Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds …

                It’s difficult to think of just one hope but my hope embraces UNDERSTANDING:

I hope that families will always feel welcome and the environment in which we create encourages families to celebrate their differences.  I hope that I am understanding and able to always give my best to each family.  I hope that I can recognize when a personal bias may interfere with decisions and I am able to set aside my differences and make a decision that will be in the best interest of the families.

One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice

A goal that I would like to set would be to make sure that I always challenge my teachers to provide opportunities for families to share their culture so that diversity can be a positive learning experience.

As we wrap up this course I would just like to thank everyone for sharing some very personal life experiences with us.  What may have seemed like differences have really brought about connections.  I wish you all the best as we move on to our next course.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

TRINIDAD

It is interesting that this assignment hits the same week that I have a family from Trinidad that will be starting at my Preschool with the first of the New Year.  Knowing that I have a few weeks to prepare I will be doing the following things so that both myself and my teachers will be able to provide that best possible care to this new infant and her family.  Not knowing too much about Trinidad and its culture it would be beneficial for me to do some research on the country.  As with any family that enrolls at my school we sit and talk before their first day of school.  The family does speak English but with a thick native accent.  With the first meeting I saw that language will be somewhat of a barrier.  When I spoke with mom she was very concerned with understanding everything so that she could go home and share everything with her husband. She stopped me a few times to repeat what I had said to make sure that she understood.  She was conscious of this and apologized.  I will share this information with the teachers so they know that she would like for them to speak clearly when communicating with her.   We have asked about food preferences and likes and dislikes of the baby.  Mom has shared that she loves to sing and will eat most everything.  To make this little on comfortable in her new setting we have asked mom to bring some music that Mercy likes to sing and dance to so that she can hear something familiar in her new setting. We have also requested photos of family to be able to put up in the room so that she can see familiar faces throughout the day also.

I think that a nice way to bring everyone together after the holidays will be to welcome in the New Year with a family potluck.  I would like to invite each family to bring a dish that is a favorite in their home.  I believe that food is such a great conversation starter.   This will be a great way to welcome our new families and allow them the opportunity to introduce themselves and feel a part of the group.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The enrollment at the school that I work at is predominantly African American.  I can recall many occasions in which I was having a conversation with a teacher or parent in regards to food, music, clothing, or names and comments in regards to me or my race were made. 

Such comments include:

 “Oh that is a typical “white” name” or “that is a white person’s outfit for sure”

Or “you like to eat that?”

 Usually when such remarks are made I just casually laugh them off as not to make it a big deal.  However, internal thoughts are usually first disbelief that such remarks are so causally thrown out there. Secondly, if the conversation was the other way around and I had said something like that what would have happened?  Thirdly, I feel that some things are not just because of race but also because of where one grew up.  For example, my mom and grandmother cooked a lot of southern foods growing up but also there were a lot of Italian and northern dishes as well.  Foods we eat, the names we choose, and the clothes we wear are not only because of race but also because of the areas in which we live or have lived.

I think that as with many circumstances education can turn many situations around.