This short video made me cry because it spoke to my heart and brought clarity beyond communication with others.
My personal thoughts were directed toward me and my family. My older daughters are always talking negatively and focus on the negative that may happen rather than the good. Communication is imperative in our world, but not just with others but with ourselves also. We have power to change how we feel about ourselves and our experiences if we communicate the good. Bringing strength with internal communication.
I had to post this on my blog because it spoke to me. I want it for future use.
One hope that I have when you think about working with children
and families from diverse backgrounds simply put is that I demonstrate to them
that I accept them and want to be educated in their differences. As I reflect on this statement, I am aware
that this statement is directed toward every single person I encounter.
Sometime these statements seem to be directed toward people with unique
backgrounds from your own; however, every person I encounter has a different
background. If I treasure, respect, and learn from every single person I
encounter even those with the same ethnicity as myself I reflect a person that
desires to get to know, support, accept, and understand every person or child as
an individual. Individuality is preached about when it comes to the academic
learning regularly. If we treat, every aspect of our relationships with the
people we work with the same attitude anti-bias curriculum would be a no
brainier.
Additionally, I am excited to continue to work with people from
diverse backgrounds and not ignore our differences but celebrate them and
become educated in various beliefs, attitudes and much more.
One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field
related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice.
My goal would be to advocate for equity, tolerance, and anti-bias
behaviors within my home, social, and work environment. The first step is to
educate the people around me by having training. I believe this is the order
in which a training sequence should go.
Understanding Your own Biases
Combating microaggression
The three E’s of Diversity: Educate, Experience, and Embrace
Advocating for Equity and Social Justice
I reflected and created number three I am so excited about it. I cannot wait to develop this training!
I have thoroughly enjoyed this class,
and have learned a great deal about and from all of my colleagues through
discussion and blog posts. I want to thank all of you for being transparent
with some of your experiences. This really brought some emotional connection to
the subject area. For me when my emotions are triggered it is something I
remember for a lifetime.
I have a hypothetical child
joining my school who has emigrated from Egypt. I know that I want the child
and her family to feel welcomed and comfortable; therefore, I will research her
country of origin. Egyptian people are very helpful and friendly, they love to
be helpful. I found the following very interesting about Egyptian peoples
attitude.
“Egyptian people are generally very helpful, so
tourists rarely have trouble finding assistance with directions or
recommendations. It is not unusual for an entire crowd of Egyptians to surround
you trying to answer a query. They stand very close when speaking, requiring
very little personal space. Egyptians are accustomed to refusing every
invitation the first time it was offered, so if your offer is genuine, repeat
it a second time. The same goes with invitations from Egyptian people. They
will offer something once out of politeness, but you know the offer is sincere
if it is repeated. If you accept an invitation into an Egyptian home, such as
for a meal, and you do not show, the hosts would be humiliated.”
1.The first step to be culturally
responsive is to know that I must invite parents more than once to a conference
or to ask questions. This is good to
know that sincerity is evident when request or invitation is repeated.
2.I do not want to just look on
the surface, and because website research is generalized, I would have the
family fill out a questionnaire. This would help me get information that goes beyond
the surface.
I found a few sample questionnaires here are the websites
3.I would learn how to greet in
their native tongue it is amazing, but there are numerous ways to greet
depending on the circumstance. I found this web site that has numerous phrases
and how to pronounce them. http://arabic.desert-sky.net/greetings.html
5.I would schedule of home visit
if it they were open to it. Going to a persons home can really assist in getting
to know a family better. You can also observe some of their culture. During
this visit I would ask the child to create an all about me chart to share with
her friends.
I would hope that this preparation
would help me and the family feel more comfortable. It would demonstrate
professionalism as well as care and concern about the family. These
preparations would allow me to be culturally responsive, digging beyond the
surface, and confidence to both me and the student. I would hope these actions would have a positive
effect on my relationship with my student.
To complete this assignment, ask yourself these questions:
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? Keep in mind that one can encounter such
incidents in real contexts, including online environments, as well as in
fictional ones, such as movies, books, television shows, and the like.
I was raised in a Christian home and I love and cherish my
faith. Throughout my childhood, I often clashed with my mother over our worldviews
and Christianity. I have always been an accepting and loving person. I had
friends of different faith, color, and sexual orientation. One of my friends
whose belief was Mormon gave me a Mormon Bible because I was curious about it.
I wondered how their book of Mormon would parallel the bible if at all. My
mother found this book and ripped it in half It angered me. I began singing a
song from church at the top of my lungs, “love in any language, straight from
the heart” I would scream that includes religion and then continue singing,
“pulls us all together never apart’. I was furious and could not believe my
mother was that intolerant. We got
through it, but I have to say I lost a little respect for her that day.
Although we did not really talk about religious discrimination,
this story really surfaced when the above question was asked.
In what way(s) did the
specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?
I would not want anyone to tear my bible, it would show
disrespect for what I believe and would be an insult. Equity is not shown when
one person believes they are right and others are wrong in how they believe. Do
not get me wrong, I believe that my religion and belief system is the truth,
but my truth. I have decided to accept my religion. Every person has the right
to choose how he or she believes. No person’s beliefs are better than the next
in the equity of this world.
What feelings did this
incident bring up for you?
I was angry and alarmed at how my mother responded to
finding the book. I believe it was fear, fear that I would stray away from our
faith. However, I could stray without viewing the book of Mormon.
I was appalled at the fact that I was taught to love and not
judge. I felt that my mother’s reaction was pure hate and intolerant d.
What and/or who would
have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater
equity?
I spoke to my mother about the incident how I felt that her
actions are the actions that cause war around the world. She listened, but I do
not remember her response. In me, personally it created more drive to be accepting
and show tolerance. This will create drive for equity in how I go through life
in the hopes that I become an example to others and one day maybe we all will
start setting examples to change the world around us. I am not naive; I know it
will take time but every step counts!
Below is the song I sung at the top of my lungs when the above
events happened. I believe the song is talking about more than just language! We all have a heart, we just need to love each other.
Describe at least one example
of a microaggression which you detected this week or remember from another
time. In what context did the microaggression happen? What did you think and
feel when you observed the microaggression or when you found yourself as the
target of a microaggression?
I was trying to go back in my mind to forms of microaggression
that I have witnessed. I was having a hard time recalling any. I remember going out with a group of people
in college. We were all discussing where we should go to dinner; someone
suggested that we go to a fried chicken joint. My girlfriend said I do not like
fried chicken. A friend of ours said, I thought all your people like fried
chicken and watermelon. We all laughed
including my friend. Now I realize now that it was a microinsult. My friend never mentioned it to me, but now I
wonder what my friend really felt.
Looking back, I feel sad that she could have been hurt.
In what ways did, your
observation experiences this week affect your perception of the effects of
discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people.
This week my family and I drove 2000
miles to our new home in Florida. Along the way, I encountered many different
people and often people watched. I paid attention to some of my thinking and some
of my thinking saddened me. I always
strive not to be judgmental; however, I realized this week that I do make judgments
on the inside. I was sitting in a play area in a shopping center. A family
walked up. The husband was dressed in shorts, t-shirt, and sandals. The little
girl was dressed in a fashionable summer dress. The mother was covered from the
top of her head to her ankles. Being new
to this climate, I thought, man, she must be hot. I immediately thought, her
husband must be cool, must be nice. I gasped inside knowing that I had assumed
the woman was uncomfortable and I have no knowledge of the woman’s thinking or
culture. This week’s studies have made
me aware of how I think and view the world around me. I am working on changing
it and having less discriminatory, prejudice, and discriminatory thinking.
I heard this poem many years ago (before 2006) and I loved it and wanted to share it.
And you call me coloured..??
Written by an African child and nominated by The United Nations
as the Best Poem of 2006.
And you calling me colored??
When I born, I black.
When I grow up, I black.
When I go in sun, I black.
When I scared, I black.
When I sick, I black.
And when I die, I still black.
And you white people.
When you born, you pink.
When you grow up, you white.
When you go in sun, you red.
When you cold, you blue.
When you scared, you yellow.
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you grey…
I was not surprised by the answers I received from the three
individuals I spoke with about culture and diversity. All of their definitions contained predominantly
surface culture. Traits that can be physically seen such as skin color, where a
person is from, the kinds of food they eat, and religion. All three seemed
stumped, just as I have in the past. It was almost as though it took them much
thought to come up with the answers they provided. It is unfortunate, that many do not realize
or understand the depth of culture and diversity.
Omitted from the definitions I was given that I had omitted as
well was, language, beliefs, and the basic how others live and think
differently. I never thought of culture and diversity being personal to each
individual despite the surface culture.
I too, before this class was stuck at the top of
the iceberg, only seeing what was visible. The adventure and reward is looking
deeper underneath the water line of an iceberg. Here are some quotes on culture and diversity from many famous diverse people . You may enjoy them. https://www.ufic.ufl.edu/Documents/20%20Quotes%20Praising%20Cultural%20Diversity.pdf
A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.
A description of the three items you would choose:
As I reflected on this assignment, I realized that as long as I had my family with me, I would not need anything materialistic. We create our culture by being together. A tradition that we have is to at least have Sunday dinner together.
However, if I had to choose something to bring I would bring the following.
1.My camera
2.Zoey’s baby scrapbook
3.Easton’s Baby scrapbook
I take a lot of pictures, in fact I am known as the photographer in my family there isn’t a family function without the presence of my camera. I feel that pictures are important to keep memories a live for generations.
How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you:
The baby books are important because I wanted my kids to know a lot their development their first year, in case I am not around. My mother passed away before I had kids, so I wasn’t able to ask her if I did particular things by children did, and I don’t remember ever hearing about my birth story because when I was young it didn't matter to me. I also treasure hand written notes from my mom; therefore, I did the entire book by hand not digitally. I hope they one day treasure those books.
Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you:
If I could only have one item, I would choose the camera to continue keeping memories through picture. I would feel very sad and angry about leaving the scrapbooks, but I know that having my family really is all that matter, and I would hope to one day be reunited with the scrap books.
Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise:
I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of need for material things to keep my culture and diversity. Family is the most important thing in my life and defines who I am as a person. You could say that All I need is love.
