.

If upon arriving I was told that I had to choose only one item to take with me I would be angry because of having to have already chosen only three items.  I would be difficult to have to decide when they are all so very important to me.

 

After doing this exercise I feel that I have learned that I feel strongly about my Christian faith and that I want to know my Bible better.  I learned that my family culture of having that Christian faith, being involved in church and attending Christian schools has helped to shape who I am.  The importance of family and commitment is also something that I value and want to preserve. 

When I Think of Research.....

While studying about research in this 8 week course I have come to understand some of the vocabulary that researchers use to describe their research.  I now understand that researchers have to be organized and design their research study that will help them toward the end result they believe that the research will lead them to.  Understanding the different types of research designs such as qualitative which is data gathered that helps the researcher to understand what they are studying and quantitative research which is gathering data that explains what the outcome of the data is.  When doing research with children it is not only important to get permission from the parents but it is also important to get ask the child if they are willing to participate in the study.  Research involves a lot of details that need to be organized and kept track of from the beginning in order for the study to come out with the results that the researcher is looking for.

My ideas about how to go about research have changed because I have a better understanding of what goes into conducting a study and the many types of data that can be used in the research study.  As a researcher it is important to understand what type of data is needed to validate your study and when other researcher should be used to help validate the research.  I liked the example of seeing research as telling a story about the topic being studied so that others could read it and understand what the findings are and how the researcher came to that conclusion.

In planning and designing a research study I learned that if you are organized and outline the study starting with the question, choosing the participants, what kind of data you will use and how you will organize that data it will not seem so overwhelming.  You will be able to set up a time line that will help you stay on track with your research.   

Some of the challenges that I encountered where understanding dependent and independent variables in the study.  It was difficult for me to stick to one variable because I would start including an external variable to my study and then I would have to many variables.

My perception of an early childhood professional have changed because now I understand that it is important that we understand how to read and make sens of the research done in early childhood so that we are able to discuss the research with other early childhood professionals and parents.  Understanding the ECE research can also help teachers in the classroom in understanding new methods or how to better work with children and parents.

Research has an important role in the early childhood field and that is why it is important that we are familiar with how to read and understand it.

I have also learned a lot from reading the bolgs of my classmates and learning new insight from their perspectives on research.  I want to say thank you to my classmates for sharing the helpful and  interesting information that you found on the different topics of research in these last eight weeks.  This experience has helped me grow as an early childhood professional.