Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have with regards to working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is to provide all children with equal learning opportunities despite of their origin so that each child can excel in their learning. It is my desire to provide alternative approaches, skills for life, and decision making, which will enable children to ultimately become productive citizens of society.

One goal that I would like set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that we make all children and families feel valued and significant in every aspect of our classroom community. We must be optimistic and set aside our biases so that we can display equity and provide children with quality learning opportunities despite of their culture or ethnicity.

To all my colleagues, thank you all and I really enjoyed reading each discussion board and the blog each week. We all have come a mighty long way and I wish you all the best of luck as we continue this journey. I know we all will continue to excel in the program. With all the material and research I have learned throughout these few weeks wil help me better serve the children and their families that come from different culture. I can honestly say that with everything that I did learn these few weeks has helped me to grow as an individual. I hope to see or hear from everyone in the next class..
Best of luck to all!
Tracey

My Family Culture

I chose the Philippines as my family culture.

Name at least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family?

1. . I will initiate conversation via email/ or snail mail with the family, assessing language preferences and the need for a translator or information in home language Then provide enrollment information including child/family questionnaire, which assesses information about culture, customs, child rearing practices, and goals for child in early childhood program.

2. . I will initiate conversation with other early childhood professionals in the Philippines, to gain an understanding of current trends and issues in the field.

3.  I will research cultural beliefs and child rearing practices in Philippines and I will also research and purchase materials and props that represent the families culture and incorporate family culture throughout center, including meals.

4.  I will research and purchase books and music that represent home language, as well as incorporate home language throughout center

5..  Schedule an orientation meeting prior to start in childcare to open lines of communication and form positive relationship. Also provide resources for families new in area to ensure smooth transition.

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

My goal is to create a strong bond and open lines of communication. I also plan to provide the feeling that the family and their culture are both welcome and respected in the facility.

Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

       

Saturday, February 11, 2012　
The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression I have discussed my personal experience is when I was 10 when I first experienced racism. My uncle is black and his wife is white. So my cousin is of mixed raced. I was walking home with my cousin when we started talking about how the other children in her class had singled her out and made her feel bad about the color of her skin.She no longer wanted to be mixed, she wanted to be white. I said "You do know that you father is black don’t you?" She did not reply. I went home and cried because she made me feel bad about just the color of our skin, and how she let the other children get to her. My father wanted to go to the school to address this issue with the teacher and the children but I told him not to. My cousin later on told me that over one night she had realized that racism was wrong and that I was her best friend.

Another situation happened two weeks ago when one of my parents came to me to and said that she thinks her son other teacher is racist. This is a parent who is Caucasian and her boyfriend is Black and the two boys are bi-racial in which on of the boys are in my classroom. The teacher who she thinks is racist is an African American teacher and the parent thinks she is racist because the teacher will talk to the boyfriend but whenever she comes around she will not talk to her at all and that is her son. I agree with the parent! Why would she treat her any different from the boyfriend when she is the mother? She has every right to feel the way she does and I can feel her pain because she is such a sweet person. The parent came to me asking me what should she do. What should I do? After all this is my co-worker in which she is wrong and also this is my parent who is hurting because of the treatment she is getting from the teacher. I told the mother to follow her heart and to do what she think is best for her because wrong is wrong and right is right. I also suggested for her to make sure she follows the chain of command by going to the teacher first to find out what the problem is before going to her supervisor. I explained to the mother the importance of teaching our children about diversity and that we would in cooperate diversity into our curriculum throughout the year. In reference to how this diminished equity is that our schools are no longer segregated therefore, everyone should be treated equally and if your child is educated in public school you should leave all the microaggression at the door. When I’m put in situations like this it makes me very uncomfortable and I immediately become defensive inside in protection of my friend/my assistant but have to keep my professional composure.
posted by Tracey @ 9:26 PMHYPERLINK "http://tracey-hottes38.blogspot.com/2012/02/personal-side-of-bias-prejudice-and.html"