Professional Hopes and Goals

A hope that I have when I think about working with children and families from diverse backgrounds is that I can play an important role in celebrating their diversity. I hope that celebrating diversity becomes contagious and it gets passed from child to family. I would like to see some of the areas of concern with regard to diversity, diminish over time.

One goal that I have for the Early Childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that these issues become  discussed in more and more early childhood settings. I did not know of many of the issues that the early childhood field faces until I began my course of study. I would like to see more early childhood educators informed on the issues and willing to make changes.

I want to say thank you to all my colleagues in this course! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and stories with me! It was a pleasure to learn such a diverse group of people. I appreciate your feedback on assignments and  I wish you all the best in your future courses! Maybe we will meet again! Thank you! I have really enjoyed this class!

Welcoming Families from Around the World

My new family's country of origin: Greece

5 ways I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive:

1. I will research Greek family culture and traditions
2. I will prepare the classroom and make sure that culturally appropriate materials are visible so that the child can feel welcome in the classroom
3. I will speak to the class about Greece and the upcoming arrival of the new student
4. I will find out as much information about the student as I can prior to their arrival
5. I will do anything else that I can to make sure the student and the family feel comfortable

In doing all these things in preparation, I hope to make the family and child feel comfortable and welcome as much as possible. I want them to realize that we are educating ourselves on their traditions and customs and will respect them. I think that doing all of these things will be a great benefit because, if the family feels comfortable, we can communicate about their child and education. This will also help the student and family's transition to be a smoother one into a new school. This will also benefit me as a caregiver/teacher to speak honestly and openly with the parents and feel comfortable in doing so.

The Personal Side of Prejudice, Bias and Oppression

1.      What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression?

I was teaching a Spanish class one summer to inner city youth in my area. Over 80% of my class had some sort of Spanish background. I remember the kids who were Puerto Rican, Dominican, or Cuban, always made fun of the kids who were Mexican. It was an everyday occurrence. I would hear “It’s because he’s Mexican” or “Don’t listen to him, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he’s Mexican!”

2.      In what way(s) did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?

In this case, equity was diminished by the other kids making the Mexican students feel that they are not important. This could lead to internalized oppression for the Mexican students. If they are constantly put down by their peers because of their ethnicity, they may try to disown their heritage and their culture.

3.      What feelings did this incident bring up for you?     

This incident made me upset and I felt sorry for the Mexican kids. I did not understand why the other students felt this way about Mexicans. Everyone in my class spoke Spanish at home and they had this in common. I just did not understand.

4.      What and/or who would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity?

I think that the mindset needs to change. The non-Mexican Spanish students should not feel that they are entitled or better than the Mexican students. Everyone should have an equal chance. They should celebrate all the things that they have in common.