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.

Microaggression

I have experienced many situations in which microaggression was felt. As a mother I pride myself in the way in which I rear my children. I have taught them to stand up for what they believe in and never let someone treat your wrong. They attend a majority white school that is considered a top school in the district. It took a while to get them accepted to the school but once they began to attend I began to notice many subtle forms of racism. One that stands out the most are the ones done to my children. I have had some situations in which teachers have assumed just because of their color they were not capable or able to do things. I expose my children to different cultures in life. I teach them to be acceptable of all people regardless of their race and socioeconomic status. There have been a few situations that I have had to stand up for my children. I do not want them to feel inferior to others just because of the color of their skin. I recently experienced my own form of microaggression at my new job. Being a woman, I am often stereotyped as not being able to perform certain duties. I work in corrections which is looked at as a "man's" job. I deal with small forms of microaggressions daily but I do not let them stop me from achieving my goals in life.
     This week's lesson have taught me that forms of discrimination still exist in the world today. It saddens me that it is so, but it has lead me to teach my children about the world that we live in. I want them to understand this world but not be affected by the way people treat them. I teach them to strive for their goals and not let the ignorance of others deter them.

Diversity and Culture

Chanelle: She defined culture as the traditions, ideas, and customs that a group of people share. The group of people do not have to share the same race but share characteristics that are similar to each other. She stated that diversity means differences. These differences can be religion, ideology, customs, cultures, race and value.

Jay: Defined culture as way different races view the world and the ideas they hold. He defined diversity in the terms of different races and religions.

Sarah: She viewed culture as the unique characteristics associated with different groups of people. She gave an example about how different the culture of the South is when compared to culture in the North. She stated that diversity means differences. These differences can happen inside a single culture but are respected by all members of the society.

In my conversation with these three friends many examples of culture invisibility were given. Sarah discussed the culture of Mexicans as being only the language and food that they eat. This showed that she did not know much about the actual culture of the group of people and that there were many other unique characteristics to Mexicans.

In the definitions given the idea of how a group of people view the world was not given by any of the people I identified. 

The responses from these three people made me think of how people have their own working definition of what culture really is. Just like the people in our resource videos, these three thought of different alike but similar definitions of culture. I think that it is very important to understand the definition of culture because it is the first step in accepting diversity among different cultures. 

Family Culture

Family culture is very important to me. As a child, I was taught the importance of family and remembering the struggles my ancestors live through in order for me to enjoy the life I have today. My values and beliefs are not just my own but they were passed down from generation to generation.

My Perspective, Diversity and Equity course wants me to imagine that my family and I are survivors of a catastrophic incident. As a survivor we are being shipped off to stay in a foreign country completely different from my normal family culture. I am allowed to bring three items to remind me of my family culture. If my family and I were forced to leave this country and live in a place completely different from my culture it would not be hard to decide what three things I would take with me to preserve my family culture. I would take the family Bible, a picture of my great great grandparents, and a family quilt.

The Bible has been my key to life. I was taught using the Bible and I am currently training my children to live by the Word. Being in a foreign country could have a great effect of my family’s faith, but having the bible with us will remind us of our Christian beliefs. The picture of my great great grandparents would be a visual of my heritage. My grandmother would always tell me stories about her parents and I plan to pass these stories down to my children. The quilt I would take symbolizes my own children. I began to work on the quilt using clothes from my children. It is a way to remember their births and different mild stones in their lives.

If I had to choose which of the three items I would take with me if I could only take one it would be the Bible. I live by this book and anytime I need comforting or insight into my problems in life I can got to Bible. I was taught this as a child by my mom and grandmother.

I learned that many of my family values are in fact religious based and may not be so different as any other Christian of any other ethnicity. These values I have been taught are passed down and have been helpful to all generations of my family. 

When I Think of Research

After reflecting on all of the things that I have learned about research in this class, all I can say is WOW! Research is a very detailed and informative subject that provides so many people with different insights and data to help them understand and address issues that they may be experiencing, especially in the area of early childhood.  However, I have really enjoyed learning about the research process and hope that one day I will be able to conduct a research study of my own.

The resources, assignments, and discussions have allowed me to gain many insights on the topic of research.  When it comes to research there are many things that the research must consider and determine when approaching and addressing the problem at hand.  The researcher must carefully go through each step of the research process in order to determine some very important aspects which include the type of research, the research design, data collection methods, participants, and rules/ethics that must be applied throughout the entire study.  The researcher has a big job on their hands but have to remember it is all worth the work because of the impact that they will make on people in society.  Going through each week and learning about each part of the research process has made me feel differently about research.  I used to think that research was boring and took too much time, however, now I feel that research will allows the researcher to make an impact on people and develop solutions to problems that have been around for many years.  Just the thoughts of making an impact on the lives of children and allowing them to experience life in a positive way makes me want to share with everyone the benefits of research.

During this course the professor made sure that we were aware of different lessons that pertained to planning, designing, and conducting research.  Basically the researcher has to be patient and make sure that all research guidelines are followed and that they remain ethical throughout the process.  The researcher must also make sure that they carefully plan their study to make sure that it focuses on a specific problem as well as a specific population.  When it comes to designing the study, the research must make sure that every step has been addressed to make sure that no vital information is left out.  The researcher should also make sure that they have received consent from the participants and have explained every aspect of the study to keep from being deceitful and labeled as untrustworthy.  The lessons that I learned allowed me to get through my research simulation which was not an easy task.  While going through my research simulation, I experienced several challenges which were somewhat hard to overcome.  The one challenge that has given me trouble the entire time is the development of a topic and research question which is specific.  Every research question that I developed was deemed as broad and really made things frustrating for me.  Every time I changed the question, I was still stating it in a broad manner.  This is something that I have to work on in order to successfully complete my major assessment for this class.  This is a challenge that I am still facing and have not accomplished as of yet but hopefully I will be able to work through this challenge.             

This class has really opened my eyes to many of the issues that early childhood professionals, children, and families are experiencing.  This information has taken my perception of the early childhood professional to another level in which I am even more excited about becoming an early childhood professional and an advocate for children.  I feel that every child should experience a life where they do not have to deal with the problems that children are faced with today.  I want to be a part of this field and join forces with others to aid children in achieving the best education possible in order to develop into successful adults.   

As I close this blog and complete another class, I would like to thank the professor and my colleagues for such a wonderful time of learning.  I am so glad that I have such a supportive and motivating network of people, who are focused on the same goals and traveling the same road to success.  I wish you all the best of luck and I will see you all in the next class!