Professional Hopes and Goals

I hope that when I work with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds, I will be better able to just listen. I want to know about children and families to understand their uniqueness. I do not want to make the families that I come in contact with to feel in any way invisible, marginalized and not respected. I will do my best to learn about their culture and incorporate what I can into the classroom including home language  bridging the gap between home and school eliminating discontinuity. I will be an advocate for children and families by creating equity and social justice.

I would like to set one goal for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity and social justice. The field needs to continue the journey. Diversity, equity and social justice have come far but there is so much more work to be done. All children and families need to be respected. Diversity needs to be seen as a wonderful part of all of our lives.

I would first like to thank Dr. Myers for continually challenging us to think and to grow. I would like to thank my colleagues for sharing their stories and experiences as they have added so much to our conversations and learning. 

Welcoming Families From Around The World

The family coming into my classroom is from Spain.

In order to prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family

·         I will have to do research to learn about the culture of Spain. I will have to learn key words in Spanish. As there are many people in my school that speak Spanish and we do teach Spanish to our children. We have a Spanish specialist that comes into our classroom 2x every week. I probably already know some key words but I have resources within my school as I have colleagues that speak Spanish. I will make sure that I have help to converse with the parents. I will make sure that all important information in my classroom will be in English and in Spanish. I will allow the child to feel free to use Spanish in the classroom while learning English at the same time.

·         I will be culturally responsive by including pictures, posters, books and other items that are representative of his culture. I will include photographs of the child’s family in our classroom in order for the child to feel included.

·         I will make sure that my classroom library contains books both fiction and nonfiction that depict families from Spain.

·         As I understand that there is more to culture than just what is on the surface, I will have conversations with the family in order to find out what is important to them. I will be respectful of the family culture and include any aspects of the culture that the family feels comfortable sharing with us. I will invite the family into my classroom to introduce their culture to the classroom if that is something the family is comfortable doing.

·         I will have a map, photographs and information about Spain to include in my lesson planning when the child starts so that the children in the classroom will have a wonderful opportunity to learn about a place they may have never learned about before.

I would hope that these preparations will begin a strong relationship between the family and me. I want to make this family feel respected, welcomed and included. I would want this family to feel visible. As I know that coming to a brand new country must be so scary. I want to bridge the gap between home and school. These preparations would benefit me because I would be prepared to welcome this family into our school family and hopefully help them in some small way to make their transition to a brand new country a bit easier just knowing that their child is in a warm, nurturing, loving and inclusive environment. I would build trust and help their entire family. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

There is one experience that I remember that happened to a family at the preschool where I work. I know this happens all of the time.  I heard it from a family in my classroom. While having a conversation with one of the two moms in this same sex relationship, she shared with me that it is obvious that they are targets of oppression. Lesbian and gay couples are not represented in any application forms and school paperwork. The paperwork asks you to fill in information regarding mom and dad. What if there are two dads or two moms? What if the family makeup is not the norm? It may seem like a small thing but it does show bias, prejudice and oppression.  

This specific incident diminished equity for lesbian and gay families as they are the victims of invisibility. It makes families feel not included and not recognized. They are not being respected and not being seen. The paperwork makes the assumption that all families consist of a mom and a dad. It sends a negative message to any family that does not fall into the norm.

Before this incident, it would have never occurred to me. It is part of a much larger problem. It made me feel sad that any family would feel discriminated against. I felt empathy for this family as I know that there are so many issues that same sex couples have to deal with that heterosexual couples do not even have to think about. There are so many diverse and unique families. It is not just about ethnicity, language, income level and religion. It is also about family makeup. All families want and should feel included and not made to feel invisible.

In this situation, in order to make a change that would be equitable, the school enrollment forms and paperwork would have to reflect a growing and diverse population. In this case, what would need to happen is that the school administration would have to be willing to reflect a changing population by saying Parent One and Parent Two. The school would need to make an effort to include all families. 

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I can remember a time when I was the recipient of a microaggression. The comment made to me was “that was really very generous; you are not stingy with money at all”. The comment was made when we were collecting money for a group gift for a coworker that was leaving our school. I guess I must have given more than she thought I would have being Jewish.  I was a little shocked to hear her say that. She never made any stereotypical remarks before this incident. The hidden message to me was that Jews are all cheap.

The experience made me feel very uncomfortable and hurt. I felt that I was being stereotyped based on my religion as I have heard these type of comments before.  People do not necessarily mean to intentionally stereotype.  They are not trying to hurt feelings but these comments are very upsetting. This experience is not even close to how it must feel to be the victim of prejudice or discrimination but I did get a glimpse into the negative feelings about yourself when you are lumped into a category and stereotyped because of any one of a number of your social identities.

After learning about microagressions this week, I learned that we must be aware of what we say and how we say it. I am really now thinking differently about prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination. Little comments and slights are cumulative in nature and cause harm and damage to the recipient. We should not make anyone feel offended by our words or actions. There can be unintentional hidden messages behind every seemingly benign comment and compliment. As early childhood educators working everyday with children and families, it is our responsibility to ensure that we do not marginalize anyone.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I chose to interview four people on culture and diversity.

Culture is what you define yourself as. It is what naturally resonates with you. Diversity is the presence or representation of numerous and unique subjects or people. Diversity is group that defines itself in a certain way. Jonathan-age 22

Culture is something you are born with and what your parents are developing in you. It includes your language, beliefs, clothing, food and different components of what is taught to you by your family. Diversity is different groups of people who have their own religious beliefs and own identities. Marilyn-age 68

Culture is the way your local society reacts to different things- your neighborhood way of doing things. Diversity is different ethnic groups with different opinions. Michael-age 52

Culture is the way people function in everyday life. The way they dress and the food they eat. Diversity is various types of groups in one area. Hannah age 16

There were many aspects of culture and diversity that I have studiedin this course that are included in the answers I received.

Jonathan said that culture is how you define yourself and what resonates with you. The example comes to mind is our social identity. Our social identity is a part of our individual culture and it is very much how you define yourself and what resonates and is important to you. Diversity as being a group that defines itself in a certain way would be people that affiliate with a certain religion. People that speak the same language, people that live in the same country, state or town.

Marilyn mentions culture as what your parents are developing in you. This relates to what we have learned about culture coming from the relationships and connections with the people in your life. We learned that language, clothing and food are taught by your family. This entails your surface culture. I also like that she said your beliefs. This is looking at deep culture. She stated that different groups of people that share common religious beliefs and identities. This is definitely a part of what makes people diverse.

Michael talks about a neighborhood way of doing things and how groups of people react to things. This may relate to a culture of a community of people as they may be a part of a dominant culture. Diversity is stated as different ethnic groups and having different ethnic groups in one area. This means that a particular place is diverse. It could mean a neighborhood, a school setting, a work environment.

Hannah said that culture is the way people function in their everyday life. It is the way people function is culture. The way they dress and the food they eat. This is a part of surface culture. She states that diversity is various types of groups in one area. This is a part of diversity in a given area.

What was omitted?

This was an interesting exercise. What was omitted was looking at diversity on an individual basis. The four people that I interviewed looked at diversity in terms of groups of people. No one looked at diversity on an individual basis as each one of us is a unique person. No one talked about diversity in terms of family culture. Everyone looked at ethnicity. No one was able to look at the make-up of a family as being unique and diverse.

What have I learned?

I have learned that my understanding of culture and diversity has broadened. I was so interested in what everyone had to say on the topics. I find that I now have a whole new area of interest. The topics of culture and diversity are so much more interesting to me now. There is so much more to culture and diversity than people actually think about. It goes so much deeper than ethnicity, language and religion.

My Family Culture

If I had evacuate to a different country and I had to choose only three small items to take that represented my family culture, I would choose a family photo album, my Shabbat candle sticks and my mom’s box of index card recipes.

The photo album contains pictures that I have put together of my immediate family and pictures of both of my parents families. I would explain that each picture contains wonderful memories and wonderful stories that I have been told about generations of people in my family that I have never even met. I have had wonderful relationships with so many of these people and those that were part of my family culture. All of these people contribute to my story and my culture.

My Shabbat candlesticks are very important to me as they represent my Jewish religion. In my family culture we celebrate our Sabbath every Friday night. We may not light candles and go to temple every week but lighting candles on Shabbat will keep me in touch with my religion which is very much a part of my family culture.

The recipes have been handed down from my great grandmother. The recipes contain dishes that were prepared on all of the different Jewish holidays. There are also wonderful recipes that I just remember eating as a kid. My great grandmother made them, my grandmother and my mom. My mom just moved to Florida from NY and now we prepare these same dishes together. These recipes are very important to me as they are a link to my relatives and very much a part of my family culture.

I would feel very sad if I had to give up one of these items as they are all so important to me and each one has equal value in my eyes.  Each of these items contains memories and links to my family history, my family culture and my family uniqueness.

From doing this exercise, the insights that I gained about myself and my family culture is that I can see now that my religion is important to me. By taking with me the photos, the candlesticks and the recipes, I see what is really important and what I wish to preserve about my family, my culture and my diversity. I am also now beginning to feel what it must be like for a family that comes to a different country. It must be so scary and difficult to leave behind so much and try to start all over again trying to hold on to your home culture while assimilating into the new culture in order to survive. 

When I think of research

I think one of the most important insights for me came at the very beginning of this course as we learned how to efficiently read research. We learned the key areas to read in order to gain a complete understanding of the research study. It has already saved me so much time in reviewing articles and understanding. I can see that this new found skill will be invaluable as I continue on at Walden and for the rest of my career in the field of early childhood. I also now have an understanding of the types of research including both quantitative and qualitative. I now understand the process of conducting research from start to finish as I have learned all of the steps. I understand that conducting research is a great task but worth the undertaking. What has truly amazed me the most is that over the course of eight weeks we have been able to construct a research simulation.

My ideas about the nature of research have changed as I can now completely see what goes into research. Through this program, I have read numerous studies but I was not familiar with the complexities and steps necessary to conduct research. I have learned that there are steps that need to be carried out in order establish, design and conduct research. There is a specific method and approach that needs to be considered before and during any research study. I hope to now be a much better consumer of research. There are many complexities to research but it is well worth delving into and maybe someday expanded my own participation as a researcher.

I learned many lessons about planning, designing and conducting research in the early childhood field. I learned that all of these steps are important and need to be carefully thought out. A research study needs to be carefully planned, designed and conducted. There are so many factors to be taken into consideration and thought about prior to beginning and while implementing a study. When planning, designing and conducting research in the early childhood field there are many decisions and choices that need to be made to best meet the needs of your study and also the needs of your participants. Care needs to be taken in order to conduct ethical and equitable research while at the same time collect data that will yield valid information that will benefit the participants and the early childhood field.

I think my greatest challenge was the fear of research going into this course. I have read research but never attempted to understand and learn how to be a researcher. A challenge for me was grasping all of the new ideas and vocabulary of research. I now can think of research in a whole new way. I think that the research charts helped a lot. Through these assignments, we were able to review our textbook, review and define vocabulary, state and respond to an issue and answer a reflection question. I really feel that these assignments helped and I was able to use them throughout the course to assist with each research simulation. Now that we have compiled these charts, we will have them always at our fingertips for review.  Another challenge was narrowing down my topic into one very specific question. Dr Dartt was able to help me through this challenge. I read through one of the articles related to the topic I was interested in studying and I was able to find a key word and that key word helped me to narrow my question down to one manageable question to study.

I have learned that it is so important for early childhood professionals to keep doing research. I have an even greater respect for the hard work and dedication of professional that undertake research as research continues to add to an increasing body of knowledge that helps our field in so many ways.

I have learned that as early childhood professionals working in early childhood settings, we are conducting research with our children every day.

I have learned that we can never stop being consumers of research. Early childhood professionals need to continue to read the current research. Research from all fields related to early childhood will help to further the knowledge that those in the field are professionals. Early childhood is a very important field that needs to be continuously studied.