Professional Hopes and Goals

As I think about working with children and families that come from diverse
backgrounds, I hope to bring awareness to different cultures.  All children and families need to understand and learn about different cultures.  This will help make all children well rounded, and they will appreciate different cultures more.

The goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to change our mindsets.  There are a lot of people in the field who do not understand how social identities and microaggressions play a major part in how we feel about people.  I want everyone to become more cognizant of what they say and do.  This will help eliminate some of the stereotypes and biases that we face today.

I would like to thank all of my colleagues for the encouragement and thoughtful posts each week.  This course has truly opened my eyes to the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice. I learned several new insights that make me look at issues differently. I would also like to thank Dr. D for really pushing me to think outside the box.  I have never heard of the term microaggression, but it truly makes me think before I speak.  I really enjoyed this class, and I learned a lot.  I wish everyone much success in their future courses.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

My family’s country of origin is Seychelles.  Seychelles is a small country in Africa. As I prepare to be culturally responsive towards this family there are some things I need to do to make this transition as easy as possible.  I do not know anything about Seychelles so right away I will have to do some research.  I feel like knowing where the family is from is important because it will help me understand their culture.

As I explore things that will make the child feel welcome in my classroom, I would find out specific things about her country.  I would find out the colors and symbols of her country.  I would also find pictures of places that she may be familiar with. I would decorate the classroom with these items to make her feel at ease.  I need to find out the primary language spoken in this country.  I would try to have a translator available when the child and her family arrive at the school to welcome them in their native language.  I would also like to learn a few basic words in order to communicate with the family.  It will be a good idea to learn how they greet each other in their culture.  I think this is important because I don’t want to offend anyone.  I would try to learn about their religious beliefs. This will be beneficial because I need to know if there are any holidays that they would not feel comfortable celebrating.  I hope that the representation of the country in my classroom will make my student and her family feel welcomed.  I hope this lets her know that we respect her culture, and that we are open to diversity. We are excited to have her and learn about her country.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The memory of an incident where I witnessed prejudice and oppression was from one of my favorite movies The Color Purple. The Color Purple was movie based on a the lives of  southern African American women.  The main character Celie is a poor, uneducated women who was beaten and raped by her father. Celie experienced oppression by telling Sophia’s husband to beat her.  Her thinking was a reflection of how she was beaten by Mister. Sophia which is another one of the main characters experienced racisim and oppression.  She was asked by the mayor’s wife if she wanted to work as her maid. Sophia felt offended by that question and ended up in an altercation with the mayor.  She ended up in jail for 12 years.  “Racism as an issue is seen in how Sofia was imprisoned and violently beaten for rejecting the mayor's wife's "offer" to be her maid (where the offer in itself was a reflection of racism)”. This movie dealt with some issues that are still prevalent today.  However, it helped shed some light on the various equity issues that women face.  This movie made me realize how far women have come.  We have a lot of rights that we didn’t have.  We play major roles in society now.  We even have a women running for president.  It’s good to reflect on how far we have come.

Reference

Walker, A. (1982), The Color Purple, retrieved from http://www.colorpurple.com

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I am pretty sure I have experienced microaggressions throughout my life.  However, I can vividly recall the experiences with my daughter better.  There is one particular incident that I can recall when my oldest daughter was about 2 years old.  My husband and I were in Belk, and we were having a conversation with my daughter like we always do.  An older Caucasian woman kept following us and staring at us.  She made us feel weird because we couldn’t figure out why she was staring at us.  After about 5-10 minutes of staring at us, she came over to us said that she noticed my daughter spoke so well and that she was so nicely dressed.  This lady really looked and sounded very shock that an African American child could speak and dress so well. She didn’t say it, but her facial expression and wording said it all.  My husband and I told her we wouldn’t have it any other way.  We told her that we never talked “baby” talk with her, and we have always used correct English with her. We advised her that we make sure she is well dressed where ever we go.  This is one thing both of our parents taught us. When you go out you are representing yourself and your parents and don’t go anywhere looking a mess.  My mom always said even if you have on jeans and a t-shirt make sure your hair is combed whenever you go out because you never know who you may run into.  My husband and I get comments like those all the time with both of our daughters.  I guess society plays a major part in how African American children are viewed as always speaking “slang” or not being dressed appropriately.  In today’s society it’s sad to see that people still see race as being a factor when it comes to a person’s speech, intelligence or the way they dress. As I reflect on this week’s information on microaggressions, I feel we must work together as a society to eliminate stereotypes such as these.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

The conversations I had this week on culture and diversity were very interesting.  I spoke with two of my friends who were males and one female.  Each ones perspective on diversity and culture was similar because they seem to only think of what’s on the surface.  I explained to them that culture goes way beyond the surface, and with “deep” culture we can find out a lot more about a person. They all seemed to think culture and diversity was one in the same.  Their definitions of culture were mostly what you see on the outward appearance.  They believe that culture is a person’s traditions, beliefs, attire, food, language, and religion. They believe diversity is what makes a person different. Diversity can be several things, but it’s is what makes us understand why we are all different. The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course helps me understand what makes us who we are.  Culture is basically what makes a person who they are.  Diversity on the other hand is how we look at people.  Diversity helps us better understand that we are all raised differently.  However, it makes us learn to be open to learning about different cultures and the way things are done.  This exercise helped put some things in perspective on culture and diversity.

My Family Culture

If I was in the middle of a major catastrophe that completely devastated the infrastructure of my country, I would have trouble choosing three small items to take away with me. The three items that I would chose would be my Bible, family photo, and a locket that my daughters’ gave me for Mother’s Day.  My first item would be my Bible because my faith in God is what keeps me grounded. My family’s faith in God is what makes us stronger.  I can read my Bible and remember that trouble don’t last always.  I may be in a catastrophic situation at that moment, but God didn’t bring me this far to leave me now.  The second item I would bring would be a family photo.  I would bring this photo in the event that we got separated.  This photo will remind me that I can weather the storm because I have to survive for my family.  The third item will be a locket that my daughter’s gave me for Mother’s Day.  I would bring this because my girls are my world.  I am an only child so I cherish every gift and moment that I am able to spend with them.  If upon arrival to the refugee camp I was told that I could only keep one item, it would have to be the Bible.  The Bible will provide a daily guide for me and my family.  It will give us reassurance that the catastrophe is only temporary.  I feel confident that it is the only item that my family and I would need to take with us.  This assignment really made take a step back and look at what matters the most to me. I realized that all the material things I really wouldn’t miss.  I realize that family is all that matters. If we can weather the “storm” together, we can conquer anything.  I pray that we never experience a catastrophic event.  However, our faith in God will see us through any situation.

When I Think of Research.....

What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?

I have gained a lot of valuable insights after taking this course.  I learned a lot of information that helped me understand the research process in detail.  I now have a better understanding of how to select a topic, how to formulate a research question and hypothesis, how to collect data, how to analyze data, and most importantly how to ensure the study is valid.

In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

My ideas about research have changed a lot.  When I first started this course I thought it was going to be a boring research class where you had to write a lot of papers.  My perception quickly changed after I learned how to effectively do research without wasting a lot of time.

What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

I have learned that when conducting research in early childhood, the researcher should plan carefully to eliminate wasting his/her time as well as the participants. The researcher should always use credible sources to make sure the study will be valid.  The researcher should remain ethical at all times. This will help protect the children and families during the research process. The researcher should also remain transparent throughout the process.  These key points will help ensure the success of the overall study.

What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?

The greatest challenge that I encountered during this course was narrowing down a research topic.  I originally chose autism which is a very broad topic.  I had to narrow down to very specific subtopics that could be researched in a reasonable time frame.  I was able to overcome this challenge by reading through some articles that were related to my topic, and I had to decide what information I wanted to learn from the study.

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

My perception of early childhood professionals who perform research has changed tremendously.  Those researchers deserve a lot of credit for the work they do. They spend countless hours doing the research and analyzing the data.  That can be time consuming which means they are probably away from their family a lot.  It takes a special kind of person to be a researcher because you truly have to be dedicated to the area of study to make sure the study goes smoothly.