Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when I think of working with children and families from diverse backgrounds is that they experience life without encountering any bias or prejudiced individuals. I know life isn’t perfect and that we all come across struggles, but if or when they do experience biases and prejudices I hope that the experience itself doesn’t have any devastating effects on their lives. I hope that it doesn’t discourage them from going after their dreams. I hope that it only makes me stronger.

A goal that I would like to set for the field of early childhood related to diversity, equity, and social justice is that we continue to encourage differences and embrace the characteristics of others. All educators have something special to bring to the field. We all should recognize our skills and bring them to the field. Even if it seems like something so miniscule, every little bit counts!

I want to close with a brief not of thanks to all of my colleagues thus far. I really appreciate your ideas and comments. I enjoyed visiting all of your blogs throughout this course and will look forward to looking at more in the future. I pray for the best for you all!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

So I looked up the different countries of the world and I chose the first country that I came across that I wasn’t the slightest bit familiar with…..Botswana. This country lies in the southern part of Africa. Now, if I had a family come into my life from this country I would have to do some major research. There are at least five ways that I would prepare myself. Researching this country and getting to know its cultures will allow me to become more culturally responsive towards this family. Through research I can find out the native language, types of food eaten, beliefs, etc. Another way is to contact someone from that country. I could get advice on things that wouldn’t or wouldn’t help with the family. Keeping in touch with another professional that has experienced having immigrants move into a common area would also help me out a lot. I could also talk to a translator to possibly learn just a few main words of their language. By knowing a few words, I could communicate better and also put these words up throughout the classroom. Finally, I would prepare myself my communicating with the family themselves. I could learn a lot from firsthand experience with them. They can inform me about their way of life, beliefs, language, etc.

All of the ways mentioned will benefit both me and the family. We will get to know each other on a more personal level. When one knows someone to a certain extent, they feel comfortable around them. With being an immigrant in this country, comfortability is a positive. We could both learn from each other.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The first incident that I have memory of in my life of prejudice was when I was in elementary school. I was in the third grade. At recess time I enjoyed playing sports such as basketball or soccer. Many boys and not so many girls decided to participate in the activities that I did. I was walking up to the soccer field one recess and a fellow classmate of mine approached me. He proceeded to tell me that I couldn’t play soccer because I was too dark. At the time, I knew that it was unfair that he told me that, but yet I couldn’t believe that was the reason that I wasn’t allowed to play. I didn’t go ask another classmate to play because my feelings were so hurt. I actually ran to tell my sister who was also at recess because she was just a year older than I was. She “handled” it in her own way. After recess was over I told my teacher and she called both of us to the side of the classroom and made him apologize. To this day, I’m still not sure he knew what he was apologizing for.

This experience didn’t have any equity in it. There wasn’t fair treatment of myself. In order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity, this young boy would have to learn why what he said was prejudiced. All of our biased attitudes and stereotypes are learned behaviors, so somewhere in his life he had to of learned something negative about people of color. It is imperative that parents teach their children that everyone is unique and that we must accept them for who they are, not knock them down or make them feel inferior.