Awareness of Microaggressions

Microaggressions occur when verbal behaviors create feelings of uncertainty, inferiority or marginalization even if there was no offense consciously intended (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.).

One microaggression detected this week was at my work we have 4 centers and 8 classrooms and there are only 2 African American teachers. During a conversation among my co-workers about why one center is getting something that we had asked for but were not getting one of the teachers said, “It is because Ms. A works there and well you know she is black”. I was taken aback by this statement; I could not believe that she thought this was the reason. She continued to say they, Ms. A and Ms. B always get what they want because if they don’t they will say that the agency is discriminating against them. Wow….this had never even crossed my mind and to hear it coming from a co-worker really bothered me. This was a definite act of discrimination and prejudice against these ladies.

Before this class I have not ever heard of microaggressions but I realized that I have dealt with them all my life. Since I married my husband at the age of 17 after our son was born I have been told and talked about. People will say they will never stay together they are too young well we have been together since we were 15 and will be celebrating our 23^rd wedding anniversary in July. I feel sad that people never even gave us a chance they stereotyped us because we were young and had a baby by saying it would never last.

This assignment has cautioned me to be aware of things that others say as well as to be very careful before I speak and do the same to another.

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Microaggressions in everyday Life. [Video
              Webcast]. In Perspective, Diversity, and Equality Retrieved from  https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fweb
apps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1958978_1%26url
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Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

What is your definition of culture?

·     Culture is people’s ideas and ways of learning

·         Culture is learned behaviors that teach us about our heritage

·         Culture is the way we walk, talk and live. It is what we are made up of, our race, religion and ethnic
  backgrounds.

What is your definition of diversity?

·         Diversity is having different cultures in the same area

·         Diversity is having many different types of things in a group

·         Diversity is how we are all different

Which aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course are included in the answers I received—and what are some examples?

·         Surface culture is mentioned in the form of race and ethnicity

·         Family culture in the form of heritage, religion, the way we talk and live

·         Social identity is the form of how we think, learn, walk, talk and live.

Which aspects have been omitted—and what are some examples of such omission?

I don’t think any aspects were omitted.

In what ways has thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics?

I have learned that culture is the way we eat, sleep, talk, worship, celebrate holidays and live (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2012, p. 55). I have learned from asking the questions to my friends, colleagues and relatives that we all have the same general ideas about culture and diversity. In these past three weeks I have discovered that there is much more to culture and diversity than what we see on the surface. I know have a better understand of getting to know about how we are all different and I will be able to take this knowledge into my classroom and help my children understand that we are different and we can learn from each other.

Resource:

Derman-Sparks, L. and Edwards, J. (2012). Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and
            Ourselves. Washington, DC; National Association for the Education of Young Children

My Family Culture

I find it ironic that we are doing an assignment that has us placing ourselves in the middle of a major catastrophe, with so many people devastated my Hurricane Sandy. As I was thinking of the three material things I would bring with me, I have a heavy heart for those who are being relocated.

1.      I would want to bring my photos so that I would be able to reminisce about those who are no longer with us. I want to be able to keep my memories of my children when they were small and the last 23 years with my husband.

2.      I would take my birth certificate, for identification purposes.

3.      My children’s baby books, though they are grown men now I still look back at them and remember their childhoods.

Being told when I got there that I could only take one item with me would be just another devastation. I would want to keep them all, but if I was only allowed one it would have to be my photos. These I have from myself as a baby to the marriage of my oldest son. These would help me to keep memories alive.

This exercise made me really think about what is important to me. First and foremost it is my family, which is why I chose the pictures to keep everyone close to my heart. I was saddened very much to think about having to leave my current life behind and begin again.

When I Think of Research....

When I first began this course the thought of research terrified me and having 3 different professors really worried me. After it is all over I realize how important research is in working with young children and their families. I want to be able to provide them with the correct information and make them comfortable in every way possible.

This year in my classroom I have a child from India, this being rare in our area. This child and his family are also vegetarians, which put a bind on our cook, who has never dealt with this in her years of head start. It began as a challenge for our staff but through research and communication we have done our best to make this family as comfortable as anyone else in our classroom. Every time I speak with this family I hear from them, thank you and you are so kind. If it wasn't for research on his culture and beliefs I would not have known how to accommodation them and for this I am thankful.

I want to say thank you to all of my colleagues for all your support, ideas and sharing of your knowledge that helped me though this course.

I especially want to thank you Dr. Walker for taking over our class and being so kind to us and not making and major changes to the course. Again, Thank You!!!

Best wishes to you all and I hope to continue this journey with you.

Research Around the World

I decided to explore Early Childhood Australia, A Voice for Young Children,   http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/. Their mission statement: Early Childhood Australia will advocate to ensure quality, social justice and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight years. This says to me that we are all striving for the good of the children.

The resource themes explored on this site are Being Belonging and Becoming, School Readiness, Baby and Toddler Sleeping and Childhood Obesity. These are all issues that we have explored and experienced and should have further research.

I found the Research and Practice Series very informative, the discussion of topics such as Partnerships, Respecting diversity and The Code of Ethics are just a few of important issues deserving further research.

This is a website that I will go back to for more research to gain new ideas for everyday classroom issues. This site contains an abundance of information for educators.

Research that Benefits Children and Families

If I possessed the means and the knowledge to conduct research studies about any topic in the early childhood field, it would be autism and special needs children. I have worked in the special education field and have worked with children with very different autism spectrums. I grew to love these children and want to learn more about their condition, so that someday I may go back into the special needs field and be able to understand how they learn.

One of the teachers I worked with at this time had a little girl and she was about 15 months old and she noticed that she wasn’t talking, was showing signs of being sensitive to sound and touch, she didn’t like mom to hug or kiss her and she was would get very upset when their routine was interrupted. This mom had her daughter put through a series of tests and the doctors diagnosed her with autism, after this mom blamed herself for things she ate, working in a school with asbestos and having her child vaccinated. 

We have all heard these stories and we know that none of these can be determined to cause autism, nor can they be ruled out as the cause. I would like to do extensive research and be able to figure out the cause and be able to help these families. If we can’t find the cause then I want to be able to help families deal with what life has given them and be able to reach out to the children.

My Personal Research Journey

For my research simulation I have chosen, how to get parents involved in their child's learning environment. I work in Head Start and a big part of my job is to get parents involved, so naturally I want to learn more. I am currently a teacher and have recently applied for the position of Disabilities/Mental Health Specialist. In previous courses and in my position I have learned how important parent involvement is so now I want to now how to effectively communicate with parents/grandparents/guardians. I know that sometimes it is hard to reach parents and not offend them.

I have found article on the subject but would love to have some input from my colleagues/friends. I would like to hear from some of you about personal experiences and if anyone would like to share any literature with me that would be just grand. 

Resources that I have discovered so far in my quest:

Tyler, V. H. (1993). Teacher attributes and school support structures that promote parent involvement in early childhood education programs. University of South Carolina). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 151 p. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqcentral/docview/304069694/fulltextPDF/1393118F6914FB42E32/3?accountid=14872. (304069694).

Hilado, A. V. (2010). Understanding the relationship between social resources and levels of parent involvement in illinois early childhood programs: A program-level perspective. Loyola University Chicago). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqcentral/docview/763008450/abstract/1393118F6914FB42E32/8?accountid=14872 . (763008450).