Professional Hopes and Goals

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

   One hope that I have from working with children and families from diverse backgrounds is to be more aware and supportive of these children and families. I hope that in the future I am more culturally aware of others. In being more aware I hope to be more supportive of children and families according to their own individual needs. This hope will in turn help me to build relationships and connections with others.

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

   One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to provide more education and training for professionals. I would love to see professionals in the field receive more educational opportunities related to issues in diversity, equity, and social justice. I believe that this could build a better understanding of the issues and well as better connections with professionals with children and their families.

   I would like to send a special thanks to all of my colleagues. I have enjoyed getting to know all of your opinions and ideas on the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice. I have learned not only from the content presented by Dr. Ferrari but also my colleagues. It has helped me to expand my understanding and ideas of the diversity and equity.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

   This week we are challenged to think about having a family who has recently emigrated from another country that we know nothing about and how we will support this family and be culturally responsive. Since I am in a child care center setting I wanted to choose to keep this setting. I chose to have this family's country of origin be Japan.

   There are many ways that I could help support and be culturally responsive to this family. I chose five ways that will help me be culturally responsive and build a positive relationship with this family:

1. I will research their country of origin which includes the countries culture, economic status, population, history, religion(s), etc.
2. I would then hold a meeting with this family and find out more about their personal background and culture. I would like to know more about what their personal beliefs and values are so that their child can be comfortable in my classroom. I would also like to know what their expectations and opinions of early childhood education.
3. I would attend conferences and trainings on how to support children and families from other country.
4. I would then research more on how to include children from another country especially if their culture is different from the dominant culture in the classroom. This will hopefully give the child a feeling of safety and comfort.
5. Lastly, I would also consult with colleagues and other professionals and their experiences with immigrant children and their families. This can help me to build strategies to better support them.

   These strategies can better prepare me to support the child and his/her family. By using these preparations I can better understand the child and the family. In understanding the child and the family better I can feel better prepared and ready to help the child grow developmentally and ensure his/her well-being. I would hope that using these preparations can build a positive relationship and better connection to not only the family but also their country of origin.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

   Thinking about my life and what I see and observe around me, I can recall a few specific incidents where I have seen bias, prejudice, and oppression. These can be evident and observed in our society whether it be on TV or in personal experiences. While I cannot think of any specific incidences in my personal life I have been witness to a few. One specific incident of prejudice that I have seen was fairly recently. My husband and I were at a restaurant waiting for a table. While we were waiting a Hispanic family was about to be seated. Their party was rather large, probably about 6 people with most of the party being children. As they were walking to be seated a white gentleman leaned over to me and my husband and began to say "That's all America is now. It's all foreigners and minorities and soon us white people will be kicked out if they keep breeding like that" and then pointed to the family being seated. My husband and I were so in shock that we didn't know what to say and we just stared at him. He then walked away to wait for his table. His comments were very clear in the fact that he had specific prejudice with people of a different race and ethnicity as him.

   Looking back I wish I would have said something in return but at the moment my mind was so blank because his comments came out of nowhere. If I hadn't been so shocked I would have definitely informed him of how his comments were not okay and definitely not appreciated. My husband and I talked about the incident during dinner and we talked about how we felt very uncomfortable and angry with not only this man's comments but his blatant prejudice. He was  not shy at all voicing his opinions and bias to us. I would assume he thought his comments would be okay to share with us since we are white. In order for there to be greater equity in this situation he would have to realize his prejudice and how it affects others. While I know that it is hard to change someone's mind especially if they have had these prejudice or biases most of their life I think letting someone know your own opinions about bias and prejudice can show how their actions and way of thinking is something that needs to be changed.