Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds…

     My greatest hope is that I can build the kind of relationships with families and children that last after they leave my program. It is my wish that the children and families remembered their time with us for a long time and that it becomes a positive and cherished memory about feeling welcomed, accepted and a valued member of our school family.  

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice…

     A goal I would set is to educate to providers and professionals what it means to be truly an anti-bias teacher and program.  This training would be provided to all those service organizations, schools, and programs that are exposed to the public.  In service hours that are completely based on how to create policies for ensuring that children and families are all handled with the same respect and positivity that they deserve.

A brief note of thanks to my colleagues…

     It has come to the end of our semester and most of us only have one more class “together” before we begin our chosen specializations. Thank you to all who have shared the sometimes vulnerable and personal information with us as an insight into learning about diversity, equity and social justice. Know that it will create permanent change in our own lives knowing our struggles about these injustices and moving forward to create a world where children and families do not have to go through the same hurt as we may have. It may seem like a drop in the bucket, but each drop fills the bucket to overflowing…good luck and thank you!

Welcoming Families from Around the World...

Imagine if you will that same old mission impossible theme playing in the background…

EDUC 6464 Cohort…Your mission this week should you choose to accept it…

Think for a moment about the following two statistics:

• About 195 different countries exist in the world today.
• According to the U.S. census bureau, the United States’ population includes individuals and families from 150 different countries.

It is certain that as an early childhood professional you will encounter children from diverse backgrounds whose families may have come from many different countries. In what ways can you prepare yourself for working in early childhood settings which represent such diversity?

For this assignment, imagine the following scenario:

You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

In order to complete this assignment, first choose a country you know nothing about as this family’s country of origin.

By Saturday of this week, post the following:

• The name of “your” family’s country of origin
• At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family
• A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family

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I got the call today…(and this really did happen) we are enrolling a child from a family who is moving to our area from Australia. The mother has accepted a position at the university in the International Studies Program. The family has one child who is three years old (that part might be made up).

My to do list includes the following:

• Because the family does speak English, it will be much easier to communicate, although they do have colloquialisms and dialects that are not spoken here in the states. So hone up on those, ask the family to help with this.
• Do some research on the types of preschools and educational systems they have in Australia (it is a large continent, so they may be very diverse from region to region).
• Do some more research on Australia, explore the different regions, demographics, foods, forms of entertainment etc.
• Prepare enrollment paperwork for family, is there anything that may seem difficult to understand about “how we do things here”
• Meet with parents, show them around the school, discuss policies, practices and beliefs (child rearing and educational), find out about the foods that the family eats, can I incorporate some of those meals into our menu, what are the child’s favorite foods, books, toys, have them ready in the classroom to welcome her and make her feel comfortable in her new surroundings. What about the family’s unique and personal traditions, are they willing to share some of those with us? Understand that things such as eating and sleeping “on American time” are going to be completely different (I believe they are 15 hours ahead of us…that makes day and night opposite, literally). Help complete paperwork as needed.

In making my list, checking it twice, and being prepared I am hoping to make a conscious effort to meet the needs of the family. I will make no assumptions and be open to learn from and about them. It will be a partnership that is mutually advantageous. It is my hope that we will create a long lasting relationship that will allow us to learn from one another and grow as a school family.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

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Selecting a famous or infamous example of prejudice seemed a daunting task, as there are a myriad of historical references to choose from. Honestly the assignment was not specific to a well-known example, but in 2006 this particular incident became very real to me personally.  I was lucky enough to be in Memphis Tennessee, on my way to Graceland, when we stumbled on a sign for the National Civil Rights Museum. What I experienced next made such a huge impact on my life...what a humbling moment. I will remember it for always.

The event I am speaking of is none other than the famous Rosa Parks bus ride that happened in Montgomery in December of 1955.  Rosa was arrested because she refused to give up her seat to a white man.  While the story has always interested me, it was an emotional overload when I sat on a replica of the bus alongside a wax model of Rosa. In the background, a recording of a man belittling Rosa played over and over. Quite honestly, it pissed me off. Maybe she was born a more proper woman than me, because they would have had to drag me off that bus kicking, screaming and fighting back.  But then again she may have paved the way for me to be so oppositional and defiant in my beliefs.

The whole experience of going through the museum brought to light a situation I could never have imagined. I grew up so removed from that world.  I never have witnessed the hate and oppressive actions of those who practiced racism.

Racism still exists in some parts of the United States and I just don’t understand how any other humans can think they are any more important than anyone else…I just don’t understand this mentality…

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

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This week we learned about Microagressions. Microagression can be defined as the following: brief everyday indignities, that can be verbal, behavioral or environmental, that unintentionally (or intentionally) deliver insulting messages to others that may cause severe psychological distress and harm. Most often, these messages are centered around race, gender, sexual orientation, ability or religious affiliations (Laureate Education Inc., 2011).

These microagression however unintentional have long lasting and far-reaching consequences. Because racism is taught and not innate, the scars of microagression can be oppressive, cumulative, cyclical, and multi-generational.  There are several forms of microagression. They are:

·         Microassult—is outright and deliberate racism. This equates to blatant attempts at racial slurs in order to hurt and belittle.

·         Microinsults—this form of microagression attempts to demean a person’s racial heritage by suggesting the personal is intellectually inferior.

·         Microinvalidation—the final form is ignoring or making light of someone’s experiences in terms of racism; invalidating their feelings of being discriminated against.

The hidden message within these microagressions is the oppressive lording over another person. “I am better and more valuable as a human than you.”  Microagression works because in our competitive nature there is always someone trying to “one up” the next person. One person’s success means someone else must fail, or come out as substandard and subservient.

I have witnessed and been party to many microagressions in my lifetime. Obviously most of them have been those innocent enough “ribbings” that we give each other about being this or that.  “What a redneck!” “Where’s the flood?” “Hey nerd, what’s up?”…all those labels we toss around to describe our friends and acquaintances.  As we grow up that doesn’t really change—only the words we use. We think we are being funny, but the truth is sometimes this “kidding” hurts.

Probably one of the most common microagressions I am guilty of even today is by microinvalidating others. I think I am usually guilty of invalidating feelings of others because I am a problem solver by nature. Most people just want you to listen to them and understand how they feel in the situation and not solve or under appreciate what is being said. I want to fix everything for everyone.  I have been aware of this for quite some time and realize it is a problem.  It doesn’t show empathy.  I had no idea it was a form of microagression. Learning from our expert, Dr. Sue, has been a real eye opener.