Week 8: Final Post for EDUC-6164

Blog: Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds (any format and any length)

My hope when it comes to working with children and families are that I can know understand their cultures better and truly honor and respect their feelings while caring for the children. I also hope that I continue to make my families feel safe and secure in my care. I want my families to feel that they can come to me about anything and that I will do whatever I can to meet their needs.

One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice (any format and any length)

My main goal that I am striving for through my education is to make my families feel comfortable no matter where they come from, what makes my classroom great is that I have children that come from many cultures and their diversity adds to the class because we can all learn at the same time so many unique aspects that others might not know. We can then share our knowledge with other classrooms by being class buddies and I will continue to share the same information at staff meetings and other functions. By involving the children in the sharing part, I am showing them that I respect their diversity and want them to feel welcome at all times. I have a collection of books, pictures, toys and instruments that I use from around the world in my classroom. By learning their languages and including resources from their cultures I am better able to show how much they mean to my classroom.

A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

I would like to say thank you to all the great professionals I have had the opportunity to interact with since starting my Masters Program here at Walden. I have truly enjoyed reading your posts and gaining new insights from everyone. I wish everyone the best on the continuing journey and hope to work with many of you until the end. I could never put into words my appreciation for your help and support from the beginning.

Week 7 Blog

Blog week 7: Welcoming Families From Around the World

The name of “your” family’s country of origin: Africa

At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family

I will first and foremost want to learn some key information about the area in Africa that they are from so that I am familiar with their customs. It is very important to know background information before the child arrives so that you are able to help them feel comfortable even on the first day.

I would learn some basic phrases in their language so they again will feel more at home in a strange new place. It is also important that I know about their holidays and I should have books and pictures in the room of familiar activities.

I would have information in my classroom for the family that is in their home language and English. This information would be for our school’s handbook and what is happening in the classroom.

I would also want to have toys and other familiar items in the classroom to help the child feel comfortable. I could have ethnic foods, clothing and dolls in the dramatic play area to help them see familiar materials at school.

It is important to make the whole family feel welcome so inviting them to school activities and meetings is another great way to help them feel welcome in the new school and community. New families need to know their opinion counts and that we are there to help them acclimate to their new home.

A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family

It is my hope that by making these preparations I will be better equipped to successfully embrace my new child and their family. I hope to be able to show that I want to learn as much from them as I want to teach them by becoming a part of my school. If I can show that I want us to be a team and share our knowledge with each other-I think we can do beautiful things together and help the children learn more in this way.

Blog: The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

Blog: The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

What memory do you have of an incident when your experienced bias, prejudice, and /or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of these things? Keep in mind that one can encounter such incidents in real contexts, including online environments, as well as in fictional ones, such as movies, books, TV shows, and the like.

This is something we do see all around us daily-even if we don’t want to admit it to ourselves. The time that stands out for me is shortly after I met my husband and we wanted one of his college friends to be the best man and his father was totally against it because the friend was African American. This was a friend that had been there for my husband over the course of their college years and after and we decided that we would stick to our choice and keep him as best man. In the end it did work out and my father in law was okay-but he had been raised in a time when it was normal for whites to treat others this way. My father in law did come around and start interacting with the friend and we still today have him as a close family friend.

In what ways did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?

The way that he was treated diminished equity because he was not treated as an equal, he was made to feel that even though he was a college graduate he didn’t know anything because of his color. He was a very knowledgeable person but made to feel the opposite.

What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

Being there to hear my father in law talk to someone this way was very difficult because I had been treated this way by others throughout my time in foster homes and girls homes, when you are the only one that is different-it seems like you stand out and people want to make you feel inferior to them. This was a very important friend of ours and it was not right for anyone to treat him this way.

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

This is a simple case of coming to terms with the age we live in and realizing that it’s not okay to treat another person differently just because they are from a different race or sex. I can remember having many talks with my father in law after this happened and over time he came to understand why we felt it wasn’t okay and that our friend would remain our friend no matter what. He never totally got over being racist, but he did become friends and interacted with our friends no matter what they looked like. My father in law was the person that needed to change and to some extent he did even though he had over forty years of believing he was right in how he treated others.

Week 4: Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Blog: Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Something that I have seen this week and over my time working with people around the world is racism. Everywhere I have worked there is a diverse collection of women in each classroom and I have seen how one group or person will treat someone that is different. In my place of work Caucasian people are the minority and Hispanic is the majority. That said I have noticed Caucasian’s talking behind others backs and making comments about how the Hispanic group needs to speak English when they are in a group of multiple cultures. I have seen this happen many times during breaks at work. When I hear others complaining about someone speaking their native language, I don’t like it, but if there is a room full of people I also feel it can come across as impolite to others. People can feel that they are being talked about or any number of thoughts can be going through their minds. This is a touchy topic because I feel everyone should be able to converse in their given language-just be polite when others are around.

This week has made me more aware of how I look at other cultures because I realize that I also have done the stereotyping of others throughout my life and it is not fair to lump people together just because they all speak the same language or come from the same place. We are all different no matter what and I am working hard to keep that thought in mind at all times. I went to a training today and the room was filled with educators from many different cultures (a big melting pot in one room) but each one of us was focused on the same thing-how to teach and care for young children that are entrusted to us each day.