Communication is Key!

The person that I am going to write about is the director of the center in which I work. My director demonstrates competent communication with myself, the assistant director, the teachers, and the families at our center. She is a very open-communicator and has formed relationships with each person who is a part of our center’s community. She makes sure to greet families each day, talk directly to the family members by first name, addresses the children as well as the needs that they may have, respond to the teacher’s needs, and keeps everyone updated and on the same page. Each and every day, I learn something knew from this person. I follow a lot of what I learn from my drirector but I also put my own twist on many particular issues that arise. I am in the learning process and she is helping me by the communication that I see on a daily basis.

The end has come :)

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that as I work with these families, I am able to make them feel comfortable. I hope that the diverse families that I work with understand how much I care for them. I hope that the families feel as if I am someone they can come for if they need support or have a question regarding their child’s care.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is as an early childhood professional - who works with other early childhood professionals on a daily basis - I want to make sure that other’s understand the importance of diversity.  I have been sharing articles that I find to continue to inform the staff members at my center how important it is to be aware of the impact that diversity has on children. It is also important to understand how to deal with issues that arise that relate to diversity of others. By setting a goal to try to continue to inform other early childhood professionals with information that I learn, I am able to reduce the issues related to diversity, equity, and social justice in the early childhood field.

I would like to thank all of my colleagues who have shared their feedback, stories, and insights throughout our course together. I learn much more than what a book could teach me from each of you. Best of luck to you in your future! I hope to share future classes together at our time here at WaldenUniversity.

The "family" from Algeria

The name of “my family’s” country of origin is Algeria, Africa.

Five ways I would prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards the family is the following:

1.)    I would research the country itself – where the country is located, demographics of the country, etc.

2.)    I would look into the educational program that is held within the country and make comparisons to our education program as well as finding the differences. This would be important because it would allow for important information to be passed along to teachers so that they are able to know what to expect from the child(ren) in an educational setting.

3.)    I would want to look into finding out if the family/child(ren) can speak/understand English. Depending if the family/child(ren) can speak the English language, I would have to figure a way to translate so that I can explain to them in their language the policies, procedures, and payment method of our center.

4.)    I would look into finding out about the countries cultural background and the specific ways that the individuals from this country interact and communicate with others on a daily basis. There may be certain gestures that this country uses in order to communicate and it is important to understand this as a person who will be working with these people and having no idea of the countries origin.

5.)    I would also prepare myself and the teachers by making sure that the teachers are aware of the child(ren) and the country at which they are coming from. In each of ouir classroom we have pictures to represent diversity and the children in our classes. I would ask the teachers to add pictures to help the child(ren) feel welcome in our classroom.

 

I would hope that these preparations will benefit myself as well as the family by opening up my horizons to more diverse groups of people as well as showing the family how the leaders at our center want to connect to them at a personal level.  I would hope that my preparations begin as a positive learning experience for myself as well as the family.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

An incident where I witnessed a group of people as the target of bias, prejudice, and oppression actually occurred this past week. Last night I went to the Philadelphia’s Gay Men’s Choir Christmas Show. I went with a few close family members and the show was absolutely amazing! Earlier in the week when I told an acquaintance that I was attending the show as my Friday night event, I had a response which was the target of bias, prejudice, and oppression against gay men. The individual made a comment that referred to gay men in a very negative way and questioned why I would ever attend an event such as this.

The way that this person looked at this show as a negative event to attend because it was surrounded by the gay community is representative of diminishing equity. This person did not look at it this event as a Christmas show which was based upon the wondering music of the season with very talented human being performing the joyful music of the holiday season.  It was an injustice comment that was made and example of what the LGBT community deals with on a daily basis.

During this incident, I felt very angry and offended for the individuals who performed so wonderfully last night. How dare a person who has no idea how much dedication and time these men put into the show question me on why I would want to go support and see this show? I also felt sad for the person who made this comment because they I was able to realize that they must not fully understand the meaning of diversity.

The individual who made the negative comment would have to branch out and learn the meaning of diversity in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity. Next time. I will possibly invite this individual to come see the show with me so that they are able to experience the fabulous performers and this would perhaps take away from the negative outlook this person has on the LGBT community.

Detecting Microaggressions

An example of a microaggression that I detected this week is a gender microsaggression. I was at work and a teacher walked into the office. We began to have a discussion about how there was trash around the dumpster that needed to be picked up. We have been having trash issues with the cleaners so I am usually the person to clean up the mess. The teacher suggested that we ask our only male teacher that we have because “He is a male and it should be his job to clean up the trash.” Of course, I would never have asked the only male teacher to clean the trash just because he is a male so I did it myself. I realized now looking back that I experienced a microsaggression. In that situation I told the teacher who made the comment that there was no way that I would ever do that.

This experience has led me to believe that microaggressions happen more then I realize. Many are unintentional and not meant to hurt the other person’s feelings but can easily if not well-thought-out. Discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes are very serious and need to be taken into consideration as soon as possible. Within the work place it is very important to try and eliminate any type of negative behavior /comments toward others.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

1.       Culture is a way to express beliefs and traditions.

Diversity is a mix of different cultures and nationalities in the same community.

 2.       Culture is traditions of certain ethnic groups.

Diversity is the differences in traditions or ways of life.

 

3.       Culture is generally accepted customs within a certain demographic.

Diversity is the varying culture within one given demographic.

 

The aspects of culture that are included in the aspects that I received are the following: expression of beliefs and traditions within ethnic groups and customs within a certain demographic. The aspects of diversity that are included in the aspects that I received are the following: mix of different cultures into one community, different traditions, different ways of living, and the varying culture within one given demographic.

 

There were no answers that I omitted for this assignment.

 

Thinking about other people definitions of culture and diversity has influenced my own thinking of these topics because I have further realized that finding one accurate definition of either culture or diversity is difficult. There is so many specifics that are involved in the meaning of culture and diversity. I think that is why I am continuing to learn more and more on the meaning as I continue my course work here at Walden.

 

My Family Culture

The three items that I would choose are the following: my grandmother’s wedding ring, my grandfather’s Purple Heart medal, and a picture of my family.

 

I would explain to others how my grandmother’s wedding ring is important to me because it symbolizes the love that my grandmother and my grandfather shared. I was very close with my grandparents my entire life and they taught me many of the things I know today.

 

I would explain to other how my grandfather’s Purple Heart medal is important because it is a representation of how he fought for my country which is where I am from. It reminds me of his dedication and work ethic that he represented throughout the World War II. 

 

I would explain to others that a picture of my family is important because I am able to remember the times we share together. My family is the most important thing to me in my life so I feel like a picture would help me feel at home if I had it with me.

 

If I was told upon arrival that I could only keep one of the three items I would be devastated. I cannot even imagine how I would feel if I had to leave my country and leave everything of importance behind. This assignment has taught me that it was difficult to narrow down to three items of what I would keep with me to represent my culture. Many of the things that I have symbolize my family culture because it is who I am as a person.