Professional Hopes and Goals

Equity is the one hope that I have when working with children and families who are diverse.  One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to advocate for children and families. 

To My Colleagues:

I would like to thank all of you for insights and support throughout this course.  I appreciate all your help.  I wish all of you the best of luck throughout your journey.  

 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The origin of the family I am welcoming is from India. To prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family, I will ensure that I am warm, welcoming, and understanding to the families needs.  I will also do some research on their culture to gain a deeper understanding of this family.  Labeling the classroom with this families language will help me prepare to welcome this new family.  Being considerate of the families diverse needs, I will also provide a wide-selection of literature for them.  Last but not least, I will share with the other children and families about our new family that will soon be joining us.  I will do this by sharing stories, pictures, music, food, and short videos. 

I hope these preparations will benefit both the family and myself.  By being compassionate towards this family, I hope to build a strong and meaningful relationship with them.  By preparing the environment, I hope to make the new family feel at welcomed and comfortable.  By sharing the culture of the new family, I hope that all families will be caring and supportive of the new family. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

A memory I have of prejudice and bias is from when I was in high school.  There was a group of kids that claimed they were skinheads.  They would make racial comments against others that were different from themselves.  Always making negative and hateful comments and jokes about other cultures.  Their attitudes and feeling towards people who were not white were treated unjust and unfairly.   

This specific incident of bias and prejudice diminished equity.  These kids in my high school were racist, they were demeaning, disrespectful, and destructive of the culture of others.  This incident brought up feelings of confusion and curiosity.  I did not understand why these kids did not like others who were different than them.  Because of this, I wanted to understand why and how people became racist.  For this opportunity to become equitable, these racist and bias high schoolers would have to gain new insights on individuals and groups of people different from thier culture.  This could be very challenging for these high school kids.  Maybe they grew up in a home that was bias and prejudice and did not know any different.  Or may they were trying to fit in with a certain group of kids and they were doing what they thought they should do to fit in.  Either way, having a clear grasp of racism, bias, and prejudice is not easy when you are a child growing up.  It would take much knowledge, opportunities, and experiences for these kids to change and provide opportunities for greater equity. 

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week I have been practicing awareness of microaggression.  I was at the local grocery store and I was waiting in line to check-out.  There was a young child about five or six years old and her mother in the next aisle to me, also waiting to check-out.  In front of the child and her mother there was an individual in a wheelchair.  The child began staring at the individual and asking questions that were loud enough for the targeted individual to hear.  The young child asked "Mommy, what's wrong with that man?" "Why does he need that wheelchair?" "I don't need one." "You don't need one?"  The child's mother ignored the comments her child was making.  I feel that the mother of the child should of explained to her child that it is okay to need a wheelchair.  If this situation would have occurred with my children, I would talked to them some people need help getting around so they can be independent. 

My observation experience this week has affected my perception of discrimination, prejudice, and / or stereotypes on people.  I have become more aware of how many people discriminate and / or stereotype against any individual who is not like them.  It is very unfortunate that is so much discrimination, prejudice, and / or stereotyping.  Discriminating, being prejudice, and / or stereotyping causes feeling of alienation, stress, and creates inequities. After this experience, I am thankful that I have instilled in my children that all individuals are special.  A parent needs to take advantage of a situation like the one explained above to explain that it is okay to be different.  Being different is what makes everyone so special. 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

The aspects of culture and diversity which I have studied in EDUC 6164: Perspectives on Diversity and Equity were included in the three responses I received.  Some examples of culture and diversity included how diversity is "a mixture of many ingredients / components." "Culture is the different types of people from all around the globe, where and how they live, including their beliefs, customs, and life style."  Another example, diversity was defined as differences in everything from ethnicity, thoughts, and points of view. Culture was defined as "a collection of beliefs and behaviors that exist in an organization, town, or city." 

Some of the aspects that were omitted from the definitions of culture and diversity I received were how values, styles of communication, or holidays / traditions are key, as well. 

After reading and reflecting on the three definitions of culture and diversity I received, I have been influenced to be open-minded and respectful to all cultures.  There is so much to learn from other cultures.  Gaining a deeper understanding of culture and diversity is eye-opening to me.  It is so very important to be respectful to all cultures.   

My Family Culture

If there were a major catastrophe and I was able to take three small items with me, they would be a picture of my mother, my daughters baby books, and my necklace that a dear friend gave to me.  The picture of my mother is significant to me because my mother was a very important person in my life.  The picture represents hope and love to me.  My daughters baby books are significant to my culture because the baby books hold special moments and memories of our family culture.  My necklace represents perseverance to me.  It is important to me to never give up and to always keep trying. 

If I was to arrive at my new destination and was told that I could only keep one of my items, I would be devastated.  I would not want to lose any of these sacred items of mine.  But if I had to choose one, I would keep my daughters baby books. 

Diversity is apart of every family.  It is so important to be open-minded and understanding of families diversity.  Being understanding and learning from children and their families will provide you with insightful information about the culture of their family. 

When I Think of Research...

First I would like to thank Dr. Davis and my colleagues for your comments and thoughts.  I appreciate all the conversations and discussions we had about research.  This course has been the most challenging for me.  Thank you all for your support. 

I have gained many new insights about research from this course.  I now have a clear understanding how research is used a tool.  I am now able to explain how the research process works and the importance of ethic when doing research. 

My ideas about doing research have changed since the beginning of this course.  I no longer am overwhelmed with the thought of research.  It is much more time consuming than I thought before. 

Planning, designed, and conducting research is extremely important.  Research that is well-designed is systematic and consistent.  Well-designed research will certainly provide rich and meaningful data, which ensure that the researcher will achieve their goal(s).

Some of my challenges in this course were understanding all of the key terms and not mixing up quantitative and qualitative research.  I was able to over come these challenges by discussing with colleagues and reading Dr. Davis' comments on my assignments. 

My perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course.  Early childhood professionals have a huge responsibility to ensure that the research they conduct is well-designed, valid, ethical, and reliable. 

Best wishes to all, as you continue on journey at Walden University!