Professional Hopes and Goals

Over the past several weeks I feel my knowledge of diversity, equity, and social justice has changed for the better. It has been a wonderful experience learning and gaining insight on how diversity and social identities and how these factors contribute to the overall balance and relationship of staff and parent, professional and professional, and professionals and children. I am able to see now that how I identify myself and my family’s culture background influences the professional I am today. Although I feel as if I gained so much useful information I do feel that with my continued education here at Walden University and also with the motivation of faculty and peers that I will continue to grow and one day have a magnitude of knowledge to better serve those around me.

It is my hope that one day policy makers and the government will notice and do something about and beneficial to the early childhood education field and the many diverse families we as professionals serve. I hope that they can see the importance of inclusion for all children and families and make sure that early childhood centers, organizations, staff, and families are given the necessary resources to build a strong nation of healthy and bright children, regardless of sex, religion, socioeconomic class, orientation, ability and etc. If I was given the opportunity to set one goal related to early childhood and diversity, equity, and social justice, it would be to educate families and professionals on different ways to promote healthy inclusion for all families  and make sure they are aware of different mechanisms they could do to promote equity and social justice for all, and also make sure all early childhood education organizations have the necessary tools to integrate those diverse families smoothly, efficiently, and most important respectfully.

            I would like to say CONGRATULATIONS, to all of my classmates and group mates for making it this far in their learning and thank you to all for all of your insight, words of encouragement, and weekly responses, I truly appreciate you each and every one of you. I wish you all the best and please remember that the best is yet to come and let’s get out there and impact the world one young learner at a time. Best of luck to you all!!!!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Earlier this week I learned that I would be receiving a student and her family from Holland and I would like to learn as much as I can about their culture and make the transition to the United States a good one. For the transition I have decided to do the following for new family:

1.      Research helpful information on the country of Holland and various customs

2.      Learn basic sayings in the Dutch language which could help in communicating with the child and family.

3.      Present information to the other students and staff about the family’s country origin to help in transitioning

4.      Plan a small but big welcome ceremony for family

5.      Make the classroom more inclusive to the child and family      

I hope after preparing for the family in the following ways that I am able to lay a strong foundation for a healthy relationship between not only the child and also the family. I hope through preparing I am able to learn more about a country I knew little or nothing about. I hope the preparation can serve as a learning tool for also the current students and see the importance in accepting all diversities and make new friends. It is my hope that family see how far much we care I care as the teacher but also the other students and staff, care about the positive transition for the child and also for them. 

Here are some links containing information about the country of Holland:

http://www.holland.com/us/tourism.htm

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/holland.htm#.Ub-gs_lQH7U

Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

When I was in high school I began early on trying to devise a list of colleges and universities that I would be interesting in. I was very lucky to have a counselor and many mentors through tout the school  to help me gather information and other information that not only would be helpful to me but also my mother. One day my aunt took me up to visit and tour a predominately White school and immediately I felt out of place. I was aware in the beginning what kind of school it was but when we arrived on the campus I did not get a rush of warmness from the students or staff. After touring for quite some time they allowed us to have lunch in their dining hall and I can remember my aunt and me hearing snickers as we walked across the dining hall to our table. There was this petite Asian girl and white girl who looked over at me and yelled so everyone could hear them, “What ya’ll doing here, this is not the ghetto”! I was furious and became enraged because the girls did not know me and opted not to get to know me. I was quite shocked at the response the guide and teachers gave, because they did not make known of what the girls had done and addressed the situation properly.

I do not know the thought process of the adults at that time, but I felt as if they made me an outcast and a spectacle for the rest of the group.  I felt again like I did with the little girl that day and the day at the store with my mom and sisters. I knew in my heart and my aunt knew from my facial expressions that I was about to explode, and I did. I told those girls and the tour guide and teachers  off being as nasty nice as I could and even though I did not have to fight fire with fire, I had had enough with the remarks, the jokes, and even laughs at my expense.  I believe the if the teachers and tour guide would have addressed the girls and had shown me some compassion then I would have felt as if that school could have been my home and just because I had had that incident happen to me, that I would have met some interesting and cool people of all diverse communities and built strong lasting friendships with them all.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week’s lesson was focused on microaggressions and this week I had the unfortunate experience to witness a microaggression take place. My girlfriend and I were driving on the road and her tire blew out, luckily we had a spare but we decided to check with local tire centers to try and purchase a new one. After some searching we found a place and so we preceded to tell the man what exactly happened and give him the information about the car/tire, when the man stops us mid-sentence and says, “Are ya’ll gay?” We turned and looked at each other and replied, “Umm…yes we are lesbians, why do you ask?” The man replies by saying, “Why would ya’ll want to be that, did something happen to ya’ll? Do ya’ll sleep with men, give me a try I won’t disappoint ya’ll?” Now while this man was babbling on asking all personal questions, my girlfriend and I stood there feet frozen shocked that some human being would have the audacity to ask those questions to our face. I was able to gather from this week’s lesson and from the articles provided that the microaggressions taking place in this incident were microinsult and microinvalidation. The man made an assumption that not only was rude but was very hurtful, that somehow the reason why we were lesbians was due to something horrific taking place and I have found that many individuals often believe that homosexuals are raped or molested which makes them choose the same sex. It is my opinion that those individuals have a cloudy since of imagination and just do not understand the LGBT culture. I believe that once people break down that barrier of ignorance or hate that they would be able to really get to know the LGBT community and realize that we are all human, just with various preferences. 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

When I think of culture and diversity, I first take a look and look at the closest people around me, and for this week’s post I wanted to share how my friends and colleagues define culture and diversity.  I had the privilege to speak to Mrs. Julie Harvey (Trinidad infant/Toddler Lead Teacher), Ms. Shriya Ambi (Indian Preschool Teacher), and Mr. Malcolm Ramsey (African-American Curriculum Specialist). I asked the three the following questions:

·         What is your definition of culture and diversity?

·         What affects have the two had on your professional career?

Mrs. Julie Harvey when asked stated the following:

            “I believe culture and diversity are two of the same because there are no way you can have one without the other. I would say that culture deals with the various groups of people in one society and diversity is the mixture of all the groups. I believe that culture and diversity has influenced my professionally career for the better and has made me take a closer look at all families and children and even at times colleagues”.

Ms. Shriya Ambi stated the following:

            “Diversity is what this world is about and defines the many individuals who are present on this present Earth. I feel that culture is what makes us all humans and is displayed in all the things that we say, do, dress and think. For me understanding culture and diversity is complex as the groups of people change but at the same time creates an everlasting learning experience”.

When asked Curriculum Specialist Malcolm Ramsey responded in the following way, saying:

            “As early childhood education and the field as a whole changes, so does the types of families early learning centers around the world service. As a professional I am able to see the effects of culture and diversity on the learning environment and can conclude that culture and diversity are teaching tools to understand all types of people and their backgrounds. Culture is what makes them who they are and diversity is what sets them apart from the rest”.

From my colleagues responses I am to gather how outside individuals view culture and diversity and how the two impact the field. I was also able to see that my colleagues did not touch on ethnic groups, race, religion and other key components of diversity and culture. It was very interesting learning about culture and diversity and learns about how outside individuals put each subtopic into their own category, and are able to incorporate the two into a lesson, complex thought or simple statement. I believe this assignment has allowed me to gain a true appreciation for other people and to fully respect all things that make them who they are and them family that they have.

My Family Culture

If I was put into a position to be evacuated from my home country and placed into another country I would bring along a bible, radio with various cassettes and a family photo album. I would take this item because the bible will serve as my comfort in my time of need and give me understanding of the situation in which I was faced, the album will allow me to remember my family as they were and keep them close to my heart and the radio will allow me to think of all the good times I had being around my old neighborhood, family and friends and also help bridge the gap between myself and the host country.

I believe the act of actually having to leave my homeland and being placed into another would be very hard and difficult for me to understand, but if I were told to leave two of my selected items behind I would be devastated to the core. In that time of confusion I would depend on having at least my bible and my family photo album with me to help me cope with losing things and family members who were so dear and important to me. From doing this exercise I am able to see how I would never want to be in a situation where I am away from those individuals and things that matter most to me. I am also able to see how by having these things that make up the person I am and shine light on my family heritage.

When I Think of Research...

          

As I continue my education here at Walden University, I am more aware of the values of certain courses as they pertain to my professional growth.  I valued the Building Research Competencies course because I was able to really learn in-depth about the research process and all the components I must be familiar with from a researcher’s perspective. I feel as if I was exposed to many terms, designs, and formalities that could really take my career to the next height and make me better for my students and their families.  From this course I was exposed to the quantitative and qualitative research design and from that knowledge I learned about two processes I was not very familiar with, which at times during course readings became a true challenge to understand. I truly believe this course allowed me to look at research from all angles and see the importance of the participants and also the overall message gained from conducting the research.  Although I was familiar of research, I must say that I was not always aware of every component and their specific function (i.e., variables & triangulation). I really appreciated how the authors gathered information that was clear and precise and was able to display the function and true value of all key items in research. I am extremely grateful for having taken this course, because I feel I gained a true appreciation for research and all the work and effort that researchers put into high quality research design.