EDUC: 6165 Blog Week 1

For your blog this week, think of someone (e.g., family member, celebrity, politician, friend, or professor) who demonstrates competent communication within a particular context. What behaviors does this person exhibit that make him or her effective? Would you want to model some of your own communication behaviors after this person? Why or why not?

When I think of someone who is demonstrates competent communication within a particular context it is my mom, she can talk to comfortable and respectful to anybody. What I believe makes her so effective is she really listens and makes eye contact when she speaks to someone. She listens and repeats back what they have been saying when she responds. She has a way of making you feel comfortable and before you know it you have shared your whole life story with her:o) I would love to model some of my own communication behaviors after my mom. I get nervous when I have to speak to a person I do not know and I really do not like speaking in front of a large crowd. I do it on a semi-regular basis being the PTA president at my sons elementary school. I would like to be able to communicate with others with the ease that she does. Competent communication is vital when working with children and families, you need to not only communicate effectively with parents and children but also with your colleagues. 

 My husband, mom, and nieces getting ready to watch a movie!

Brandie

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 when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that I provide them a diversely rich environment where they feel welcome and can thrive and succeed in all that they do. I hope that I can enrich the lives of my students that they “will express comfort and joy with human diversity; [utilize] accurate language for human differences; and [acquire] deep, caring human connections” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2012, p. 4). Every person is different we should learn from our differences and celebrate the things we have in common.

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 would be more educational learning opportunities for early childhood professional and parents. “Most of the time, people do not even notice their culture, just as we do not notice we live in a sea of air. We only notice when something changes or makes us uncomfortable…When we find ourselves in the midst of another culture…we discover that the way we do things is not the only way” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2012, p. 55). Bringing this awareness of one’s own culture and the other cultures out there will help prevent conflicts when people encounter them unawares.

I would like to say “Thank You” to all my colleagues. I have learned a great deal from you all through your discussion and blog posts. I wish you all luck as you continue you educational journey and hope to “see” you in future courses.

Happy Holidays,

Brandie

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2012). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

For this assignment, imagine the following scenario:

You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

The name of “your” family’s country of origin: India

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

1.      I will learn some of their customs to help them feel welcome. For example, when Indian people greet each other they place their hands together and say ‘Namaste’. 

2.      I will incorporate some of India’s music into my program. The unique sound of India's music is often created with an Indian instrument called a sitar.  This instrument looks similar to a guitar, except that it has a very long neck.

3.      I would learn more about what types of food and drink they like. Many of India's people are vegetarians, meaning they don't eat meat.   Hindus believe that the cow is a sacred animal and never eat beef.

4.      I would learn about their holidays and celebrations, like Diwali. Diwali is a joyous celebration that takes place on the last day of the last month in the lunar calendar.  This is usually at the end of October.  During this five day holiday, people light oil lamps and set off fireworks.

5.      I will learn about family structures and how they are the same and/or different then family structures in America.

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

Taking the time to learn about the family and their culture will help them feel welcome and be the building blocks to the positive relationships needed to help the children learn and grow to the best of their ability. It will benefit me because I will be learning how to incorporate new family’s from diverse backgrounds into my classroom.

Brandie

References

Zimmerman, K. A. (2015). Indian Culture: Traditions and Customs of India. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/28634-indian-culture.html

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

• 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 do not have any personal incidents when I personally experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression. When I think of those things the movie that springs straight to mind is Forrest Gump, one of my all time favorite movies. All throughout the movie Forrest is overcoming bias, prejudice and oppression because of who he is. In the beginning of the movie his mom is being told he can't go to public school because his IQ test he scored just under the norm. He was picked on and bullied but still accomplished great things in his life because he never gave up.

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

Equity was diminished in the movie because every time you turned around Forest was being treated as if he was not good enough. Every person deserves the right to an education and to be treated with respect. 

• What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

This movie mad me angry whenever Forrest wasn't being treated fairly. It made me want to be in the movie so that I could let him sit on the bus next to me! No person should be made to feel less than another.

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

I would have educated the teachers and students that different does not equal wrong. 

Brandie

Microaggression

         This week we have been learning about microagressions, most of the time unintended insults.  For this weeks blog assignment we need to be conscience of what was going on around us. My sister-in-law and I sell LuLaRoe. It is a newer direct sales clothing boutique that makes stylish but super comfortable clothes in sizes 2 T to 3 XL and the softest leggings you will ever wear (shameless plug:o)). We were at an event and a wife had stopped in to look at the clothes and fell in love with a shirt. She pulled it out a couple of times and talked about how she loved the colors. We talked for a bit and she walked to check out the next vendor booth. About 20 minutes later she comes back with her husband to show him the shirt she really liked. She was a heavier lady, He looked at her and then the shirt and said, "That shirt will never fit your arms." Her face fell. He looked clueless. He did not even realize his comment had hurt is wife. I felt so bad for her. She kinda nodded and walked away and he soon followed.

         This weeks observations has affected my perceptions of the effects of discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes on people. It showed me that we really need to think before we speak. That we unconsciously can really hurt a person with what we say. I think that the saying is true, that physical hurts can heal and go away over time but words always stay with us. We might not think we are prejudice, discriminate or perpetuate stereotypes but we are with the unconscious comments we all make sometimes.

Brandie

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I ask three people their definition of culture and diversity:

1.       Culture is a group of people who believe in and have the same values and ideals.

             Diversity is everyone’s different sets of values and beliefs.

2.      Culture is the language we speak, the food we eat, how we interact with others.

Diversity is everyone’s uniqueness. Things that make us different from one another.

3.      Culture is a person’s traditions, language we speak, religious beliefs. Culture is the things we share with others.

Diversity is a person’s gender, sexual orientation, religion, and beliefs. They are the things that make us different.

This assignment was fun, it was interesting to learn about different people’s definition of culture and diversity. There seemed to be a common theme in the definitions. Culture was things we had in common and diversity were things that were the same.  These definitions follow what we have been learning about culture and diversity these last couple of weeks.

This was a fun and interesting assignment. Learning about other people’s definition on culture and diversity made me think about my own definitions. Diversity is the things that make each of us unique. It is vital to accept and respect these differences. The languages we speak, the holidays we celebrate, how we dress, what we eat, all of these things and more go into diversity. Our cultures are the unspoken rules we live by that influence our daily lives without conscience thought, our beliefs, morals, and values.

Brandie

My Family Culture

Imagine the following:

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...

If a major catastrophe had almost completely devastated the infrastructure of the United States and me and my immediate family had to evacuate I would not be worried about taking anything with me, all I would need is my family. In my family, family is crucial. Things are just that things, they really don't mean anything. 

I would explain to others that within my family culture that our families are what is essential to us not things. It is vital to spend and celebrate life together, the little and the big moments. What I hope to pass down to my children is what my parents passed down to me,  that your family will always be there for you and they are important. That things are just things and there will be things in life that we value and treasure but nothing should be more important than family. 

An insight that I gained about my self and my family culture is that, I believe sadly, not all families feel this way. Many people joke that my family is intimidating at first. We are a loud, loving, crazy family. We fight but we always forgive. We celebrate the good and help pick up the pieces when it is bad. I realized with this assignment that who cares what I could bring or couldn't bring with me as long as my family was together. 

Brandie 

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