Professional Hopes and Goals

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

My hope is that people working with young children make it a priority to think about and reflect on how their biases or microagressions may be impacting the children and families that they work with.

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

That teachers strive to provide the best possible classroom environment that is welcoming and safe for all children, while providing support to and being respectful of all families.

A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

I would like to thank my colleagues for taking the time to share personal experiences that I hope not only helped them to reflect, but also gave me the opportunity to learn from them as well.  I have definitely appreciated professional feedback and insight that my colleagues have provided myself and each other with for the past eight weeks.  I hope you have much success in your careers as you continue on with your courses and I hope that I “see” you in future courses.

Welcoming Families from around the World

Country of Origin: Peru

At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family:

After determining the new family’s language is most likely Spanish, I would take time to learn common phrases and greetings in their language to assist with making them feel welcome. Words such as “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Thank you,” and “Bathroom” would probably go a long way towards this effort.

If I did not have a translator available, I would ensure that I had access to an electronic translator such as Google Translate or Altavista to help me with translating and understanding basic elements of the foreign language.

I would offer opportunities to play games that are popular in Peru, most notably soccer.

I would provide play materials that, as much as possible, might be familiar to the new child in the classroom. This would potentially include games, dolls, foods and clothing.

I noticed in my research that table manners are important in Peru, but are not necessarily enforced in each family. I would be aware of the child’s habits and behavior in the classroom, and I would help the child understand the expectations of proper manners during snack time if they happened to be different.

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

Learning the basics of Peruvian language, culture and activities are all ways to help make my classroom a welcoming environment for both the child and their family. By learning basic foreign language phrases and attempting to use them, I am demonstrating to them how important it is for me to communicate with them, and that I care very much about including their child into my classroom. Similarly, by making an effort to focus on games or sports that the children may have been exposed to in Peru, I am helping make the transition to American culture more seamless. Although I have researched the background of Peru and its people, those generalizations do not necessarily apply to the family I have in the classroom, so I will continue to make a concerted effort to learn the child and their family on an individual basis.

http://www.countryreports.org/country/Peru/facts.htm

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Opression

What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression?

                A recent situation had happened which mad me very upset.  My husband and I were at a restaurant and we were sitting at the bar waiting for our neighbors to arrive.  Our neighbors are a gay couple and we were saving them two seats.  There were no other people waiting to sit but when our friends arrived, the bartender told us that we could not save the seats that they were for “other people, other couples.”  I was horrified and asked him what that was supposed to mean because I did not see anyone else waiting.  He said “you know other couples.”  My husband could knew that I was upset and I was trying to make it so or friends could not hear.  My husband took my arm and told the bartender that we understood and would be taking our business elsewhere.   

•In what way(s) did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?

                The bartender diminished equity by implying that our friends, a gay couple should not sit at the bar, that they were not worthy of sitting there.   

•What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

                I was horrified, I felt so upset and embarrassed that anyone would say that.   

•What and/or who would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity?

                I feel like I knew what I wanted to or should have said but that I was so in shock that I just froze.  I would still not have stayed and given them our business but I wish that I would have calmly made the point that the seats at the bar are for any person or couple.  Our friends did hear what was said and I was glad that we were able to have a genuine conversation with them at a different restaurant.