Professionals Hopes and Goals

One hope that I would like to share with all in regards to the work done with children and families coming from diverse backgrounds, is that one day we are all able to see each other as equal, that we have the capacity to except differences and learn from them instead of marginalizing, criticizing or excluding those that think, look or act differently to what is considered a norm. One goal that I have set for myself is, to share with other professionals in the field of Early Childhood all the resources and knowledge I have been able to learn in this course as well as many other courses and complemented with my own personal experience  in order to better understand and value differences among us, as well as to reflect on our own bias as it relates to the quality of work we do with the children and families we serve.

I would like to take the time to thank all my colleagues as well as instructor for your hard work and dedication. I have learned so much in regards to your experience and knowledge in regards to providing quality care for all children as well as different ways to better the service we provide to the children and families particularly those from diverse backgrounds.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Working in an Early Childhood Setting I'm informed that I will have a new member in our class, a little girls that just arrived to the United States coming from "Morocco", a country that I know nothing about. Luckily I have the opportunity to research as much as possible about their culture before the child come to my classroom, the first thing I would do is to meet with the staff of my center that did that first contact with the family. They can share as much information as possible with me in order for me to understand the situation of the family. Since I ignore all aspects of the Morocco culture I will start by researching the superficial aspect of the culture such as food, traditions, clothing and language, language would be one the most important aspects that I need to consider. communication is the key element and I would need to know the basic language spoken, in order to create a list of words that I could use to communicate with the child and their parents.

Once I have a more clear understanding thanks to the support of these resources I would arrange a home visit just as any other child coming to my classroom, in order to establish our initial contact, during this visit I will share with the parents a little about myself and  then ask them to share a little about themselves. With this I would get a better picture of their experiences in their country as well as their needs, goals and fears.

Then with the information I obtained from my research as well as the information the parents shared  I can actually put all these pieces together to get a better understanding of their culture and find ways to engage, support and welcome the child and the family to our program just as I do with all the children and families I serve. By creating an atmosphere where they can feel represented and valued just as any other, by having materials such as books or pictures is another way of making them feel welcomed ad represented in our classroom. I hope with this to be able to engage not only with the child, but with the parent as well, to make them feel welcomed and appreciated. To learn and share from our differences as a way of growing in knowledge with the main purpose or goal as to help their child grow and develop to their fullest potential.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

Sadly, I have witness several experiences related to bias towards children professionally and personally. Just recently in the Head Start that I work in we had an open house, in this open house we screened the families to see if they qualified for our program. It is common thing to have all the family come that day, so we need to be prepared with crayons, some paper and toys.  That day a mom came with 3 of her children and one of them in particular, was running everywhere and it was precisely the child that would possible enter our program. The first think that my co-worker told the mom is that it seemed that she didn’t have any control with her child, and that he was to hyperactive. That if he was not yet evaluated by the district, she should look into it. You could notice in mom’s face how bad and worried she was feeling by the comments that my co-worker brought up, without first inquiring with the parent about his behavior. Then she tried to model to mom how to work with her child, which didn’t work at all, and what it did was make things worse as the child got frustrated and got him crying to the point that the parent had to reschedule the appointment for another day. Then she shared with other colleagues that it is common on Latino parents to not take their children to be screenings, or if they are too active they don’t know how to set limits and children know that.

First of all the way my co-worker handled the situation was very impropriate in my opinion, by making the assumption that mom didn’t have any control over the child without first actual assessing the situation with moms feedback. Also by trying to model to the parent techniques to work with the child in a time and place that was not appropriate made things worse for the child and the parent since we had several other parents and children present observing and hearing her comments. I can see how she might have mean well, and unconsciously behaved in a bias way by her actions and comments to the parent, but as a parent I can imagine what the parent was feeling and probably would have looked for another place to enroll my child were they actually could speak to me in a way I could understand and help my child not it a way the makes us feel less, discriminated and devaluated. By being participate of this incident,  made me realize how important it is to know a families culture before make the mistake of trying to share our expertise with the parents without given them  opportunity to share their experiences , challenges as well as what has worked or not worked with their child.  Then  work together to create a plan that might help the child succeed as well as including the help of other professionals that can contribute their knowledge in this plan. I consider that in order to avoid incidents such as this one, is that all staff and professionals working

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

As it was perfectly described in the video by Dr. Sue every day we experience a certain type of microagression that makes us feel marginalize, discriminated or excluded from a society that is powered by the majority group. With comments that might not be with the intension of offending, but often do more harm than those that actually are intended. A clear example happened to me two weeks ago, when while taking with the mom of one of my daughters best friends about our plans to visit Niagara Falls. She asked if we would we would see them from the American side, and I said that our intention was to see them from Canada, the she said “Do you have a passport?” My first answer was yes, we do! After that I tried not to show that I was upset with her comment and she seemed not to be aware of what had happened. She made me feel as if all Mexican’s were illegal in this country reason why we wouldn’t have a passport, I also felt as Dr. Sue said a perpetual foreigner in my own land.

Another example happened that same week when my daughter’s best friend came to our home to have a play day with my daughter. While walking to the park, my 3 year old son was riding his bike so I was walking in front of the girls, which were my 10 year old daughter and  Vinny her best friend, I noticed that a couple walked by and I smiled. When we got to the park my daughter said “Mom did you hear what that couple said, I said no, what did they say? They said those two colors of people don’t go together, what did they mean? My first reaction was I don’t know, don’t pay attention and have fun. Then I thought about it more, both my son and I are light completion, while my daughter and her best friend which is a beautiful Indian girl are darker especially with all the soon they have been getting. I can imagine that they were comparing our colors and race saying that Mexicans and Indians should be together.   I felt their comment was very racist and rude, the way they said it and that my daughter had heard it really bothered me, so I tried to invalidate it or ignore it, and I wanted my daughter to do the same, but as Dr. Sue mentioned they are comments that accumulate and leave a scar that affects you even if you try to ignore it. After reviewed Dr. Sue video and analyzing various instances in which I have been witness or victim of microaggression, I have a clear perception on the consequences that comments either intentional or unintentional about a person’s race, color, culture or ethnicity can have. And as educators we have the responsibility to make sure that all children and families feel safe, welcomed and valued as unique human beings and not feel inferior, excluded, marginalized or alienated.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I had the opportunity to interview people from different cultures as mine: One was my daughter which age is 16, my husband who is of a different gender and my neighbor which is a 70 year old German lady.

I first interview my daughter and her response to culture was: Culture is what a particular place like a country or region believes traditions and values.  Diversity is when you have a group of people from various nationalities, religions and believes together in a particular place.

My husband said that Culture is what a particular person believes and values, his traditions and says of understanding life. Where a person comes from and what their education and economic status is, how a person conducts him/herself in different circumstances. Diversity is when a group of people from various backgrounds are gathered together in one particular place. They all have different ways of thinking, speaking, dressing and practicing their faith.

My neighbor said that Culture was basically where you came from. If you were born in Poland you are Polish, if you are from China then you are Chinese and so on. Diversity is when you have a group of people from different countries all together. Then you have a group of people sharing their different traditions, foods and customs.

As I reflect on the answers provided during the interview in each of the participants, I am able to see many of the elements that were discussed in our coursed in regards to culture and diversity. They all mentioned that Culture is where a person comes from or race, what they believe and value. In regards to diversity the all mentioned that it was a group of people all with sharing different traditions, speaking a different language and practicing a different faith. What I did see is that they did omit several important factors in regards to culture that are not so superficial such as parenting, family dynamics, and expectations.

After reviewing each of the responses I’m able to understand how important it is to be able to understand the essence of what culture and diversity encloses. It is not enough to know superficial aspects if we really what to understand and value what a person values.

My Family Culture

If I would to decide to take 3 items from my personal belongings that would represent my family culture, it would be an album of family pictures that have pictures of several of my family members that live in Mexico City.  I have always enjoyed seeing these pictures, and sharing them with my children, it not only brings memories of relatives that I have not seen in years but also those that have passed away and that my children never got no know. I would take a Christ that I have in my bedroom, because  it has been with me and my husband since we good married, which has been 21 years, as a wedding present from my mother. It not only has a special meaning, but it also represents our belief’s as members of Catholic family, that puts their life’s in the hands of God.

Another item would be a “Chal”, it is like a small blanket that helps you carry you’re new born. It has a special meaning to me because it was a gift from my grandmother when I had my first child and I used it with all my three children. In order to give up any the three items would be extremely difficulty, and if I would have to choose one it would be my album of photos. They would be the item that would represent my culture, believes and values and the one that I could continue sharing with my children as well as to others.

   
An important insight that I gained from this assignment, is that my spiritual believes as well as my family are the foundation of my culture. That it is of extreme importance that I pass these to my children and their children as a way of not forgetting who we are, where we come from and what we believe.

When I Think of Research

One important insight that I gained in regards to research, is the value it was in society with it we can better understand the behavior and needs children and family have in order to improve, modify or change our views or ways of providing services. Another insight I gained was that research is not as simple as I thought, it requires a lot of planning, research, organization and effort in order to meet the needs of all parties not just the needs of the researcher. My idea about the nature of doing research completely changed, I know have a more clear understanding of its implications as well as its benefits for society and that because of this it has to be done in a way that is informative, ethical and meaningful that it has to have a purpose of improving the lives of others. Another important insight I learned was that not all research is accurate and valid, that it is important to review them carefully before considering them as tools for references. I learned identify the clues to look for when trying to find a research paper that is worth using as a point of reference.

The lesson that I learned in regards to planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood, is that it has to be done professionally.  That it is important for the researcher to learn to identify its bias in order to better observe, document and avoid judging or stereotyping during the research. It is also important in order for the information to be accurate and valid. Validity is an important peace in all research and in order for this to happen researchers need to be conscience that everything is done properly and with equity.  

Among the challenges I encountered was being able to identify which method of research would be the best fit for my type of research. Another challenge was being able to identify the question that would better guide my research to the intended result and validity that would confirm my hypothesis. The way I was able to overcome these challenge was with the support of my text book, colleagues as well as the valuable feedback obtained from my instructor during the course.

As, I learn more about our role as professionals in the field of Early Childhood, I’m able to understand how important our influence can be in the lives of children and their families. How we can we make a difference in the lives of many children and their families by actually being proactive and researching ways to improve our understanding and service to the children and families we serve.

Thank you all for your wonderful support, things would have been much harder if I wouldn’t have counted with your experience and knowledge in regards to the difference aspects of early childhood focused on research that we explored during this course. Good luck to all and I’m looking forwards on hearing from you again in the next courses to complete for our Master’s Degree.