What I have learned-Week 8

One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds (any format and any length)

 

I hope that I am educated enough to make children and their families who come from diverse backgrounds comfortable.  I feel that any family from a diverse background is already going to be uncomfortable in new situations they are not familiar with but I feel my education could ease their minds.  I want to know more about diversity an have the ability to show I am educated and always willing to learn more.

 

One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice (any format and any length)

 

One goal I would like to set for diversity, equity, and social justice for the early childhood field is to have more education on these topics.  It is not said enough, kids are coming out of early childhood with very little idea what diversity even means.  Schools need to have resources, curriculum, and a vast amount of materials on these subjects.  With education, the future for the children and others will be much easier.

 

 

A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

 

Thank you everyone for letting me learn from you and with you.  I feel we are lucky to be working with educators and have real life situations we are working through together.  This has been such a valuable course and has brought new meaning to the word diversity for me.  I hope you all continue to thrive in your education.

 

 

 

Week 7-Create Art

Developing children need to be taught about race, biases, and equality in life.

 

Important roles for a developing child need to be identified.

 

Vary abilities make children who they are and separate one from another.

 

Everyone has a bias; it is our job to work through them.

 

Racism is evident in everyday life.

 

Stories. Storytelling is how children learn and express themselves.  Let them tell stories, hear stories, and recreate stories in their everyday life.

 

It takes a village.  This saying sticks hard with me throughout this course; children need their families to help them develop.

 

Teachers make the difference, we have the tools to help children learn about diversity and what makes them unique and what makes them who they are in this big world.

 

You make the decisions that best fit you; children learn from you and learn to accept through you.

Start Seeing Diversity Blog: "We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"-Week 6

I can remember a time that I was with my nephew at the mall and we were shopping around.  He turned to me and asked me why that person was so short but looked older.  I felt so uncomfortable.  As most children, his voice was not quiet and I am pretty sure that the women heard him say that.  I just answered by saying oh don’t worry about it hunny and quickly changed the subject to something else. 

 

This message could have been portrayed to my nephew that either I did not know or it was something he doesn’t need to know about.  He probably assumed it was something that shouldn’t be discussed and probably viewed that person as being very different and maybe a bit weird.  He likely still wondered as we continued shopping, why that person looked that way and why his aunt didn’t want to talk about it.

 

An anti-biased educator could have responded to him by saying that person was born differently than people he is use to seeing.  They could have taught a mini lesson on dwarfism and what it means to be a dwarf.  They could have explained this person is just like us but smaller in size.  They could have talked about it being considered a disability but for most with this, make huge accomplishments and live their life just like we do but with some adjustments.

Week 3 - "Start Seeing Diversity Video" Blog

I had mixed feelings on the response to those who believed that early childhood centers should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals.  I feel that this is something that should be taught so that there aren’t many biases towards people like this.  I also feel that it should be at a parent’s discretion whether or not they want their young children to learn about this at such a young age.  There are families who have two moms or two dads and these children talk about it and other children at this young age have no idea what that means.  I think having these resources are a good idea but making sure they are appropriate for that age group would be the key to making it successful and educational.

 

I have heard a child call another child “gay”, not because he knew what they term meant but because he heard it before.  He probably heard it in the context of someone calling another this word.  Unfortunately, this word is used too often in the world today and used in a way to just cut someone down not because they are actually gay but because it has been used this way for awhile.  If other children would have heard this, they would question it and maybe start to use it in the same matter which is not appropriate at all.

 

Final Blog-Communication week 8

Thank you everyone for another successful course.  I have learned a great deal from all of you and thank you for the feedback you have given me.  It has provided me with strategies to use in communication settings that will make me more confident and more effective in my efforts.

Communication-Week 6

As I think about group I have been involved in and the ones that I have departed from I have a few that come to mind.  One group is the group I completed by undergrad schooling with.  We went through all the same classes together and shared the same experiences.  I have some friendships with some of those I went to school with but not very many at all.  This would be considered a high achieving group and it was by far the hardest to leave.  Not only because of my friends and colleagues I had met but also because it opened a huge chapter in my life.  In order to celebrate this accomplishment, the graduation ceremony took place.  This would be the same for high school as well. 

 

Another group that I can think of was the group of friends I made while living in my first apartment.  I had a close group that I hung out with and we did everything together.  Once I met my husband, we quickly divided.  Before moving out of the complex, we held small get together and shared stories of the past.  This was a much lower scale adjourning than what I mentioned above.

 

Adjourning is an essential part of team work because that is the stage in which it all comes together and you have the chance to unwind and celebrate and reflect on what you have done together.  It marks the end of something wonderful but starts a new part of your life.  Teamwork is about communication and collaborating together and without this stage people of the team would wonder what came of their hard work.

Communication-Week 5

When thinking about a conflict that I have recently had with a family member, two strategies that might help me resolve or better the communication would be:

-To use more respect in listening to the others person view.  When talking about the 3 r’s, I sometimes jump to conclusions before listening to what is really meant.  More respect would make the situation less heated.

-I could also get ahead of the situation and offer to resolve the issue before it is prolonged.  When thinking about the problem, I can try and get ahead of it by thinking what would make both of us happy.

 

For me conflict resolution has always been an issue because I am stubborn and always feel I am right.  This is sometimes hard to admit but it is very true for me.  I have learned, as I have grown older this is not the case.  This course so far has also taught me some ways to make my communications better and therefore not have so many conflicts in life.  How do some of you cope with conflict in regards to communication?

Week 4-Communication

When comparing how I assessed myself compared to how the two others assessed me, I was most surprised how they evaluated me in the verbal aggression part.  It surprised me the most because they scored me to be quite verbally aggressive when communicating.  It opened my eyes to be more alert to my verbal actions and has given me a big clue I might want to really focus on the words I use.

 

I also gained that I am highly anxious when communicating with others I do not know and in small group settings.  Also gained that I am people oriented person when listening to others which shows that I compassionate and care what others have to say.  These will influence my professional and personal life in many ways.  It makes me want to force myself to be part of small group meetings at work to learn to have my voice and start to gain more confidence in what I have to say.  It also impacts me to know that I will continue to be a good listener and be compassionate.

 

communication-week 3

I do find myself communicating with people from different groups and cultures.  I find myself uncomfortable in front of people who would be considered more experienced than I because I am afraid I will say something wrong. In my family, I have some very out spoken individuals and I find that I also limit my communication with them because most of the times they have a sarcastic remark or could care less to what you say.  Bring in front of cultures I am not familiar with, I tend to not act like myself in fear of doing something they are against or frown upon.  This in turn affects the communication between us.

 

Three strategies I could use to communicate more effectively with these groups:

 

-I can try and not judge others from different cultures and fear acting as myself but instead, try and get to know who they are first.

 

-Another strategy I could use in that of eye contact, try not to make direct eye contact with an individual in case their culture would consider that staring and not polite.

 

-The last thing I can do is confront the family member who is sarcastic and express to them how it makes me feel.  This will open the communication and allow more effective us of it.

Communication-Week 2

While watching the show with the volume off, I made the assumption that the main characters where close in some way.  Maybe family or very close friends because they were talking with one another on the phone then ended up meeting each other for lunch out.  Once they met up, the hugged as if they have some close connection with one another.  They are focused on each another and nodding their head and laughing.  They do not seem to be communication negatively.

 

The assumptions that I made were that the two girls were close friends or family.  I assumed that this was a show following these two girls closely and their lives they live.  I think my assumptions were pretty accurate once I watched the show with the volume on.  It is true that these two girls were friends from elementary school and lived close to one another and enjoyed sharing their lives with each other.

 

I learned that communication is very well seen from an outsider.  You can truly tell how a person feels about someone they are having a conversation with based solely on their nonverbal cues.  It was amazing to watch the program with no volume and then watch it with volume.  It really showed me that communication is seen through nonverbal cues.  An insight that I would have for you all would be to try and pay attention to nonverbal cues you are giving during communication because they can easily be misunderstood. 

 

 

Communication-Week 1 blog

A family member, my guardian, is someone who demonstrates competent communication within her everyday life, especially her career.  Some of the behaviors she exhibits that make her effective is her professionalism and listening skills.  Not only does she approach most communication professionally, she is a great listener and not one who interrupts.  She seems to always have the right thing to say, no matter the conversation or topic taking place. She is polite and very effective. 

 

I would definitely want to model some of my own communication behaviors after here because I think if she were an educator, she would be the ideal communicator.  She has skills and attitudes that are efficient and effective in a communication setting. She is confident in her communication skills as well, all things I believe I need to improve on to be a better communicator.

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when thinking about working with families and children of diverse backgrounds is that I make them comfortable.  I want to be able to comfort them in different ways than I knew before.  I want to learn about their culture and have some of that in my classroom.  I hope that these families can open up to me and allow me to help their child and themselves feel successful in their new world.

 

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is a requirement that teachers and other staff are educated and trained on these subjects.  I would hope that this would be a requirement to learn about diversity and teach that in the classroom.

 

Thank you so much to every one of my colleagues.  I have learned so much with all of you on this journey.  Your insights and comments have made me a more educated teacher with a greater passion for diversity and culture in the classroom.  Good luck in your careers and future courses for you Masters degree.

Welcoming Families from around the World-Week 7

Country:  Chile

 

To prepare myself to be culturally responsive to this family I would:

• Do extensive online research on the country
• Research the countries education system
• Learn the basic of their language so that I was able to communicate better
• Ask my professional colleagues for advice and help and any support they may have about this area
• Find some symbol of their country to incorporate into the setting to welcome them and make them feel safe and secure in this new world.

 

I would hope that these preparations would benefit me by allowing my to get to know their culture and home country before meeting them. This would give me the background knowledge I needed to begin the transition with them while also showing them the effort I put into it.  This would hopefully make them feel more comfortable with me.  I think it would benefit them by making them feel more welcome and not so out of place.  I would want the transition to be as easy as possible and with a knowledge of their country, they will feel more likely to work closely with me and allow me to help them.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression-Week 6

A time in my life that I remember where I feel that I was in a situation where prejudice was evident was directly after my mother died.  My grandma had died with her and she was the one that was going to get custody of me if my mother did die.  So since they both died, I went to live with my uncle (my mother’s brother) and aunt.  My aunt did not like my mom before any of this occurred and that was well known.  I walked into a home where I was judged based on her not liking my mother.  She treated me awful while treating her real children greatly.  Never allowed me to do anything outside of the house but allowed her other children too.  Didn’t let me do drivers training but let her same aged daughter do it.  Many more things to list but completely an awful person to me.

 

This diminished equity because I had no rights and no equality compared to the other children in the home. She did not allow me to do anything and never treated me fairly.  She treated me like garbage and it was evident everywhere.  Just thinking about this issue makes me sick and angry.  I can not believe that someone could treat a child like that, especially one who is family and lost their everything in a split second.  The only person that would need to change to make equity even possible is my aunt, who by no means even cared how she treated me.

 

My life goes on and I am a much happier person now.  I was able to get out of that house after my uncle died of cancer and I turned 16.  That was a life changing day and I do not regret any of it.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions-Week 4

A microaggression that happened this week that I observed was between two adults.  One adult was making some copies on the copy machine at my work and it jammed.  She went through the tutorial on what to check for the jam.  After doing so, it was still jammed.  So she attempted to do it again.  Another adult quickly came into the room and said “move, I will take care of it.”  As I observed this, I immediately thought back to the discussions we had this week and the examples of microaggressions.  Though it was not a direct hit, it had to hit that person inside.  She probably felt like the other lady didn’t think she could handle doing the job.

 

My other observations this week affected the way I view the effects of discrimination.  I felt like the lady was trying to get the copier unjammed, which at times is a bit difficult.  I feel that she was following all the steps she could and chose to try again before giving up.  The lady that walked in definitely discriminated her ability to complete a task that she felt superior at.  It makes me re think the ways I may say something to someone to give them suggestions are feedback to assure that I myself am not giving that person a microaggression.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Person #1

 

Culture is the makeup of a persons surroundings.

 

Diversity is the differing cultures of people in the world.

 

Person #2

 

Culture is what customs or beliefs different societies have in how they live their lives.

 

Diversity is the difference in something.

 

Person #3

 

Culture is the behavior and beliefs of a social group.

 

Diversity is what makes each person or group people different or unique.

 

 

I think that all the answers I got are aspects of culture and diversity as studied in thus far in this course. An example of this would be the way the second person answered what is culture.  I feel this is exactly what we have been studying about culture in the class so far.  I think specific examples of each have been omitted.  For culture, I think mentioning that all cultures are different and are sometimes not accepted is something worth mentioning.  Culture is the way people form their lives but it was not said the importance that these aspects hold in each person lives. For Diversity, I would say that saying it is something seen everyday that makes us who we are was omitted in the description of it.  I am glad to see that everyone I asked had similar answers about culture and diversity and has an understanding of these in today’s world. I would have liked to see more emphasis on the importance of each as it applies to each person but did not see that.

My Family Culture

1. Family photo:  I would bring a family photo to represent and remember my other family that I had to leave behind.  This would be the symbol of my culture and where I came from.

 

2. American flag:  I would bring an American Flag to represent the country I came from and the freedom that I had in that country.

 

3. Dollar bill:  I would bring a dollar bill to represent the industry from the United States and the ways in which I lived many years to achieve to make money.

 

I would explain to others what these items meant to me by signifying the important of each to me and my family.  The family photo is a given and represents me and my culture and is my life story.  The American flag is the country in which I lived and grew up in and learned about freedom.  I would show the dollar bill to others who may not understand the concept of dollar and explain the importance that a dollar has in the world that I came from.

 

If upon arrival, I was told that I could only keep one item and had to get rid of the rest I would be heart broken.  I would feel like I had to part with the only things left of my culture and my family.  It would be a hard decision to make on which item to keep.