Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that they will feel welcomed. I want them to feel that they can share personal information with me about themselves or their children.

A goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that everyone will respect each other's culture, and to be able to learn from one another through interactions and sharing our experiences with one another.


I would like to thank all of my colleagues for all the information, insights, and experiences you have shared with me during the course. I feel we have learned a lot about diversity during this course together.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The family is coming from Germany.

Five ways in which I can prepare myself to be culturally responsive:
1. Try to learn some words and phrases in German.
2. Look at books and videos about Germany
3. If I have time and resources, I could visit Germany
4. Do research on the internet about Germany.
5. Talk to someone from Germany.

I hope that having this preparation will make the child and family feel more welcomed. The child and family will feel like they are comfortable, appreciated, and that they belong.  I want them to feel at home. This will also bennefit me by giving me knowledge I can use with other families from Germany in the future. 

Personal side of Bias, Prejudice, and oppression

Memory of an bias, prejudice, and or oppression:
I was watching a kids t.v. show with my daughter who only watches programs on nick jr and Disney jr. I seen this show several times but felt it fit into this assignment. The dad is cooking on the grill outside with his men friends and tells the mom that he always knows what he is doing.

I feel that this diminished equity. I feel it diminished equity in that it was saying that men always knows what they are doing. Men know how to cook out.
Feelings brought up: I felt this was saying that men are superior to women. Men are smarter than women. Men are not seen on the same level as men.
In order to turn this into an opportunity for greater equity, I feel that the mom should have spoken up for women in return. This could have shown how women are on the same level as men.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

One example of a microaggression I remember was from a friend of mine. I spent a lot of time at her house talking to her. I also spent a lot of time with my Vietnamese friends. Our neighborhood was changing in diversity. The neighborhood at that time had Hispanics, Vietnamese, African American, and Whites living in the community. She looked out the window at one of the houses where a Vietnamese family lived, and mentioned that they needed to move back where they came from. Although we were inside her house and the neighbors could not hear her, I did. I did not like her talking about the Vietnamese family like that. I did not know that particular family that well, but I knew one of them. I also knew the Vietnamese family that lived next to me. I think I told her that they were a nice family.

My observation experiences this week made me more aware of discrimination, prejudice, and or stereotypes. I feel I am a little more aware of things that I or others might say can affect others. This week I have found myself thinking about things from more than one perspective. I try to imagine how I would feel if someone said something like that to me. I also have started trying to think of why some people do things that they do. If they still feed their child at the age of three, it is probably because of their culture. Not the view I would have had before this class.

Perspectives on diversity and culture

Culture-
Def 1. beliefs, values, and norms of a group of people or a set of people.
Def 2. The shared knowledge, experience, beliefs, and values of a particular group of people.
Def 3. Culture is a group of people brought together by common social values and interests in a geographical area.

Diversity-
Def 1. Differences among people due to age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, education, experience, physical appearance, etc.
Def 2. Differences between particular groups in a particular or isolated area.
Def 3. Diversity expresses itself in likeness and differences which might include education, race, and other areas.

Some aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this class were included in the answers I received. Some examples of these include values, work, and religion. Values, work, and religion are part of deep culture that we have studied. Deep culture is the part of the culture that you can not necessarily see. It is the part that you learn about by getting to know someone.

Some aspects that were omitted included surface culture, languages, and roles. Everyone has different roles that they take on within their family. Some members of the family may be the care taker, the helper, victim, etc. (Christian, L.G., 2006).

Thinking about the definitions of culture and diversity that I received, I realize that other people tend to also think that there are norms in culture and diversity. I have learned in this course that there really is not a norm. The so called norm is usually what the dominant culture has perceived to be normal. Everyone has their own ways of doing things. There is no right or wrong way.

References

Christian, L. G. (2006). Understanding families: Applying family systems theory to early childhood practice. Young Children, 61(1), 12–20. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the ProQuest Central database: http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?did=1042679491&sid=1&Fmt=4&clientId=70192&RQT=309&VName=PQD

 

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

 

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Culture and diversity [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

 

 

 



My Family Culture

The three items I would choose if I had to pick only three would be: my bible, computer, and Christian music.

I chose my computer because I use the computer a lot. I pay bills online, do my taxes, research things, read emails, play games, and do my school work online. I chose my bible because it helps me to stay focused on my faith and what God wants for my life. The bible and Christian music both help lift me up when I am down, and helps to give me strength through the day.

I would probably be torn about having to let go of some of my most valued resources. It would be difficult for me to choose but I would have to keep my bible out of the three.

Insights I gained from the assignment: The assignment made me think about what items are of the most importance to me and the daily culture that I live in. It would not be easy having to choose only three items.

When I think of research....

I have gained insights about research from taking this course. I have learned about different research methods. I have learned that research can be done in different ways. My ideas about doing research has changed. Research is like doing a science experiment. You have a certain procedure and method to follow with the research. I learned lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research. You need to consider what is the best way or method to use in your research based on what you are researching and how you plan to conduct the research. Some of the challenges I encountered with this class was understanding the textbook. I used the dictionary to help me understand the terms and the text better. My perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this class. Professionals doing research spend a lot of time researching. Researchers are constantly researching, collecting, and analyzing data. I did not realize how much time and thought researchers spend on researching and the research process.
Thank you to all my colleagues for the support and ideas you have shared with me during this course. I feel we have all learned a lot during this course about research.