Welcoming Families From Around the World

My family’s country of origin is Puerto Rico.  The only thing I am familiar with is the name.  Doing this assignment, I learned that the people of Puerto Rico represent a cultural and racial mix. This cultural and racial mix includes Spaniards, Africans, Cubans, French, and Germans. Although English is taught from kindergarten through high school, Spanish is the dominant language. Only 20-percent of Puerto Ricans speak English fluently. Religion in Puerto Rico is predominantly Roman Catholic.  The sports played in Puerto Rico are baseball, basketball, and soccer.

Five ways in which I would prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family are:

1.      I would use the internet to do research the culture, religion, food, holidays, and the most popular language used.

2.      I find out information on the child which includes educational and family background.

3.      I would use an interpreter to help me establish good communication between the parents.

4.      I would create a learning environment in which all the children different cultures and pictures are presented and this will help the parents feel comfortable and feel welcome at all times.

5.      Hopefully, this will accommodate all the needs of the families and children that I will encounter on a daily basis.

A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both the family and me:

I hope these preparations will help establish a healthy relationship between the family and me in which the family will feel comfortable and at home while adjusting to life in another country. In addition, this will bring understanding between all cultures which will bring respect and acceptance throughout the learning environment. This will help me to be more responsive to the needs of individuals and their families as they plan and make choices based on their cultural background.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

As an African American female I have experienced and witnessed many instances of bias, prejudice, and oppression. Living in a small rural town in Georgia does not help. I remember an incident of bias and prejudice in the summer which involved my nephew applying for a library assistant. Being an African American male he filled out the application filled the education part out where he put his college courses he took for business administration. He did not receive a call to come in for an interview. He learned that a white woman with no education or training got the job.

The ways the bias and prejudice diminish equity includes not calling my nephew in for an interview, hiring an uneducated white woman without training for the job, and discriminating against an African American male.

The way this incident would have to change into an opportunity for greater equity would be to call my nephew in for a job interview and provide a knowledge test for both the white woman and my nephew. The applicant that passed the knowledge test and interview should be hired for the library assistant job. This would show that the color of someone skin or gender did not have anything to do with which applicant got the job.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Microaggressions exists throughout our society. We can see and hear microagressions in everyday living, such as, at work, movies, and television. One particular movie which I can remember micro aggression is the movie Pretty Woman. In this movie Julia Roberts who was dressed like a prostitute went shopping alone in a very expense clothing store which serve rich clients only. The white store clerk looked at assumed she was in the wrong store and could not afford to buy clothes from this particular store. The white store clerk made a smart remark, and escorted her out the store. This is an example of racial, verbal and environmental microagression within the same race. Watching this movie made me upset with the store clerk because she judged and condemned Julia Roberts by the her appearance and her behavior.

I am an African American female that receives awkward looks of mistrust and fear when I shop at jewelry stores. Soon, as I enter the store the white sale clerk ask me"can I help you?" I said, "No I am just looking, but I can tell the white sale clerk is watching me and following me throughout the jewelry aisles. This is an example of racial micro aggression. The white sales clerk assumed because I was an African American that I wanted to steal from the jewelry store. This made me upset and I left the jewelry store to find a jewelry store that would give me respect and time to shop.

This week I noticed that micro aggressions are still much alive in today's society. While shopping in stores, I receive awkward looks and a white store clerk following me around the store like I was a criminal. Racial microagression was the most popular type I experienced. This made me feel sad that discrimination is still alive, but in different forms. I have a lot to think about.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Finding out other people definitions of culture and diversity were very interesting.

Person one: a white kindergarten teacher: culture is respect for family beliefs, values, and religion.

Diversity: different types of culture and different traditions.

Person two: my nephew, a young twenty-four male: culture make me thinks about roots, background, and family ethnics.

Diversity: I think about different races, such as, Black, Mexicans, and Hispanics.

Person three: my youngest sister, a thirty-seven year old female: culture is  family, history, and celebrating holidays.

Diversity: is the differences between people and families.

With their regards to culture and diversity, I agree with most of their definitions because all of them gave me what they thought culture and diversity meant to them. I must respect and accept their opinion.  Most of the definitions for culture and diversity were similar and consisted are surface and deep culture. What I learned from the kindergarten teacher, my nephew and youngest sister is; each one discussed the importance of  respecting family values, beliefs, religion, traditions, and different races.

Some of the aspects that were omitted are: role of children, languages, showing emotions, community connection, recreation, extended family relationships, and recreation (Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

As I listened to my three people speak about their understanding of culture and diversity, I realized how limited my knowledge is concerning culture and diversity before starting this class. In order to get along with each other, it is important to accept and respect all people culture and their diversity.

Reference

Sparks-Derman, L. & Edwards, J. O. (2010), Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, National Association for the Education of Young Children, Washington, D.C.

My Family Culture

The three items I would take with me are:

The last family picture taken together while my mom was alive. This family picture is very special to me because its represents a special time of love and happiness in my family. I would hang this special picture on the wall of my new home.

My family albums which holds a lot of pictures of my family throughout the years. I would make sure to pack this because it hold a lot of memories of  past birthdays, birth of my nieces, and nephew, friends and cousins, too.

My Bible because without reading the word and giving God praises; especially, during such a crisis in the world. My faith in God will guide my family and me through this terrible ordeal.

Taking time to think which one of these to keep would be impossible. All of these items are special and dear to me, and I would be lost and disappointed if I had to choose just one!

My insights I gained about myself is that my family is special, and I love them very much. I want to keep my family values, beliefs, and heritage alive to pass on to the future generations. Without my belief in God, my life would be in vain. This is a part of my culture and my family culture which has been passed from generation to generation through out my family.

Final Blog

As this course Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field comes to an end, I must say that all the articles, videos, audio segments, discussion questions, applications and comments from Dr. Klein and colleagues helped me to gain a lot of knowledge that I can continue to use throughout my professional career.

The three professional and personal learning consequences I learned that about all the current Issues and Trends in the early childhood field, the issue about poverty really hit home because my community consists of families who rely mostly on public assistance for daily survival, and the issue about facing cultural diversity and demographics within the classroom. This issue hit home, too. As an educator professional, it is my job to be prepared to help these children with diverse populations to live in this changing world (Boutte, 2008). By enrolling in a teacher preparation education program will help me tremendously to understand working with diverse children and families.

The three consequences I learned about the international early childhood field includes: I have a better understanding how other websites  in the world view early childhood education. The website Pre[K]now: www.preknow.org/,
 provided me with the most helpful information because it provided me with a variety of information for me as a growing and developing educator working with young children in pre-kindergarten. The final consequence of learning were about the strong sense of equity and justice means for the children and families worldwide who need early childhood care and education.

One goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations would be continue to try and establish a international contact with a person from around the world. This would benefit me as I continue my journey in the early childhood field. By establishing contact with an international early childhood professional, it would help me to continue to grow and develop as an early childhood professional.

Reference

Boutte, G.S. (2008), Beyond the illusion of diversity: How early childhood teachers can promote social justice. Social Studies, 99(4), 165-173, Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.

Finally, I want thank all my colleagues and Dr. Klein for making this class interesting and exciting. I must say that I have learned a lot of helpful information that I will continue to use in the early childhood field. I am looking forward to work together with you in upcoming classes. As we continue our journey of learning together in the early childhood studies.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 3

Although I have sent out a lot of e-mails in regards to establishing international contact with educators, I have been unsuccessful in receiving any responses. Unfortunately, I have to complete the alternate assignment.

The three areas on the web page that related to my goals and understanding are:

Views on Quality- this section discussed how early childhood care and education program should emphasise the child's holistic development. High quality childcare for disadvantaged children promotes motivation, confidence, good cognitive and linguistic development and school readiness. Although there are no universal standards for quality but offer some suggestions on ways to assure quality. This includes learning materials that are quantitative, culturally and developmentally adequate and focus on child-centered interaction. Also, active involvement from parents and communities and relevant play and learning materials ensure that early childhood services remain relevant to the needs of the children and all other stakeholders and increase sustainability (UNESCO, 2011).

Information they have on access for early childhood: In 1990, Jomtien Declaration of Education for All stated that learning begins at birth. Many countries are committed to expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially, for disadvantaged children. Even though there is  access to care for the children in poor families, their is still a concern about sustainability and quality (UNESCO, 2011).

Gender Equality in Education- There is a powerful human rights argument and a strong case for achieving gender equality in education. When girls are educated, livelihoods are improved, education is valued, and civic responsibility is enhanced. Although the global expansion of primary education has brought greater gender parity, too many girls and women still remain excluded from learning. UNESCO is working to ensure quality inclusion education, concerning access, the learning environment and successful outcomes. The Organization, also, leads efforts to increase female literacy: a human right and a key to improving livelihoods, child and maternal health, as well as girls ' access to education, both in and out of schools (UNESCO, 2011).

All the information I gained from this website were very helpful because I believe that all children, regardless, of gender, economic background, and race should be allowed to receive an education.