Week: 8 Perspective Diversity & Equity

My Professional Hopes and Goals

Hopes

As a professional caregiver the one hope that I carry when working with children and families from diverse background, is that we all learn to appreciate each other and work together for the benefit of the success of the children.  

Going forth I hope that all educators become educated on the significance of diversity, equity, and social justice.  I hope teachers all across the world learn how to embrace each unique child and their family's cultural differences. 

Goals

My one goal as a preschool teacher is to make sure that all the children and families feel welcomed, safe, and accepted in my classroom . 

I plan to establish many meaningful relationships with the children and families in my community to help me to better understanding how I can help and support them.  

I have learned from this course that, preschool is not just about teaching children how to write their name or learn their numbers. But teaching children and families how to embrace the differences that make us who we are and accept their unique qualities.

My primary goal is to leave a legacy in my community where all children and families feel important and are supported by the Field of Early Childhood.

          

First, I would like to thank Dr. Horton and all my professional colleagues for such a meaningful course. All of your our personally experiences and stories really helped me to understand about the many diversity issues and challenges that we face as human beings.  I have learned so much about our responsibilities and obligations as preschool educators.  I now better comprehend the statement "We Are All Alike But We Are All Different" 

Thank you all again, and wish you all a Happy Holiday and Happy New Year!! :)

   

Week: 7 Perspective Diversity & Equity

Welcoming Families From Around the World

When children join a new class, they may be nervous and unsure about what to expect. Families want to know if they will be welcome and if the teachers will value their suggestions and appreciate their child.

The family's country of origin of my choice of whom will be entering my classroom is:

 Afghanistan

5 ways in which I will prepare to be culturally responsive towards this family:

1. Provide warm inviting greetings. Smile while introducing yourself and your colleagues by name. Not only are smiles contagious, but a warm face and voice help children feel safe and show the family that their child’s teachers are caring individuals.
2. Create a Welcome Area. Put out a small journal or set up a whiteboard or an easel with paper so current families can write messages to welcome newcomers. The new families can introduce themselves and their children. Add a welcome sign and other decorations that show this is a special day. Include welcome or hello in the languages of all the families in your program.
3. Follow each child’s individual schedule for feeling comfortable. Be as flexible as possible during the first few weeks so new children—and their families—can follow their own pace for getting to know the room, the routines, the teachers, and their classmates. Acknowledge children’s strong feelings about being apart from their families or their former teachers. You will be taking the first step toward building relationships based on trust.
4. Learn families’ names before the first day. It can be a challenge to memorize the names of all new family members and how they prefer to be addressed. However, it creates a welcoming atmosphere when teachers can greet everyone by name and title
5. Display photos of the children and their families. If possible, take photos during an open house or home visits before the first day of school. Or ask families to share some of their own family photos. Post photos on cubbies and at children’s eye level throughout the room. When children see the photos, they can feel connected to their families during the day.

The children and families served in early childhood programs reflect the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity of the nation. 

The nation’s children all deserve an early childhood education that is responsive to their families, communities, and racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.

 For young children to develop and learn optimally, the early childhood professional must be prepared to meet their diverse developmental, cultural, linguistic, and educational needs.

 Early childhood educators face the challenge of how best to respond to these needs. 

Educators must recognize that linguistically and culturally diverse children come to early childhood programs with previously acquired knowledge and learning based upon the language used in their home. 

For young children, the language of the home is the language they have used since birth, the language they use to make and establish meaningful communicative relationships, and the language they use to begin to construct their knowledge and test their learning. 

The home language is tied to children’s culture,and culture and language communicate traditions, values, and attitude. 

Parents should be encouraged to use and develop children’s home language; early childhood educators should respect children’s linguistic and cultural backgrounds and their diverse learning styles. 

In so doing, adults will learn to appreciate the many unique differences and at the same time enhance children’s learning and development. 

References:

https://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSDIV98.PDF

http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/article/welcome-children-and-families-to-your-classroom 

Week: 6 EDUC 6164

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

While growing up in the 1980's I have experienced many incidents involving discrimination, prejudice, and bias.  However the one incident that stands out to me is the racial discrimination incident that my Aunt and Uncle endured due to having an interracial marriage. 

Interracial marriage is the term used to  describe marriages that take place between people who are from different racial or ethnic groups.

People are often biased against others outside of their own social group, showing prejudice (emotional bias), stereotypes (cognitive bias), and discrimination (behavioral bias).

I can remember when I was about 12 years old and my family and I went out to eat for my Aunt's Birthday.  I can still recall this incident like it was yesterday.  We went to Red Lobster, we laughed, and ate, and then we sang happy birthday.  My Uncle surprised my Aunt with a gift and gave her a hug and kiss in the restaurant.  We clapped and smiled and I can remember feeling very happy and excited.  I can also remember seeing people begin to stare and begin to whisper as they kissed.  

A woman yelled out "what happen you can't find a white girl?"

Someone else then yelled out loud "yuck"!  " Disgusting"! "Stick with your own kind"!  Then I heard a lady say " he cheating on his wife with a black girl"! " look at those zebra kids"!

   

In my eyes at this very incident, I begin to understand the meaning of racism.  Because my Aunt is Black and my Uncle is White, individuals were being hurtful towards my family because we are culturally different.  

That evening my Uncle begin to get upset and my Aunt begin to cry. I remember all the kids being rushed out of the restaurant into the car while the adults yelled and argued for being mistreated and unkind.  As a child I did not understand why this was happening but I knew what was happening was not right. 

I think that this incident diminish equity due to the fact that  everyday individuals are judging and insulting people because of who they are. This incident has made me very aware of the hate in the world due to a lack of understanding.  In my culture we were not raised to judge people on how they look or where they come from but how they treat you.  If more people took the time to get to know each other and understand each other we would learn to love one another.