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.

Awareness of Microaggressions

One example of a microaggression that I experienced this week was during a conversation with my co-worker. The week before the conversation, I went to the hair salon to have my hair done for a banquet. The hair dresser added a few small extensions in the front of my hair just for some color. So, my co-worker asks me "Tina, did you get your hair colored?" I, not wanting to come right out and say that it was extentsions, say " Not exactly". She continues to say, "Oh! I should have known!" (I still did not mention the extensions.)

I smiled and did a small laugh and we continued on with another conversation. I felt a little bit irritated. I wondered why she felt that she should have known without my mentioning it previously.

My observation experiences show me that microaggression is a part of everyday culture that we are surrounded by. It is on TV commercials, shows, etc. These can have a negative effect on the targeted group. No one wants to wake up and go through their day feeling judged and discriminated against. The microaggression may not be noticeable at first, but once it is, it can really have long term effects on anyone.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Definitions from family and friends:

Marcia: Diversity: An expression for several different people
Culture: An expression for groups or places that shape an individual

Nicole: Diversity is different qualities, races, or mix of cultures brought to one organization, community, area, etc.
Culture: is how you are raised. Culture is what your background consists of and what you grew up in and were exposed to, by your community, your family, your ethnic background.

Tony: Diversity: Is everything. You have to be a part of it. Its not a word, its a way to be.
Culture: the views and practices of a certain group of people; ethnic, generation, religion...

Carmela: Culture & Diversity: To me it is how one learns about other peoples culture and tries to understand the difference. That's why culture and diversity go hand in hand. If one learns about different cultures, they are exploring the true meaning of diversity. We are all diverse in one way or another, so understanding the difference makes one culturally competent.
 
Camara:

When I think of culture, I think of my family and ancestors. I think of my heritage on both my maternal and paternal side. Culture relates to all the things that make us who we are, the struggle and the ups and downs of everyday life. I relate culture to my religion, to my belief of the American dream and most importantly to how I raise my own children. My culture is unique to me because of my race, ethnicity, skin complexion, hair texture, height, build and so many other factors.

Diversity reminds me of a rainbow, each color is unique but when put together they complement each other. Diversity in my opinion gives you a variety; a variety of cultures, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, religion and ideas. You don’t have to change who you are, you just have to learn how to co-exist with other people who do not always think and feel the same way you do.

In the definitions I received, they did reflect what I have learned in this course. For example,  “Diversity is everything”, “Culture is your background”, "..Makes us who we are"..

 Individually, some definitions do lack some  factors in describing diversity and culture. If I combine all of the definitions, I do not think that they have omitted much at all.

By listening to other peoples definitions, it has influenced my own thinking about these topics. I see that their definitions stem from their life experiences. I could also combine all these definitions to make a well-rounded definition.

My Family Culture

The three items that I would choose to represent my culture would be my cell phone, my bible, and a pen with paper.

I know at first, a cell phone can seem superficial, but it has many family photos on it as well as numbers of friends and family. I do not know if phones would be working in this situation, but I would have to have hope that I can stay in communication with my loved ones if we get separated. Not a day goes by when I do not call my mom or my sisters and vice versa. So, my phone would help me to stay connected.

My bible is a symbol of my faith. Even though we may not be able to attend a church in another country, I would still want my family to hold on to their faith.

I would bring a pen with paper in order to write stories, songs or draw pictures. My family is very creative and we express ourselves in many ways. We may not have all the necessities, but we would have our creativity to express ourselves and share these with each other.

If upon arrival, I was told that I could only keep one thing, I would be very sad. I would think that our lives would not be very fulfilling. However, I would be happy to know that my family is safe and that we are together. Only having one personal item is not the end of the world and we would make do with what we have.

An insight that I gained about my culture is that it is very family oriented. Everything that we do is to make sure that everyone in the family is okay.  

Research Reflection....

I have gained numerous insights from this course about research. I was able to take a look into the research process and learn more about it. I learned a lot of research vocabulary. The chapter on Ethics was also a valuable read for me. I also feel that the course text will be a helpful reference for me in future research.

The ideas about the nature of doing research have changed for me. This course has showed me that doing research involving children, there is so much to consider. It is not so cut and dry.

As far as planning, designing, and conducting research in the Early Childhood goes, I have learned that a good plan is necessary. But you have to expect the unexpected when working with children. I have also learned that you may start out with one research question and by the end of your research, it could be a completely different question.

A few challenges that I faced were coming up with a research simulation project or question that I would find interesting and then narrowing it down into something that I could research. It look the first few weeks of the course until I finally felt that I had narrowed down my topic to something that I could work with. It seemed like every time I read a new topic about how to conduct research, I had to re-evaluate my question/topic. It was challenging but very insightful and I feel that I would be able to replicate it again.

My perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course. I can see that this field is wide open to issues that need to be studied and researched. I am grateful to those that supplied us with the knowledge that we have now about the field of early childhood.