Professional Hope and Goals

I have truly enjoyed this class!! I have learned many things about myself that I had not fully understood before taking this class.  I have learned about microaggression and how people unintentionally marginalize others. As well as how those who are privileged oftentimes do not realize they are privileged. I know that equity work does not happen overnight and if you do not have support you could easily burnout. I understand how my bias can affect my work with children and their families.

When I think about working with children and families from diverse backgrounds my hope is to share the knowledge I have learned with others so that we can effectively serve each family in a way that makes them feel welcomed and valued. I want them to be able to freely share their experiences in an accepting, non-threatening environment.

 One of my goals for the early childhood field is that teachers embrace diversity. I would like to see more training offered so that every teacher could become more aware and begin to practice equity work in the classroom. Once armed with the knowledge I am certain teachers and administrators would embrace diversity in their programs.

 To my colleagues, I wish you the best of success in your future work with children and families.  I would also like to thank you all for your words of encouragement, wisdom, and respect during this class.  I have learned so much from each of you this semester. This has been a great experience.

 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

 

 

In my scenario I am working in a child care center and the family’s country of origin is Switzerland.

The five ways I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive toward this family are:

1.       Research the language or languages spoken in Switzerland and try to learn a few conversational phrases. If I was able to find someone who spoke the language I would ask them to join me in welcoming the family to our center.

2.       I would also want to research their education system and talk with the family about their previous experience in a child care setting and what their hopes are for their child’s experience.

3.       I would research the culture of Switzerland and be certain I can bring their culture alive in our center prior to their arrival.

4.       Family relationships are an important aspect of culture. I would want to learn more about family structure and relationships in Switzerland to help us understand the family better.

5.       I would reflect on any biases I might have that would affect my relationship with this family. If I found that I did indeed have biases I would find ways to overcome those biases.

 

I believe that by trying to have a deeper understand of a family’s culture will help us to understand the family and child much better. Being able to communicate with the family is a crucial element in building a relationship with each family. This is vitally important in learning about their goals, values and principles—which will help us to better serve their family. By taking the time to learn about the culture of their country and integrating their culture into our center will help the family become more comfortable and help them to see we truly want to serve their child and family the best way we possibly can.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

 

 

The memory that is the most vivid to me is an incident that occurred a few years ago regarding sexual orientation.

One of my son’s childhood friends “came out” in high school. He was very well-liked, popular and active in the school. Most of the students didn’t change their attitudes toward him after he announced his sexual orientation. He was also a very good friend of my niece. They were both in gymnastics and on the cheer leading squad and hung out a lot. The young man (“Jason”) joined my niece at a party one evening and encountered other young men who were very prejudice toward gays.

My niece had very innocently taken a hat from another young man at the party and placed it on Jason’s head. This set off a fury of verbal assaults on Jason and within seconds four boys had attacked and beat Jason to the point that he underwent months of reconstructive surgery. The four boys spent some time in jail, but this did not change their views on homosexuality. They still view homosexuality as abnormal and inferior; and a great deal of people share their view. People see LGBT as wrong and sick, but who is to say what is right and what is wrong? I am personally heterosexual, but I have friends who are homosexual and they are some of the most amazing, giving, kind people I have ever met.

This incident affected Jason a great deal, however, he has moved on—he finished college, completed an internship in fashion merchandising in New York City, is now working in Dallas and seems to be doing well.

I remember feeling outraged when I heard about the incident. I knew one of the boys who helped with the beating. He was a very good friend of my oldest son and he had even lived with us for a while when his mother was going through a rough time. We had brought him into our home and treated him as our own. It broke my heart to hear he was involved in the beating. I never knew this side of him.

In order for change to occur in regards to homosexuality (or any other -ism), we as human beings need to quit stigmatizing those who are not exactly like us, and accept the differences. No two people are exactly alike and that is a good thing. We are not robots walking around, we are all human beings with our own likes, dislikes and beliefs and difference is okay.