Professional Hopes and Goals

I have really enjoyed this course on diversity. It has given me an insight on diversity and the need to prepare for children and families who come from diverse backgrounds. My goal as a future educator is to learn to relate to diverse families and incorporate their way of life somehow into my class setting. I believe that this will help students become comfortable in the environment and help them embrace their differences.

The early childhood field also has room for improvement in the area of diversity. One goal should be to better teacher educators exactly what steps to take to support diverse families. This could involve doing a small intern in a diverse society or even learning a different language to use in a lesson plan.

I would like to thank all of my classmate for reading my blogs and giving my the support throughout the course.

Shorlone

Welcoming Families From Around the World

For this activity, I was asked to pretend to be a child care provider preparing to welcome a child and family from a country I am unfamiliar with. I chose to welcome a family from Russia. In order to prepare for the family I will study the culture of families from Russia, how they socialize with each other, the roles of individuals in the family, how they view education, and America. I will learn more about the family by using the (1) internet to do research. I will also (2) visit the local library to read books about the country itself. Other ways I will find information is by (3)watching films on Russia, and (4) talking to people who may have a better insight into families from Russia. I think that also (5) talking directly to the parents will help me be more culture responsive to the needs of the child directly. I think that these ways of preparing for the family will help me to choose the correct things to say when pertaining to their child's education. It will also help me understand their ideology of education and their views of what is expected from me as a teacher.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I have personally experienced prejudice that has greatly disturbed me especially in my town. The town in which I live has re-developed the downtown area with different boutiques. All of these stores are locally owned by white people. There is one boutique that I really enjoy going to because the clothes are so stylish. The owners and workers try to be nice, sometimes overly nice, but the way in which they talk to me makes me feel as if they are judging me. Every time I enter the store I am immediately followed around by a worker and constantly asked if they can help me with something. One particular day, I was shopping for a white shirt for church. I picked up a white shirt that was perfect for our church occasion. When I asked to try it on the sales associate told me that it was not on sale and that there was a rack in the back that had similar styles. This BOTHERED me and I immediately responded! I was not proud of what I said but at that moment I knew that she thought I could not afford the item because of my color. This was the last time I visited the store and I do not recommend anyone to shop there.

I think that I could have handled the situation better if I had asked the associate why she felt that I would want a sales rack item. I believe that this should have been a learning experience for both her and I. I think it would have also been beneficial to speak to the owner concerning the matter because I know I am not the first customer this has happened to. I think that people in general have to STOP stereotyping people based on color! You can not tell a person's socioeconomic status based on their race. Blacks, whites, and every other race have to learn to live in harmony and not categorize people before they get to know them.