Professional Hopes and Goals

Professional Hopes and Goals

Hopes

I hope that children and families from diverse backgrounds always feel valued, respected, and connected.  I hope that children never have to choose between the dominant culture and their home culture, but they can embrace both cultures.  Nadiyah Taylor (Laureate Education, 2011) said,

"We want attachment between families, and we want children to grow up in a nest of things that are familiar and make them feel whole, especially if they're people who are not necessarily part of or parts of the dominant culture, I think they need to be whole as they make those bridges between their home culture and the dominant culture "

Goals
With this hope in mind, I would like to see the early childhood field to promote diversity by valuing the unique qualities each child and their family brings to a program. The early childhood field should provide resources to make a program and life of the families they serve more equitable.  Also, the early childhood field should promote discussions and open communication about our work with diversity so families understand the importance of ensuring social justice for them and others.
 

Thanks

Thank you to all my colleagues in EDUC 6164 Perspectives of Diversity and Equity for sharing who you are so openly in this course.  We have learned so much about ourselves. Now, we are aware of what we need to do to promote diversity, equity, and social justice in early childhood programs.  Thank you for sharing your personal and professional experiences to help me understand others perspectives from other backgrounds. Thank you!

 

I would like to leave you with a quote from Henry Adams:

 

 "A teacher influences eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." 

 

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). Perspectives on Diversity and Equity:Family cultures: dynamic interactions. Baltimore, MD: Author.

 

 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The name of “my” family’s country of origin is Kazakhstan. To prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family, I would:

1. Locate the country on a map and learn more about the country's people, history, language,politics, and religion.  I found the Department of State's website useful. Visit http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5487.htm
2. Learn about the family's living situation, home language(s), and any other background information prior to meeting with them.
3. Schedule a meeting with the family and other staff (translator, home-to-school coordinators, etc...) to introduce them to the school, curriculum, and expectations.  Also, this would be a great time to learn more about their culture as well as answer any questions they may have.
4. welcome and invite the family to visit the classroom and/or eat lunch with their child.
5. Prepare other children to meet the new family by learning about Kazahkstan together.  Also, I would incorporate a class activity that would allow the children to learn about the new child as well as share about themselves.

I would hope these culturally responsive actions would show my new family that I care about them by learning about their country of origin.  I think these steps would show the family that I want to support their culture and that they will be respected.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

As I was watching the movie 27 Dresses this week, I witnessed oppression of a Hispanic boy.  Tess, the bride, used her fiance's Hispanic little brother (from Big Brother program) to clean their apartment.  She told the boy that she was going to help him start his own cleaning business but he had to keep it a secret from his Big Brother (her fiancee) even though this was not true.

This incident diminished equity by treating the boy as a second-rate citizen because of his race and age.  It reflected her assumptions about what Hispanics can do.  As I watched this brief incident in the film, I felt shocked and upset that someone would project their stereotypes onto a child, even though the child was unaware of being marginalized.  Actually, he looked at it as an opportunity.   

In this incident, I feel Tess (the bride) needs to change.  She needs to be aware of how her actions reflect her biases and prejudices onto others. In addition, she needs to realize how her perspectives of others can adversely affect them. “The better you know yourself, the better you can understand your own responses to the children and families you work with” (Derman Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 21). 

References

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).