Professional Hopes and Goals

Diversity is a big part of our world and should be a part of the education setting. Each child is diverse and deserves a full, appropriate education. I hope that in every education setting I work in I am able to not only implement a more differentiated environment but also change the views of those who are close-minded, racist or unaware of the advantages of diversity. 

I would like the early childhood field to create more programs for diverse families, legal immigrated families and families of lower socioeconomic status and to make diversity a part of the curriculum, not just a topic that is discussed every one in awhile or set aside to be celebrated one month a year. Every day should be culture or diversity day, because every day people live, work, go to school of all races, ethnicities and cultures. 

Diversity is a part of each of us and in our DNA. Diversity should be celebrated not shunned or discriminated against. Everything about our world is diverse. It shold not matter what color your skin is, where you were born, what language you speak, what kind og car your drive, what religion you practice or the clothes you wear. We are all people, we all think, feel, live. We are all equal.

Thank you everybody for all your insights, comments, lessons and hard work. Each one of you bring great teachings and knowledge to the education field. I wish you all the best in the remainder of your studies, life and taking a stand in the early childhood field. It has been a pleasure.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The country that I pick as the family's country of origin is Ireland. 
The first thing I would do is learn the basic top layer of culture and diversity about the area because without that you cannot understand the more in-depth and detailed aspects of the culture. 
Next I will then find out if they speak Gaelic or English or a different language and learn the basics of the language so that i can at least minimally communicate with the family and correspondingly teach them English if needed. 
I will learn about the specific area of Ireland that they are from, such as the customs, food, way of living, education system, workforce, geography, etc. 
I would then compare the cultures and diversities to the United States and have materials ready to help the family and child(ren) transition. 
If these cultures, traditions, ways of living, etc have not already been included, taught and accepted in my educational setting I would then implement them all immediately. 

By completing and implementing all these tasks I will create a welcoming, accepting, educational, fun and equal environment for the children and family. I will expose my educational setting to a new culture and teach them more about Ireland so that they will see the amazingness of different cultures and people and be accepting and open-minded to all so there is no discrimination. I will become more accepting and understanding of other cultures and create an environment that molds more well-rounded individuals. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

We all use microaggressions to some extent at some point. Most of us I believe are not aware of it and would be ashamed if we knew what we had just insinuated. There are some people out there who may not realize what they are insinuating but be completely fine with what ‘hidden message’ they had just sent. Racism in any form, no matter how minor or substantial is unacceptable.  My friend JD, who lives in Black Mountain, N.C., is extremely racist though he does not believe he is. He makes more blatant racist comments then comments of microagression. When I was visiting him he made comments like: ‘they may be dressed nice but they are still lying and stealing niggers’, ‘I think tattoos are acceptable on men, but women are meant to be untouched’, ‘I cannot believe she has never stolen from work’ (about his African-American co-worker), and ‘I would never condone cheating but why did she cheat with a black man.’ I was shocked by how racist he is and how unfiltered he is with his comments. He has no idea how racist he is or does not care. His discrimination against others shows that he finds any race, ethnicity and diversity below his own and that specific ethnicities have certain 'jobs', i.e 'Asian women are only good for doing manicures and pedicures.' I was not comfortable with his comments and how deeply he believes that Caucasians are superior and better then anybody else. I understand why he feels that way, if you will, but I do not think that gives it justification. It really upset me and I tired to educate him on his views but he said he did not care and was too closed minded and like being that way. :-(  All I can say is wow! JD'S ideas, opinions and beliefs would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I am sure I have made some microaggressions before because I do not think before I speak and I am a pretty outspoken person. For example, my friend JD, who lives in Black Mountain, N.C., is extremely racist though he does not believe he is. He makes more blatant racist comments then comments of microagression. When I was visiting him he made comments like: ‘they may be dressed nice but they are still lying and stealing niggers’, ‘I think tattoos are acceptable on men, but women are meant to be untouched’, ‘I cannot believe she has never stolen from work’ (about his African-American co-worker), and ‘I would never condone cheating but why did she cheat with a black man.’  I am sure he made other comments that were more microaggessions then racist but these were the ones that stuck out in my head. I was not comfortable around him fully when he made discriminating comments and I was worried that others would assume that I felt the same way. He does not see anything wrong with his comments and does not feel bad about them. To him they are the truth, facts. These acts of microaggression happened in different settings. Some times JD and I were out to eat or just talking in general. 

I was only able to do a little observation of others and myself this week. I was not out in the public much and when at work there are only 2 others employees and the clients are all children. All the family and friends I came into contact this week did not make any prejudice comments.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

We all grow up in different family dynamics, towns, schools, religions and cultures. We learn and gain so many different concepts and values from each experience. We take so much in from each interaction and experience that each moment shapes and changes who we are.

I asked several friends their definition of culture and diversity and the three that responded in time gave the following answers:

JD was born and raised in a small rural country town in N.C. said "Culture is the behaviors and beliefs that a social or ethnic group stereotypically posses. Funny how if u talk about a bad thing then your a racist. But if u ignore the bad behaviors and only pay attention to positive attributes your a scholar."  And diversity is "The difference between all of these groups and possibly within the same group. The study of the differences if you will."

Lori who lives in NYC but was born in Paraguay said "culture is made up of your upbringing and i guess where you were brought up, like location wise city vs burbs ... and who has kinda been an influence in your life. i kinda think that everyone has their own culture almost like their own personality, identity" and diversity is "the world i guess...no one person is the same...everyone is different therefore everyone is diverse."

Rj was born in California but has lived in Maryland for the last 15 years, said "Culture is the habits and traditions created and followed by a group of humans" and diversity is the "Differences in beliefs and culture."

The answers that my friends gave were quite interesting and similar. They all inadvertently stated that ones culture creates their social identity. Lori feels that each of our cultures is interrelated with our personality. JD has had limited amounts of exposure to other cultures and is uneducated in diversity and how it plays a role in our world in this day in age. Lori has grow up with a lot of exposure to other cultures and has even been seen as a minority. Rj has grown up with a moderate amount of exposure to different cultures and has a good understanding and acceptance of others. Lori moved to the States around the age of 3 months, she was adopted by a single white female. Lori looks nothing like her mother and has been mistaken as  'Spanish' several times in her life. She knows what it is like to be an immigrant from another country and not the majority. Since we are all different and come from vastly diverse upbringings, for a variety of reasons, our ideas towards culture and diversity are going to be dissimilar yet congruent. My thinking has not changed much on what I define culture and diversity to be, I agree with all three of my friends definitions but also feel like family plays a bigger role within ones culture and society plays a bigger role in regards to diversity.

My Family Culture

My family does not really have a family culture, we are more a part of the dominant culture. We 'follow the American' way. Our heritage is not really prominent or practiced in my family. My items to me are not very culture like. I do not feel like my family really has any items that are related to our culture. My three items that I would bring are my family's coat of arms, my MacBook Pro and photos of my family through the generations. 

My family's coat of arms is a piece of my family's history. It shows where I came from and who i am. It is proof of my family. It links me to my ancestors.

 

My MacBook is the most important material item to me. They link me to our current society and dominant culture. They hold all my most important documents like my birth certificate and S.S. and items that mean the most to me. Having my MacBook is a way to still connect me to all my loved ones in other places.

 

My old photos of generations past are a record of where I came from and who I am. It shows me and my future children their past family.

 I would be slightly upset if I was told I could only keep one item. All of these items are a part of me and are very important to me. Having my physical coat of arms and the old photos is more symbolic the having a copy of them but if I could only keep one I would keep my MacBook because it has a copy of everything and connects me to my ancestors as well as my current family and the world around me. 

We all view cultures differently and I never really saw myself abiding to a culture or linked to one.