Professional Hopes and Goals

Professional Hopes:

I hope that I continue to learn about the families I work with and learn more about other cultures and lifestyles.  I hope that I can make all the families and children I work with feel welcome to my classroom and program, appreciated, and included.  In addition I hope that I continue to analyze and reflect on my own biases and am able to learn and grow through this self-reflection.  I hope that all the families and children I work with feel represented, acknowledged, valued, and feel that they have a voice in my classroom.  I truly believe it is essential that children see themselves and their families represented within the classroom and program.  In the words of Maya Angelou: "We should all know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color".   I would add to that no matter what their color, sexuality, gender, age, race, or ethnicity. 

 
One goal that I would set forth for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to continue educating our communities, programs, and future teachers on the importance of valuing diversity.  With diversity, equity, and social justice we can build a brighter future for our world.

I would like to also thank my fellow colleagues.  It is has been a pleasure working and learning with and from each of you.  I continue to grow and learn and appreciate all of your feedback and encouragement.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I think the earliest memory of bias, prejudice, and oppression that I have is when we lived in Germany.  I was 16 years old and me and my girlfriends went into the city to look for and buy prom dresses.  My mother is German and I am fluent in the language so I usually did the talking or asking of prices, sizes, etc.  One of my girlfriends was biracial, another was Italian with dark hair, dark eyes, and the other girl had red hair and had a very southern accent.  We went into a shop and I guess the clerk did not realize that I was with the girls and she told me in German to keep my purse close to me because there were "Americans" in the shop and they were very suspicious.  At first I was appalled and then I thought I would ask why they were suspicious.  She told me that there were two who were obviously "black" and the other one she wasn't sure about and you just never know about "those people".  I was very angry and told her your right you never know who is American and who isn't and then in English I told my girlfriends that we should leave because the shop clerk were afraid we might steal something.  The clerk was very embarrassed and tried to apologize but we walked out.  I remember I was very angry.  I also never told my girlfriends that she was only questioning the others because I felt badly for them.  I assume since I could speak the language and am very fair the clerk assumed I was German.  I felt a little guilty about not telling my girlfriends but I did not want to hurt their feelings.

I remember I spoke to my mother at length about the incident.  She told me that every nationality has individuals that are biased and prejudiced against others.  She also told me that prejudice and bias are products of fear and ignorance. 

The incident diminished equity for my girlfriends by singling them out because of their race and nationality.  In order for the incident to have a greater opportunity of equity the store clerk would have to put aside her bias and prejudices. 

I found this picture and thought it was appropriate for the topic:

We should all STOP - THINK - ACT - and RESPECT one another regardless of our differences.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week I quietly observed and listened to conversations and picked up several microaggressions.  The microaggressions that I observed were mainly microinsults and microinvalidations, with witnessing only one microassult.

The microassault was terrible to witness and made feel extreme empathy for my co-worker.  As an Early Head Start Home Visitor we are assigned students to our caseloads as opening occur.  We are currently getting our next year's caseload ready and setting up enrollments.  My co-worker who is African American was assigned a child, she called to welcome them to the program and left a message for the parents to return her call so that she could set up an enrollment.  The parent did call back but asked for the Family Specialist, she asked if Ms. Stacey was the "Black one" and when she was told that Ms. Stacey is African American the parent told the Family Specialist that she would not take the opening because they didn't want "one of them" coming to their home.  We were mortified.  The parent did not take the opening and went back on the waiting list.  It was a terrible experience for my coworker and I felt at a loss of words for her.  I told her my grandmother always said that "ignorance is the root of all evil".   

The microinsult came when I was checking the air pressure in my tire at the gas station and a man walked over and asked if I needed help.  I told him no I would be fine and thanked him and then he bent down and took the gauge from me and checked it, proceeded to tell me how much I needed, and then aired up my tire.  When he handed me back my gauge he told me "now you will know it has enough  air".  I told him that it was really not necessary that I was capable of airing my tire and he told "oh it's no problem, I know how women are".  I just shook my head and had to drive away because I did not have the time to get into the conversation with him of just what he meant by that.  I definitely got the feeling that he believed because I am a woman that I was not capable of airing my own tire!  I was extremely annoyed and vented about it several times during the day to friends at the man's audacity! 

I noticed that it did not take much effort to find microaggressions this week, it was just a matter of listening and being aware of not only what is said but what is implied.  Most people mean well and would not want to offend.  I'm sure the man that aired my tire walked away feeling like he had done a very good deed that day, but the experience left me feeling annoyed and irritated. 

I once read that "awareness is empowering", with awareness we can take action to change.  My new awareness and understanding of microaggressions will allow me to change my actions and behaviors, which in turn hopefully is a positive role model on young children and families. 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Perspectives on Diversity & Culture

I asked three people to define culture and diversity for me.  I found that each of them quickly and easily defined culture but had to stop and think about how they wanted to define diversity.

Person Number One:  My fellow co-worker, Christine, and an Early Head Start Home Visitor.  Christina was born and raised in rural Indiana. 

“Culture is a set of beliefs followed by a group of people. Diversity is a variety of different beliefs within one community.”

Person Number Two:  My new supervisor, Pam, Site-Manager for Head Start and Early Head Start Home-Base.  Pam is from the East Coast but has lived in rural Indiana for the past 25 years.

“Culture is the combination of your beliefs, behaviors, actions, and language that impacts the way we think and determines what we value.  Culture impacts every aspect of our lives.  Diversity is the differences between cultures and accepting these differences with respect so that we can all live and work together for a common goal.”

Person Number Three: A father on my caseload, Joyarsi.  This father is from Honduras and has lived in the United States for several years.

“Culture is one’s language, where someone is from, holidays that you celebrate, and your beliefs.  Diversity is multiple cultures in one area.”

The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied this week that are included in these answers can be seen in the second answer in that culture touches all aspects of our lives and surface culture which is depicted in the third answer.  The definitions of diversity from the second person depicts what we have learned in our studies that diversity is acceptance and respecting differences in one another.

In the last response the parent that I interviewed only mentioned surface culture, they omitted deeper aspects of culture such as housing arrangements, values, role of children, gender roles, and how these deeper aspects impact our actions, interactions, behaviors, and the way we think and feel. 

I found this assignment insightful and was very interested in what others had to say when they were defining culture and diversity.  This assignment has influenced my own thinking and made me consider exactly what culture and diversity consist of by becoming more aware of it in my daily interactions with others.  It has also made me realize that most people define culture based on people’s beliefs and surface aspects such as holidays, language, and foods. 

My Family Culture

If I had to choose just three items to take with me and my family to a new culture they would be:

1. Our family Bible, which contains the births and deaths of several generations of our family.  This Bible was given to me by my grandmother who filled in the family tree from her Bible.  This was a tradition for my grandmother when ever one of us married.  Unfortunately, my grandmother is no longer with us, however; my mother continues the tradition.  The Bible represents not only our religion but our family history as well.
2. My family scrapbook would be the second item I would take.  I started the family scrapbook when I became pregnant with my first child.  It holds pictures, news clippings, and awards from my children as well as pictures of us on family vacations and outings.
3. My maternal grandfather's wedding ring.  This is the ring that my maternal grandmother bought for my grandfather when he returned from WWII after being a prisoner of war in Russia.  While he was a prisoner of war my grandfather lost his original wedding ring so my grandmother replaced it when he returned.  She gave it to me during one of our visits to Germany.

I would explain to others that these three items represent to me my religion, my heritage, my culture, and the one thing that is most important to me:  my family.  My family, extended and immediate, mean the world to me.  We have always all been very close and have seen each other through some very serious trials and tribulations.

If I were told that I could only keep one item I would feel very torn and heartbroken.  Out of the three items I believe I would choose my family's Bible.  I would choose this item out of the three because it does contain my family's religion, some single snapshots of family, my family's history and heritage.  I believe this item is a complete representation of my family's culture.

One of the biggest insights I gained from this assignment is how I would feel having to give up so much of my culture and family history.  I realized how sad and depressing this would be for me.  I also realized how important my heritage is to me.

When I think of research.....

When I think of research the first thing that comes to mind for me is the insights I have gained from my course on Building Research Competencies.  From this course I learned that research is more than just statistics and that I should not be intimidated by research studies. 

I have learned the importance of research design, planning, and conducting a research study.  It is important to reflect on personal biases to ensure equity of the study as well as to ensure reliability of the study.  One of the biggest lessons I learned was the importance of examining each step of the research steps: planning, designing, and conducting. 

My biggest challenge throughout this course has been clarifying my steps in my research simulation.  I addressed this challenge by rereading my simulations with the perspective of someone unfamiliar with the process.  When I took this perspective I was able to identify areas that may be unclear and edited those areas. 

My perceptions of early childhood professionals have been modified in that I have a deeper understanding and knowledge of the ways in which early childhood professionals can contribute to early childhood research.

I would also like to thank all of my fellow students for their encouragement, support, and insights.  With your wonderful insights and feedback I have been able to deepen and expand my knowledge of research in the early childhood field. 

Research Around The World

For this assignment I reviewed several articles on the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA).  The EECERA is a non-profit organization solely funded by its world-wide membership.  They generate their own funding and revenue to ensure its independence, innovativeness, and radical attitude (www.eecera.org).

The first article, Researchers Crossing Borders, by Jin-Hee Lee.  In this article the author examines educational practices and concepts across geographical areas.  The author states " By crossing geographical, cultural, or disciplinary borders, we will be better able to reflect upon and learn more deeply about ourselves, and why we do what we do, through the expanded and diversified perspectives of why others do what they do" (Lee, J., p.271).  The author also stated that they are concerned about concepts and ideologies from other cultures being too quickly adopted by other cultures without first considering and examining the cultural meanings and functions they represent.  For me, this was a new insight. While we learn about diversity and cultural differences we often forget to examine this aspect when we get excited about and adopt new practices. 

The EECER Journal allows researchers and practitioners to share experiences, discuss differences, and to learn more about our cultural meanings and differences. 

In the other article, Let us Disagree, by Michel Vandenbroeck the author discusses the changing views on diversity from the 1950's to the present.  "Today, the early years community is much more aware that equality and equity are not synonymous" (Vandenbroeck, M., p.165).  He also states that we must challenge what is taken for granted, and we do this by disagreeing and we must acknowledge that our expertise is provisional and tentative. 

The past articles on this website were very informative and reiterated that we all face the same challenges and the ways that we address these challenges is dependent on our cultures.  By sharing our different views and cultures we can learn and grow from and with one another.

References

Lee, J.H., Researchers crossing borders, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, Vol. 18, Issue 3, p.271-273.

Vandenbroech, M., Let us disagree, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, Vol. 17, Iss. 2, p.165-170.