Professional Hopes and Goals

In light of recent events, it is my hope that we will be able to make all children feel safe and loved in all of our schools.  I hope that we can show children of diversity that they have something to give to the world that we live in.  That what makes them special is that they are different from the person sitting next to them.  I hope that we can give each child a solid and equal education.

A goal that I would like to see happen in the early childhood field would be that we work on giving each child a fair chance at being themselves, and I chance to share who that person is. I would like for us to allow children a chance to share all of the differences and the likeness that we have. Once we can do that then maybe we will see each other as equal and be fair and just with each other.

Thank you to each and every one of my classmates for sharing your personal stories and opening ourselves up to change.  By the way Mrs. Dartt I was really thrown by the whole name and then to see the picture. I just I should be open to names also.

Thank you!

Welcoming Families from Around the World

Today I am preparing my class of per-schoolers to welcome a family from Brazil into our part of the world.  The first thing that I will do is become familiar with the country of Brazil.  I want to know what language the family speaks and if they also speak English.  The second thing I would want to do is prepare the class for our new student.  We would talk about the language of Brazil (Portuguese) and the history of Brazil.  We will prepare ourselves to give the family a genuine encounter.  I would want to set aside some time to spend with the family to get to know them, how well they speak English, how the family dynamics play out, to make sure that I do not offended any one.  The fourth thing I would do is assign a partner for the child to show them around our center.  The final prep work would be to ask the child to bring in photos from Brazil.

I hope with these preparations we will be able to make the child feel a part of the class and welcome the family into the United States. Taking the time to get to know the family without placing any ideals that are wrong or would promote any biases or prejudices, will help the class be ready and include the child from the first day. Basic knowledge of the land will help us all have a starting point for open conversation. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

               Personally I cannot hold onto any incidents of prejudice, or bias, or forms of oppression, for that that is a sure way to hold a grudge against everyone.  When I see a program or start to read a book that is clearly bias or shows prejudice I have to make sure that I am in the right frame of mind or just skip it all together.  One story that I will share is when 9/11 came and people where placing flags all over the place, on cars and in the front yard, and wearing them in every form.  I had a co-worker who was from Pakistan and she has a son that she was very worried about.  She did not know if she wanted to mark him and what he drove in some way to try and protect him or just not draw attention to him.  She decided not to draw any attention to him at all.  I had another co-worker that worked at another location and she came over one day and said “boy did Mrs. S. mark her car up with flags”.  I had to tell her no that was not Mrs. S car but someone else‘s car.  A person that wanted the world to know that she was an American, that Mrs. S was afraid it would draw to much attention to her son and have him attacked on the street.  We need to be very careful when jumping to conclusions about how people respond to a threat of danger.  It is not funny that because of where a person is from or what they look like puts them in danger every day that they leave the house.  I was disturbed that it never accrued to my co-worker that Mrs. S. would be afraid for her son and her husband. We took the time to talk about it and I hope that we both will remember that conversation from that time.  Her children may never feel threaten when going out, but some people are.  We have to make people aware of the full picture. 

Practing Awareness of microaggressons

When you hear stereotypes or even experience, you have to question where it comes from. I was riding with a friend to do some food shopping for Thanksgiving, when she was cut off.  It was a very scary few seconds.  The driver was an Asian person, and she said see they can't drive.  The statement was not meant to hurt, but it probably would have hurt if the person hears her say it.  It was an insult that was directed towards the race (microinsults) but meant as a way to release the stress that she felt as a result of being cut off.  I thought back on the readings from this week and had to acknowledge that we see and hear microaggressions more than we should.  I don't see a change on how I see discrimination or stereotypes, and prejudices that are placed on people, I have been aware of them for as long as I can remember and often talk about where the microaggressions may have come from.  I try not to buy into any of it, but we all have something that comes from some mental residue (Teaching Tolerance) that has to be dealt with.

Resources:

"Microaggressions in Everyday Life"

Teaching Tolerance. (n.d.). Test yourself for hidden bias. Retrieved May 25, 2011, from http://www.tolerance.org/activity/test-yourself-hidden-bias

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

1. The answers that I received when talking about culture and diversity where very much the same.  I spent most of the day with two fifteen year old girls.  When I asked them what did they think, I received an interesting . The both said, diversity and culture was about opinions.  I did not get anything about race, or age, or regions, or beliefs.  These girls are of different race but really don't see it.  That is a great thing.  When you listen to them talk they talk about boys and not descriptions just that boy was cute.  When further detail was needed it was the one on the left, the one on the end, and nothing more than that.  I wonder if we (older people) make race and gender a thing.  My daughter said to me "Mom you would be happy to hear that not one older guy hit on me today."  The young lady that was with us said," She is happy when anyone hits on her, male or female".  I think that children are trying hard to step away from the "norms" of the dominant culture that they keep away from labels as much as possible.  There are new groups now, the "Emo's, the Prep's, and other titles, that we didn't use at all when I was growing up.  The "cultural pluralism is not about race any more, so it seems but more about music and dress.  The identity of the ones that I have spoken to are about what they like and not what they look like.  Maybe they are to young to think about a culture, they talk in terms of tradition and not in terms of culture.  What was said to me today was enlightening and fun to hear.  I am happy to say that these children are looking beyond the in your face identities and looking for common ground.  The third person that I talked to is my age and looked at it from a teacher's stand point, diversity is race, and age, and gender.   Culture is fluid and seems to mean more to older people and ones that are hanging onto a more traditional way of life.

My Family Culture

If I were to have to pick three things to take with me it would be my wedding album, The cap that was placed on Kameron’s head after he was born and the cap that was placed on Kaira’s head after she was born.  I don’t know if these items would be considered as culture.  They mean a lot to me.  The album shows how my part of the family starts, and the caps show the line that will hopefully continue on. If I had the choice of keeping only one of the three items it would be the album.  The album shows our two family’s being combined and the joy of the day and the hopes of the future.   

I have to think what means the most to me in my home and what I would want to hold near and dear to me.  The things that mean the most to me have to do with my family.  The album encompassed a little bit of all of us.  If I had to give up the caps that my children had on for their first minutes in the world it would be a very sad thing, but I would have to cry and move on.  We lose things that are dear to us all the time, but I have learned how to place things in my heart and hold on to it that way.  It would not be the things that hold monetary value that I would want to make sure came with me, but the things that hold a place in my heart.