What I Have Learned

Over these last few weeks, I have really learned a lot about what it means to become an anti-bias educator. I have learned that there is so much that shapes a child and his/her family, everyone that steps foot into our classrooms is unique and so we must constantly reflect and think about what we say, how we do things, and what we are teaching to keep up with and respect the diversity within our classrooms. 

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families from diverse backgrounds is that I can use the knowledge and skills that I have gained from this program and from my colleagues to welcome and embrace all children who step inside my classroom. I have learned a lot over these past few weeks-about society, about education, and about my self-and I hope that I can apply this to support the healthy growth and development of all children, regardless of their backgrounds. In addition, I hope that I can instill the importance of diversity in the children and families that I work with so that a positive message can be passed on.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field is to continue to push for equity,  teach all children that they are wonderful and help push them reach their highest potential. I would like to see the early childhood field continue to grow and support its members by providing training and tools, passing along knowledge and strategies for anti-bias education, and welcoming all families so that we can learn from them. This is not an easy task but if we can all share the knowledge and resources we have gained, then we are making a step in the right direction.

These last eight weeks went by so fast; I can’t believe how far along we are on our journey! I just want to say thank you to my colleagues who have shared their insights and experiences with me. I am grateful for all that you have shared, the knowledge I have gained from you, and the support you have given me. Best wishes to you all, I look forward to seeing you again in the new year!

Start Seeing Diversity: Creating Art

This week we were challenged to create a piece of art that illustrates what we have learned over these past weeks and throughout this program. I chose to write a poem:

As I Start to See Diversity

From the moment we are conceived

We are influenced by the outside and what those around us believe

While we are learning to sit, stand and walk

We are hearing the voices around us talk.

From others’ thoughts, actions and words

Discomforts and biases are taught and heard

We then start school and learn how to read and write our name

But we also learn about others-who is different and who is the same.

We begin watch TV and read books

We may start to see people give us looks

And through this our identities are formed

We learn what is “right” and what is the “norm.”

We may hear that we are worthless or that we are a star

These messages and experiences help shape who we are

We don’t often stop to question what we’ve “known” since birth

Not realizing our internalized oppressions, privileges, and sense of self-worth.

If we don’t take the time to stop, think, and reflect

We don't leave our comfort zone, we are only passing on the messages we unknowingly select

But if we learn to be open and think critically

Then we can learn to value and embrace ourselves and diversity.

The journey we have started is not easy and it is long

But we can find our places and help others belong

We can liberate ourselves and teach our children about diversity, respect, value, and caring

And hopefully one day these will be the messages the whole world is sharing.

Start Seeing Diversity: “You Don’t Need to Say That!”

I have heard many stories from parents about “embarrassing” things that their children have pointed out about other people and in my classroom I’ve had a few curious students ask questions about the diversity that they observe. One story in particular that stands out to me happened about 2 years ago at the preschool I work at. A lady came to visit the 3-year old classroom; she looked as though she was in her early 30s and a large portion of her hair was gray, the rest was black. One of our students, Bea, said “wow, that lady has two-colored hair.” My first response was to nod my head and say “shh” because I did not want to offend the lady. My co-teacher also heard the comment and said “let’s not talk about that now” I think that both of us were at a loss of the correct thing to say; our responses however communicated to Bea that there was something wrong with her observation. She said louder, this time to the visitor “did you know that you have two-colored hair?” My co-teacher said “Bea, you don’t need to say that!” Looking back, I can see that our responses were not the best-but fortunately the lady stepped in.

Our visitor came in front of the class and explained that her hair had started to turn gray when she was in high school and that she could not keep dyeing it so now she had two different shades of hair. Another student piped up and said “but you look like Cruella De Vil!” she smiled and explained that she did have two different colors of hair like Cruella De Vil but she was not like her and that she thought that having black and gray hair was a special part of her.

I was amazed at how the lady handled the situation and my co-teacher and I both thanked her at the end. She told us that she did not mind answering questions and talking about her hair, she knew it was different for people to see and that children were often curious about it; I think that this was really my first lesson in being open about differences and the idea that questions are ok. Hearing this lady’s response made me realize that it is only natural for children to ask questions and that it is our responses that turn the curiosity into a negative experience.

I think that an anti-bias educator would have handled the situation in the way that our visitor did-calmly acknowledge the difference and remind the students that everyone has different colored hair and follow up with a diversity lesson or activity later. It is sometimes hard because the things children say may embarrass us and so our first reaction is to silence them or to tell them that “we don’t say things like that” but this may make the child think that there is something wrong with their observation or the person that they are observing and we are teaching them not to discuss diversity. However, if we learn how to take a deep breath and handle situations and questions matter of factly and with honesty then we are helping support the child’s understanding of diversity and differences.

Start Seeing Diversity: Gender and Sexuality

Two topics related to diversity and identity development in young children that are important to address- but are often not addressed- are gender and sexual orientation. Some people may be uncomfortable about these topics, some may have strong beliefs about the morality of them, and others may not know where to begin, but not addressing them does more harm than good. Young children are aware of the world around them and the messages that it sends, as adults we may often overlook these subtle social messages that children readily pick up on. This past week I paid more attention to things in the media that influence children and was surprised at the number of heterosexist (and/or homophobic) and gender stereotypical messages that they sent.

Most of the books that I picked up at the public library depicted children in a two-parent heterosexual family and while flipping through children’s shows on TV, almost all of the families I saw were made up the same way: a mother, father, and children- all upholding stereotypical gender roles.  Toys and their packaging were a similar story; most toys were gender-specific and advertised as such (dolls for girls, action toys for boys, etc.) in pink and blue packaging. Family games showed pictures of two parents, a mother and father, and their children. I did not see any TV shows or toy/game packaging with same-sex parents and I saw very few library books with diverse families. Children who look at these things are gaining messages-either that their family is not normal and represented (children with same-sex parents) or that their family is normal and right (children with heterosexual parents).

This is really saddening, and worrisome, because there are many children who come from diverse families, which include households of same-sex parents.  For children with same-sex parents, seeing their families represented could help them feel that their families are accepted, and therefore that they are accepted; for children in heterosexual-headed households, seeing other family types can help them become more aware and accepting of other family types. My belief is that as early childhood professionals we need to put our personal beliefs and biases aside to create a welcoming and stable environment that promotes the positive identity development of all children-regardless of their family structure.

Some people believe that early childhood centers should avoid including books that depict gays, lesbians, and same-sex partnered families; this is very upsetting and unfortunate as it is restrictive and excludes quality literature and resources. As early childhood professionals, our goal is to foster healthy development (including identity development) in ALL children; excluding families is sending the message that we are not supportive or accepting of them. If we are including/representing all family types in our classrooms and responding honestly and accurately to children’s questions and comments then we are taking a big step towards promoting tolerance and acceptance and fostering positive identity development in all children. By providing books that depict same-sex partnered parents, we are not teaching sexuality or “promoting” homosexuality, instead we are recognizing that these families exist and are an important part of our community.

Note: This topic is part of the current news here in California; I found this article (Schools must teach more gay, disabled history) earlier this week and thought it was relevant to this topic that we have been discussing! I was extremely disheartened at the comments that objectors were making about this new law, it will be interesting to see when/how it goes into effect.

A Big Thank You!

I cannot believe that we are getting so close to the end of this journey! Each of these classes seem to go by faster and faster…I have learned so much over these past 8 weeks, thanks in part to having such wonderful classmates. Thank you all so much for all of the insights you have shared with me and the support you have given me, I am so thankful to have such amazing colleagues!

Aside from giving my colleagues a big thank you, I wish that the knowledge we gain will help us enrich the lives of the children and families we work with. I hope that the knowledge we have gained will also help us grow professionally and that we can use it and the resources we have found to help us strengthen our programs, foster healthy development in all children, and be successful professionals in our field.

I am looking forward to moving into the specialization courses and hope that I will be in the same classes as many of you and we can continue to share resources, ideas, and knowledge. I would love to keep in touch, you can find me on Facebook or e-mail me through the Walden University class e-mail and I will give you my personal e-mail address.  Best of luck to everyone!!

The Adjourning Phase

Adjourning is the process of saying goodbye, of leaving a group or team of people that you have grown to trust and respect. When we start out in a team, we often don’t know others very well; we go through the introductory or forming stage, and then move on through the other stages of group development (storming, norming, and performing) until it is time for the group to adjourn.

In some situations saying goodbye is easier than others; groups with high-performance and clearly established norms are more difficult to leave than others because they have often made it through all of the stages of group development while some adjourn before really working together. A high-performing group or one with established norms is more likely to have built up trust, respect, and camaraderie with each other-they have worked with each other and therefore may find it harder to adjourn than a group that has not been productive, has been engaged in conflict, or has no trust among its members.

The hardest group that I have left was a group that worked well together-even though our performance wasn’t necessarily the best we became close to each other, had established trust and friendship, and knew and performed our tasks well. We often met outside of our group meeting times and had lunch and discussed things other than our group work; it was fun and we enjoyed each other’s company. This group was a small study group for one of my undergraduate classes-myself and two others-and when the class ended we had a celebratory dinner and vowed to keep in touch. We still talk sometimes but without the bond of the group we are not as close as we once were.

To be honest, I had not really thought about adjourning from this group of colleagues at Walden University and now that I think about it, it makes me sad! I feel that over this past year I have really gotten to know some of my colleagues and enjoy discussing things with them, hearing their perspectives, and receiving their support. When this program is over, I will miss my colleagues even though we have never actually met in person. Hopefully part of our adjourning process will be exchanging contact information because I hope that we will remain in touch and continue to share our ideas and experiences with each other!

I think that adjourning is a necessary stage of teamwork because it gives closure to a project or goal and allows us to move forward. Working with familiar team members is great, but working with new teams and new people can help us grow even more. I think that without the adjourning process we would not really able to do this and so, as sad as it is, we must adjourn and move on. Hopefully we will take what we have learned from our past teams and use these experiences to better our future team/group skills!  

Conflict Resolution

"You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist." – Indira Gandhi

Unfortunately, I experience communication conflicts often with my son’s father (we have been separated since shortly after Jack’s birth); as of now we hardly ever speak to each other and most of our communication is done via email. This saddens me because I wish that we could put our differences aside and focus on what we have that connects us-our son, Jack.

Two strategies that I have learned that have helped me resolve some of the conflicts between us are: (1) knowing when to change the mode of communication-or even leave the conversation for later-and (2) to leave anything that can be perceived as criticism or judgment aside. I have learned that rather than continuing a discussion when he clearly does not agree or want to talk is not effective; now when he shuts down I ask him if he would like to email me or discuss the issue later. This seems to help as it can give us time to think about what we want to say and time for us to cool down and communicate with less anger. The second strategy I found helps me to communicate better with him is to make my statements very neutral and focused on Jack rather than us; I try to stick just to the issue that we are discussing and  try to leave my opinions out and use words that are not accusatory or negative. This strategy also seems to help because I am trying to respect his opinions as Jack’s father rather than putting him on the defense. Ultimately, what I have learned is that I cannot keep going back to what was said or done in the past; I must be able to be open to communicating with him and be willing to accept his perspectives if I want to establish any positive communication interactions with him. Although it has been hard, I have been trying to look at things from his perspective and understand where he is coming from.

Sadly, our communication situation is less than ideal. I would love to be able to discuss parenting issues with him as he does play a role in our son’s life but he has made it clear that he does not wish to talk to me. I am glad to learn about new conflict resolution strategies and nonviolent communication skills but my main problem is how I can effectively communicate with someone who has made it clear he does not want to communicate with me.  I think that this problem can be found in other situations too, including some in the early childhood field such as when parents (or teachers) do not wish to discuss certain topics that may be important…Does anyone have any ideas on how to effectively communicate with someone who does not wish to communicate or who is not reciprocating?

Who Am I as a Communicator?

This week, I evaluated myself as a communicator and then asked two other people (one a family member and one a colleague) to evaluate me as well. I was a little surprised that their results were very similar but I my personal results showed that I feel I have elevated communication anxiety and am moderately verbally aggressive. However, my mother and coworker both said that I had moderate communication anxiety and although their results also said I was moderately verbally aggressive their result numbers were slightly lower than mine. I thought that this was interesting because I feel that when I communicate my emotions show-I think I appear very nervous when speaking publicly and I feel that people know when I am not happy with them. However, the two people I asked to evaluate me did not appear to think so. I think that maybe I am more critical of myself sometimes!  Both my coworker and family member said that I was a people-oriented listener and this is how I evaluated myself as well. I was glad that these results were consistent because I consider myself to be a good listener and am happy that others view me in the same way.

One of the main insights that I learned about communication this week is that whenever we communicate with someone, whether it be verbally or nonverbally, we are presenting ourselves to them. Just as we form perceptions about them, they are forming them about us. I think that this is important to remember as a professional because we want to be effective communicators and respect the children and families that we work with. Another insight that I found to be surprising was that people-oriented listeners can be too trusting of others sometimes. After reading this and thinking about it I realized that this description fit me and that my listening style may influence my perceptions and judgments of others; our listening style is an important part of our communication style and how we perceive ourselves and communicate with others.

Diversity and Communication

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” –Anthony Robbins

Culture and diversity are complex issues that go beyond what we see on the surface. Our culture influences our daily interactions, beliefs, and perceptions of the world-which in turn, influences our communication, including communication styles and nonverbal cues. Throughout our day we encounter many people: our family, neighbors, colleagues, children and their families, store clerks, etc. Although we may share some similarities with some of these people, there is also a lot of diversity, whether it be in ethnicity, religion, politics, sexual orientation, abilities, age, etc.

Thinking about my interactions with the different people I encounter throughout the day made me realize that I do communicate differently with people from different groups and cultures and do not even realize that I am acting differently.

When I am at work, I speak more formally and do not share as much personal information with my colleagues as I do with my friends and family. When I am with my friends I use more slang and we have many shared experiences that we refer to. When I speak to the parents of my students I try to choose my words carefully and smile a lot. When I speak with families who do not speak a lot of English I tend to use more hand gestures to explain things more clearly (although when I think about it now, most of my hand gestures probably do not make much sense!).  Throughout the day I communicate in many different ways without even consciously thinking about them.

I think that I could become a more effective communicator with my colleagues, friends, and families that I work with if I:

1. Use more people-oriented listening skills and try to be a more empathetic listener. I think that this will help me better understand other people and will show them that I care about what they are saying.

2. Watch and listen carefully to those I am communicating with so that I can pick up on any nonverbal cues and the speakers’ communication styles. This can help me accommodate to other speaking styles and help prevent communication failures.

3. Remember that my personal reality and perceptions are not the only ones out there. Even though I may share similarities with some people I interact with, we also have our differences as well. Taking our diversity into account and respecting everyone’s beliefs, opinions, perspectives, and realities will help me be a more respectful communicator and can open my eyes (and ears!) to new opportunities and learning experiences.

Communication In Action

Nonverbal cues are an important part of communication, but they can very easily be misinterpreted. I found this out when I watched a show I had never seen before, “Up All Night,” first without sound and then with sound. I was able to figure out some things with nonverbal cues while watching without sound but others were a bit harder. Here is a bit about my experience:

Without Sound:

-I assumed that two of the main characters were in a romantic relationship because of these nonverbal cues: wedding rings, closeness in proximity (sitting next to each other), touching (hugging, kisses), and sharing a bed.

-I assumed that when the female main character went into work she was meeting with her boss because the other employees appeared to be intimidated by her (quick nods, small smiles, backing away). After the main character sat down, talked on the phone and then spoke with another employee using cues such as raising her eyebrows and putting her hands on her hips I began to think that maybe she was the boss.

-The feelings that I saw expressed through nonverbal cues were: anxiety (shaking of the legs, frowning, using flustered-looking hand gestures), anger (waving hands, frowning, throwing arms up), happiness (smiling, hugging, laughing).

With Sound:

-The show started with the couple waiting for a pregnancy test result and they had appeared to be nervous and anxious; although I assumed that they were married I had thought that they were a newlywed couple. However, when watching with the sound on, I learned that they were celebrating their 7^th wedding anniversary and had been together for a long time.

-When the office scene appeared, I learned that my first assumption about who was boss was correct but that the two female characters were also friends and acted with almost equal authority in the workplace. 

-I had assumed that the female character and male character had their routine established; however, the episode I watched was the female’s first day back at work and the male’s first day as a stay-at-home dad so their routine was actually a new one and they were dealing with the recent changes to their routine.

I think that my assumptions would have been more correct if this was a show that I typically watched because the interactions between the characters would have been easier to interpret; when watching the show with the sound on I was surprised at how far from the plot I was. While I had some of the relationships right, I was wrong about a lot of the contexts and situations. One of my biggest “aha” moments was realizing that I had missed a lot of things because I assumed that the nonverbal behavior would be a substitute for verbal communication but this was a comedy and a lot of the nonverbal cues were sarcastic and had more of a comedic effect when seen with sound. If I watched this show regularly, or even again, I think I would be able to interpret the nonverbal cues a little bit better.

This exercise really opened my eyes to how much importance context and communication are. Just having a glimpse of something with no background knowledge led me to make some assumptions based off of my own perceptions and I learned that nonverbal cues really are ambiguous and can be hard to accurately interpret! 

A Great Communicator

When thinking of someone who is a competent communicator, Maya Angelou was the first person who popped into my head. There are many contexts in which someone can be a competent communicator; Maya Angelou is effective both as a writer and as a speaker.

Maya Angelou not only has powerful writing/poetry, but she is a wonderful speaker. I had the honor of attending an event at which she spoke at and was amazed at her eloquence, confidence, and the beauty of her words.  I think that Maya Angelou is an effective communicator because she understands and uses the power of words, choosing them carefully to send her messages. At the same time, she speaks clearly and confidently; listening to her is amazing.

I am a shy and quiet person, I often fumble trying to find the right word and dread speaking in front of a lot of people… I would love to have the confidence and grace that Maya Angelou does when communicating with others!

Professional Hopes and Goals

When I think about working with children and families from diverse backgrounds, the main hope that I have is that my colleagues and I will be able to build a strong relationship with every family and help all the children we work with reach their full developmental potential. I hope that I will continue to grow as a teacher and practice anti-bias education to help build a strong foundation that will help children embrace diversity and develop positive self-identities.

One goal that I would like to set forth for the early childhood field is for us as educators to continue to grow and work towards bettering ourselves and our field. I would love to see more trainings available, especially ones that focus on diversity issues such as equity and social justice; these topics are so relevant in today’s society and deserve more attention!

I would also like to say thank you to my colleagues for sharing their insights and perspectives, providing support, and helping me grow personally and professionally; I have learned so much from you and am looking forward to continuing this journey and learning more with you! Thank you!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

If I were to welcome a family to my preschool from Iceland, a country that I know nothing about, I would first need to prepare myself and my students so that we could be more receptive and culturally responsive. To do this, I would:

1. Research: I would find out more general information about Iceland, the people living there, the housing, food, religion, and languages spoken to get an idea of what I might expect. I would have to keep in mind that this family may not follow any of these generalities so I cannot make assumptions. However, I think that learning more about the country would give me some background knowledge and sharing what I have learned with my students would be a great way to help them learn more about another country and see that people around the world do things differently and that that’s ok. In addition to this, I would do some research on the deep culture of Iceland, such as the typical gender roles, roles of the child, school system, relationships, and interactions. It would be important for me to keep in mind that the family joining my program may not fit what I read and so I would have to make sure that I didn’t make any preemptive assumptions about them and their ways, beliefs, and values.

2. Learn: I would learn a few essential and basic Icelandic words, such as hello, toilet, hungry, etc. and practice them with my students. Showing the new student and her family that we want to communicate with them and are interested in learning about their language can help get us off to a good start. Learning these words would also help me communicate with the child and better meet her needs.

3. Ask Questions: I would like to set up a conference with the parent(s) to find out more about them, their family, their child, their needs, and their goals for the child. At this point, I could also ask them any questions that I had about their child or culture so that I could better my understanding. Emailing them before they start the preschool could serve as a welcome as well as a way for me to ask them questions and for them to ask me questions and address any concerns.

4. Find Materials: I would try and find some Icelandic children’s music and play it in the classroom for the students to listen to. I would also try to find some books in Icelandic and incorporate them into the classroom library. This could also help the student feel more welcome and give her something familiar as well as something fun for all of the students to learn from and engage in.

5. Use Resources: I know nothing about Iceland nor do I know anyone from Iceland or with any connection to it. However, I would try to locate a local Icelandic group in the community (if there is one) and ask them questions to help better my understanding. Having someone as a resource could help provide me with more information about the deep culture of Iceland and this group/person could also be a resource that I could pass on to the family. 

Ultimately, to be culturally responsive, I must be willing to be flexible and adapt my practices. The child and family may do things completely opposite from what I am used to but doing the above five things can help prepare me or at least open my mind to new ideas and possibilities. Hopefully my effort will make the family feel welcome and willing to share aspects of their culture with me and the class. Being willing to work with the family, learn from them, and incorporate what I have learned into the classroom will not only help them feel valued but will help the child feel welcomed and safe.   

Side Note: After thinking about this assignment and realizing that I know absolutely nothing about Iceland, I was actually curious to find out more about the Icelandic culture and I ended up learning some interesting things after skimming through some information on Iceland.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

My parents are not religious and did not take me and my siblings to church but encouraged us to decide for ourselves what we believed in. However, I grew up in a predominately Catholic community and almost all of my friends attended church and religious events. As a child, I just thought that I was different because I did not go to these things with them and did not give it much thought. This changed when I was around 5 and one of my best friends began telling me some of the things that her and her family believed in, such as Heaven and Hell. I told her that I did not know about this and she was surprised but we kept playing. The next day when I knocked on her door, her mom answered and said that she could not play with me. She then stepped outside and told me that my family and I were going to burn in Hell unless we started attending church. I was scared and could not say anything back. She looked at me one last time and said, “My child cannot play with a sinner like you,” walked inside and closed the door. At the time, being so young, I did not really understand what she was saying or what she meant but I was terrified. I did not want my family to burn, I did not want to be a sinner, and I wanted to play with my friend. Unfortunately, this was not the last time that I had a negative experience when someone found out that I am agnostic.

The main feeling that I had when I experienced this as a child was confusion; I did not understand how someone could be so mean to me and tell me that my family would burn in Hell. As I grew older, I was sad when people would make assumptions about me when they found out that I was not religious. Most of the time it is easy to not discuss my religious beliefs and a lot of times this is not an issue for me. I respect other people’s religions; I bow my head when others pray, I smile when people say “God bless you,” but I do sometimes feel as though I am on the outside and am offended when people try to push their religions on me. When I was pregnant, a lady on the street stopped me and after talking to her for a few minutes about my pregnancy, she asked me if she could pray with me. I told her no thank you and she grabbed my hand and asked why I didn’t want to pray for my baby. I told her I am not religious and she quickly grabbed me, put her hands on my stomach and began to pray that my baby could be saved from my sins, then told me that I should change my sinful ways and save my child. While this may seem harmless, it was very offensive and demeaning to me; nobody should be told that their way of living is wrong and needs to be changed just because they are different.

Incidents such as these diminish equity because nobody deserves to be thought of as less of a person because they do not share the same views as somebody else. I have accepted the fact that I live in a society where my religious views are not the norm and that my calendar is organized around this, but I do not accept people trying to push their views on me. To me, this is demeaning because I am not less of a person than anyone else is because of my private, religious beliefs. In order for greater equity to occur, people need to be more tolerant and accepting of other’s religious views; it saddens me when I hear about people targeted for their religious beliefs and that violence that occurs over differences in religion. My experiences with people's biases and prejudices against my religious views have taught me to be more open minded about others; because of this I have friends from many different religions and love that we all have different ways of looking at life. I believe that religion is something personal and individual so we cannot make broad assumptions about people based on what they do or do not believe in-nor should we think of them as anything less if their views differ than our own. Learning about others, accepting that people all have different beliefs, values, and opinions, and not only tolerating this but respecting it as well is the only way that we can work to achieve equity. Hopefully teaching this to the children that we work with will help shape the next generation to be more accepting and respectful of everyone.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Over this past week, I have kept an open ear out for microaggressions. Unfortunately, I heard more than I had guessed I would and often times had to stop and think “did that person really just say that?!” The microaggressions I heard covered a wide range of things: race, gender, sexuality, and religion. The one that I would like to share here happened this week at the center I work at.

My colleagues and I had walked the children over to the playground and as soon as we got there they began to run excitedly over to the play structure. The janitor happened to be standing nearby and remarked to the (Hispanic) mother who had just walked up “hey is your kid legal?” the mother replied “sorry?” and he said “you know, is she a citizen…this is how they run down at the border. I would bet that half of these guys are illegals and yours looks like she’s had a lot of recent practice…maybe that’s how she came to school today!” The janitor laughed at his “joke” and walked away; the mother stood there, seemingly unsure of what to say.

This scenario is an example of a microassualt and microinsult. The janitor not only questioned the child’s citizenship based on her ethnicity but racially stereotyped her family. Although he was “joking” and thought that his comment was funny, the mother of the child appeared to be hurt and unsure of what to say; fortunately, the child appeared to not have heard the comment.

Living so close to the international border between the US and Mexico (less than 10 miles north), a lot of the microaggressions I heard had a lot to do with ethnicity and citizenship. One thing that I noticed was that microassaults occurred even between people of the same ethnicity (mainly over issues of citizenship and immigration status); I even heard people of the same ethnicity using derogatory racial/immigration slurs to each other. In the above scenario, the janitor and the mother were both Hispanic but he held power over her as he was able to question her family’s citizenship and immigration status.

When I heard this microaggression, I was uncomfortable and did not really know how to react. On the one hand, it could seem easy to pretend as if I had never heard it; but not only would that make me uncomfortable, that is just perpetuating the cycle and I want the mother and child to feel welcome at the center and know that we do not share the same beliefs and stereotypes that the janitor insinuated. On the other hand, knowing the janitor, I feel that if he was confronted he would dismiss his comment as a joke, and even possibly feel that it was ok to say it because they are of the same ethnicity, therefore engaging in a microinvalidation. My solution was to approach the mother and apologize for his insensitive comment and later approach my director to remark on what had happened.  

After listening carefully to what people are saying, the main thing that came to my mind was that sometimes microaggressions can be so subtle or brief that we may not even acknowledge them until it’s too late. I observed that in most cases the speaker was using a friendly, even joking, tone and continued on without even missing a beat. I am wondering how many microaggressions I may have missed; learning about microaggressions and their effects has taught me to think about how my questions and comments to others come across and to think about what the consequences may be. 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

From asking one simple question “What is your definition of culture and diversity?” I received some really interesting answers from the people I asked. I chose people who differ from me in some aspects: age, ethnicity, religion, marital status, and class. Here are the answers that I received:

Elizabeth: “I think that culture is the traditions and customs of the people you are surrounded by do. For most people, that would mean the traditions and customs of their family but if you don’t grow up around your family then it would just be the people you are around. Diversity to me is the cultural differences between people, so it would be differences in traditions and customs.”

Bree: “Culture is the attitudes, customs, traditions, and beliefs that are widely held throughout a society or nation. Some things could be types of food, ways of dress, and common ideas. Diversity in regard to humanity would be when people from different cultures are grouped together in a single society. Instead of all members of a community or nation having the same culture, different cultures would live alongside one another.”

Allison: “I would say that culture is created by the shared experience of a group. The group could be connected to identity with a certain ethnicity, nationality, religion, social group, etc. Cultures usually center around certain traditions and values that all members of the group consider important. These may include symbols of unity through dress or common linguistic phrases. I would say that diversity is positive differences between people. These may come in the form of race, language, culture, ethnicity, nationality, religion, social class, gender, sexuality, background experience, and opinions.”

The people I asked included aspects of surface culture such as food, clothing, and customs and related their answers to family and society, leaving out some aspects of deep culture such as housing arrangements, intergenerational interactions, extended family relationships, roles, migration, and work . However, I was pleasantly surprised at the answers I received and I the people that I asked this question actually followed their responses with their thoughts on why diversity is important. Reflecting upon how others views diversity gave me some new insights into my understanding of culture and diversity as well, mainly that there are many ways to look at a single thing-everyone has his/her own unique perspectives based on their individual culture and experiences. Hearing different but similar answers for one question was a good illustration of diversity in itself; we are diverse in the ways that we think and the perspectives that we have, I liked how one of my respondents even included differences in opinion in her definition of diversity!

My Family Culture

Although imagining that a major catastrophe has devastated the infrastructure of my home country and my family and I must leave to a foreign country is almost unimaginable to me, this may be a reality for many families and children worldwide, including those who are seeking political asylum or are refugees. Imagining that I would have to live somewhere else for an unknown amount of time, possibly permanently, would raise many fears and uncertainties in me.

My son, Jack, sleeping
with my baby blanket (July 2011)

Imagining that on top of this I can only take three possessions with me is difficult.  After much thought I decided that I would take my mother’s recipe box, a family photo album, and my baby blanket. My mother’s recipe box contains recipes from her and both of my grandmothers; it is something that would allow me to preserve a part of my culture and family. Bringing a photo album of my family would help me keep my memories and show my son and future generations their relatives and images from my home country. My baby blanket holds sentimental value to me as my grandmother made it for me when I was born and it is something that I have kept over the years as a comfort and can now pass on to my son.

If after all this, I was told that I could only keep one item, I would be faced with a difficult decision. I do not know what I would choose because these three items all have different significance and meanings to me. The first item, the recipe box, is a way to maintain my culture and what I am familiar with; the second item, a family photo album, is a way to preserve memories and family; and the third item, my baby blanket, is a sentimental comfort item with ties to my family. Thinking about my possessions and what I would chose to bring made me realize that some of the most important things are not necessarily valuable or useful  objects but rather things that are sentimental and I feel connected to; many of my possessions could be replaced but these three could not. Leaving one or more behind would not only be sad but would feel like having to choose which part of me was the least important.

After imagining this scenario, I realize how fortunate I am to be in my home country with my family possessions and culture around me. I can’t imagine the choices that families have to make when moving to a new country along with the other difficulties they face (learning a new language and culture, finding their way around, etc.) all while trying to hold onto their culture/family culture  and succeed in the new country at the same time. One thing that came to mind was that even if I brought these things and tried to hold on to my culture, it may not be passed on if my son chose to assimilate and lose the language and values I have taught him. This made me realize how important it is for us to help respect and preserve the cultures that we see in our classrooms; teaching children to value their own background and family can help create a safe and welcoming space that embraces all the children and families we work with as well as helping preserve and honor their cultural ties and backgrounds. 

When I Think of Research...

Before this, I never really thought about research as something that I would be particularly interested in. I knew that research is important to the field of early childhood- we can learn so much from it-but I did not know how it worked, I had always assumed that it had a lot to do with analyzing data and crunching numbers…I did not even really think of how exactly it was conducted or that there are so many different approaches to it! Now I know that there is so much more to research than that; I have gained new insights on research and the process behind it. I learned that there are many different types of research studies and methods to choose from, many different ways to approach a research question/topic, and many different types of data and ways to collect it. Ultimately, I learned that research is actually really interesting and I have gained a new appreciation for it!

I was surprised at how complex the process of doing research is. My previous beliefs about how research is done have changed as I now know what is involved in the process. I knew that there were some things that needed to be planned for-such as resources, participants, and location-but there were many more that I did not know of-such as validity, sampling, and equity challenges.  One thing that I learned was that research does not always involve a hypothesis and that sometimes it can be open-ended. Even if the research study does not have a hypothesis or the hypothesis is proven wrong, we are still gaining valuable information.

The main lesson that I learned about research is that it is important to choose a design that best fits the research question. You can have a good research question but without a good research design the research may fall apart. Careful planning will help the researcher choose the best design and methods to use and will make conducting the research feasible.

The main challenge that I encountered while learning about research was the new terminology. It was a little hard for me to wrap my head around some of the terms and it took time for me to figure out what the independent and dependent variables were- I had to go over them again and again! To overcome this challenge, I utilized resources, mainly the articles by Lepuschitz (2011) and Mac Naughton et al.’s Doing Early Childhood Research.

My perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of studying research; I have gained a new respect and understanding for the research area of this field. Typically when I think of the early childhood field, I think of educators, directors, advocates, etc., but researchers provide the backbone for the field-from them we gain new strategies, techniques, and information. 

I have enjoyed learning about research and it was made much more fun and easier thanks to my colleagues who have shared their knowledge, opinions, and insights with me. Thank you so much, I am looking forward to learning more with you! 

Research Around the World

Looking at research done internationally is really beneficial to learning about research in general. You can see what topics other researchers in other regions are focusing on, what methods they are using and what their current research issues and ideas are. There also may be opportunities for collaboration and gaining new insights from an international perspective. This week, I looked at the Early Childhood Australia website, http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/.

The Early Childhood Australia website has a section on their Research in Practice (RIP) Series. This is a resource for early childhood professionals and parents and it looks as though it has a lot of useful information. Unfortunately, the books in the RIP Series (and most of the articles in the journals) were not available for free-you need to be a subscriber or purchase the books/journals individually. Browsing through the index, I saw that some of the topics covered include diversity, coping with change, communication and relationships with families, aggression, and overall well-being in children.

The website also had a link for the Every Child Magazine as well. I was pleased to see that there were sample articles available and after browsing through this section I found some really interesting information and articles. Some of the topics in this section include supporting bilingual learners, social-emotional development, legal issues in early childhood care, ethics, and health.

I noticed that many of these topics on the Early Childhood Australia website similar to ones that early childhood professionals here in the US look at too. There were some topics that I have not heard much about here, such as indigenous issues and males in the early childhood profession. I thought that these sounded pretty interesting; overall this website had a wide variety of international research topics!

I gained some new insight into different early childhood topics that I have not really focused on before. Browsing through this website and reading some of the available articles gave me new information on a wide range of topics. I was surprised at the focus that Early Childhood Australia has on diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion-there were many articles on these topics in different sections of the website. It seems as though a lot of the current research is based on indigenous issues and the inclusion of Aboriginal children and families. I also thought it was noteworthy that there was a “statement of regret and commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families” in the position statement section; this seems to tie in with the focus that Early Childhood Australia has on diversity and indigenous issues. 

Looking at this international research website was very informative. Although a lot of the research and topics can be generalized to children worldwide, there were some sections in particular that are solely for Australia. To me, this was really interesting because it gave me an idea of what some of the early childhood issues unique to Australia are and an idea of the Early Childhood Australia’s perspectives. Overall, I enjoyed looking at the Early Childhood Australia website and am happy to have a new international research resource to add to my collection of resources!

Research That Benefits Children and Families

If I had the means and knowledge to conduct research studies about any topic in the early childhood field, I would choose to look into diagnosing and working with children who have learning “disorders” or difficulties. Today, many children are quickly diagnosed with a “learning disorder” such as ADHD and given medication as a treatment. I would love to be able to look into this topic and see what answers research could provide. Maybe there are different techniques that parents and teachers could use rather than medication, maybe certain behaviors are present from a young age and early intervention could help. A long term study could show the consequences-both negative and positive-from medications that are associated with and used to “treat” children with learning difficulties. It would also be interesting to find out if there is a more effective process that could be used in diagnosing learning difficulties from an early age so that appropriate supports and resources can be provided to the child and family and so that misdiagnoses do not occur.

 I think that research such as this would be beneficial to children, families and educators because it could help develop new strategies to enhance and support a young child's development and educational experiences. Other positive benefits could include new knowledge about learning difficulties and the best strategies for working with them, effective supports and resources, and appropriate interventions that could help foster positive development in the child and help them succeed in an educational setting.

My Personal Research Journey

I am excited about doing a research simulation in these upcoming weeks; I know little about research and the processes behind it so this will definitely be a learning experience! After much thought, I narrowed down my topic of imitation/modeling behavior in children to a few subtopics. The one that I chose to focus on for my research simulation is the role that gender plays in what children imitate and model. Are young girls more likely to model behavior from a female adult? Are boys more likely to imitate other boys? Do boys and girls choose different types of behavior to model? Or does gender not even play a role in what children choose to imitate? This subject is really intriguing to me and I have a lot of questions about it!

I chose this topic because for two reasons. First, I am interested in it from a professional perspective. The early childhood field is heavily dominated by females; does this influence what children in early childhood settings imitate? Secondly, I am interested in this from a personal perspective. I have an 18-month old son and am raising him as a single mom; he imitates and models behavior that he sees me do. Would he imitate the same things if he had a male to choose to model behavior from?

The simulation process so far has been interesting. It has been a little bit difficult to understand and take information from research articles, but I am slowly beginning to understand the language and presentation better. I have realized that I have to read certain paragraphs of research articles multiple times to grasp the meaning, but hopefully once I have a better understanding I will be able to tackle it more efficiently! Having a research chart has been helpful because I have come across a lot of new vocabulary; it helps me to have a concrete visual aid that I can build upon.

Research is such an important part of the early childhood field; I expect that I will gain a lot from taking the time to understand and learn about the research process. If anyone has any insights into the research process or the topic of gender and imitation, let me know, I would love to hear some new ideas and perspectives! One website that I came across that has a lot of credible research on a wide number of topics is from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), http://nieer.org/, hopefully this resource will be beneficial to someone else too! 

Impact of Having International Resources

Over these past few weeks I have really enjoyed learning about the early childhood field from a global perspective; studying the ISSA website and talking with Jerneja, my contact in Slovenia. Having these resources enriched my professional development and gave me new insights into the early childhood field. 

For me, the three main consequences of learning about the international early childhood field have been:

1. Gaining new resources. To be an effective professional in this field, you need a wide range of knowledge. Today’s world is very interconnected and we have to learn about and respect others if we want to promote healthy development for all children. Learning about the international early childhood field not only expanded my knowledge on global issues that affect children and their families, but gave me new resources to draw upon.

2. Learning about the issues, trends, and challenges early childhood professionals in other countries are facing. Studying the ISSA website and talking with Jerneja opened my eyes to issues and challenges that others are facing-and also how they are overcoming them. Sometimes I take for granted the resources we have here, I complain about the budget cuts and lack of resources, but looking at the early childhood field from a global perspective and realizing that others may have even less to work with has been really motivating. Seeing how they work with their resources and overcome their challenges have been great examples and have given me ideas and inspiration.

3. Developing an awareness of the international early childhood community and the resources others use. Not only have I gained new resources, but I have an awareness for the international early childhood community and international organizations that promote the well-being of children and families worldwide. We can learn so much from others if we keep an open mind, and knowing that I can communicate with someone from another country or read about a initiative in another region is wonderful. I now have a sense of how strong the EC community is and I have gained more confidence from discussing early childhood issues and trends with a professional outside the US. I surprised at how many international organizations for the field of early childhood there are and my awareness of this field at an international level has increased-and this is a large community of professionals with great ideas, opinions, advice, and perspectives that they are willing to share!

Overall, I think that one goal for the early childhood field in relation to international awareness of issues and trends should be to have more collaboration, workshops, newsletters, and shared resources between countries and programs. The organization of ISSA is an international organization (made up of 29 nongovernmental organizations in Central/Eastern Europe) and is a great example of what can be done when resources are pooled together and shared. The ISSA Newsletter highlights different issues and trends from the different countries it works with and holds conferences and workshops in different countries that ISSA members attend to discuss current issues, trends, and promote collaboration. If the early childhood field adopted more strategies like these, organizations from different countries could help each other, share resources, and collaborate on ways to promote healthy development of children worldwide and provide high quality services for all. 

ECE Issues in Slovenia

I have been talking to Jerneja, my contact in Slovenia, about the issues and challenges that early childhood educators are facing where she lives. Her responses were very interesting and I wanted to share them here. According to Jerneja, the main two challenges that Slovenia’s early childhood education system faces are (1) the lack of spaces for children in early childhood programs and (2) the inclusion of Roma children.

1. Jerneja told me that Slovenia has recently been through what she calls a “baby boom” and as a result there are many young children and families in need of childcare. In addition to the “baby boom,” there “is a state law that every second, third etc. child from the same family has a free pre-school service (no monthly fees have to be paid)” (personal communication, April 10, 2011), which also places a strain on the system financially. Jerneja says that this issue has been going on for a few years but is becoming more challenging although the government is working on it. She says that she hopes it will be resolved soon because many children and families are being turned away from preschools and educators have larger class sizes.

2. Jerneja says that the other main challenge Slovenia is facing is the full inclusion of Roma children and their families because they currently have “low representation” in early childhood programs. She says that this has also been a challenge that Slovenia has faced for some time but “our Centre is currently involved in a project, which is co-financed by Ministry of Education and Sport and by European Social Fund. The main goal of this project is to include Roma children and their families in pre-school programs from the very beginning” (personal communication, April 10, 2011).  She said that she is glad to be a part of this project because she thinks that it is important for children and families to have access to quality programs from birth. (For more information on the Roma: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_(Romani_subgroup).)

Jerneja also told me that ISSA provides many training and professional growth opportunities for early childhood educators in Slovenia. She says that ISSA is working on expanding- there are currently 35 centers implementing ISSA practices in Slovenia (personal communication, April 10, 2011)- and sharing resources with other programs in the area in hopes that children and families have more access to high quality programs; this is Jerneja’s hope as well.

It has been very interesting talking to Jerneja; I have learned a lot of information about a place that I have never been to over these past few weeks! It amazes me that we are so far apart but still have similar issues, challenges, and hopes for the future.

Sharing Web Resources: ISSA & Equity

This week I did a little more exploring on the ISSA website. First, I looked under the Events section and followed some links about the past ISSA conferences. The one that I found most interesting was the link to the Riga 2010 International Conference, Embracing Inclusive Approaches for Children and Youth with Special Education Needs. This was a conference held by Division of International Special Education and Services/USA (DISES), the Council for Exceptional Children/USA (CEC), the Center for Education Initiatives/Latvia (CEI) and the International Step by Step Association. When I followed the link, it directed me to a section of the Council of Exceptional Children’s website and I found information about the conference and select power point presentations from the speakers. In addition to this, the website had more information about professional development, news and issues about special education, and policy/advocacy information…another great resource to bookmark!

Going back to the ISSA website, I searched another area of the website that I have not really paid too much attention too and found some more really interesting information. Clicking on the ISSA Bookstore link takes you to a section about ISSA’s Reading Corner Initiative. This ISSA initiative is designed to provide information about high-quality children’s literature and reading to parents and educators. I thought it was really neat because all of the books promoted here are from one of the 26 countries ISSA works with, are available in all the languages spoken in those countries, and can be downloaded and used by parents and educators. Overall, I just thought that this was a really great way to promote literacy and provide high quality books and materials to children and their families.

Lastly, I read another article this week from the Winter 2010-2011 ISSA Newsletter. The article that I read this week, “ISSA and Partners Work to Improve Access to Quality Early Education Provisions in Rural Kazakhstan” is really relevant to the discussion that we have been having on equity and excellence. The article discussed a current project in Kazakhstan “Civil Society Partnership for Rural Children.” This project aims “to support every child’s right to quality education by developing models of child-centered, cost-effective early education services in rural areas in partnership with parents, local educational institutions, and municipal governments” (ISSA, 2010-2011). We have been talking about how many children and families do not have access to high quality early childhood education and what can be done to eliminate the barriers to awareness, access, and responsiveness. ISSA and its partners are working in Kazakhstan to eliminate these barriers by working with and empowering local communities, establishing high quality programs in rural areas (including teacher and parent classes/training),  and developing other outreach programs.

For more information about Kazakhstan from UNICEF: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/kazakhstan.html

This week gave me some new insights into global issues of equity and excellence as well as other issues in the early childhood field. I learned what steps other countries and organizations are taking to reduce inequities and promote excellence and high quality programs. I also gained some new information from looking at the power point presentations from the Riga 2010 International Conference and what the countries involved in this conference are doing to promote inclusion of all the children in their areas. From exploring the ISSA website and its links this week, I saw many issues are surrounding the field of early childhood and what professionals in this field are doing to address them. I think what I really gained this week was a sense of how the international community of early childhood educators is working towards promoting positive child development and sharing information and resources with each other.

References:

ISSA. Winter 2010-2011. “ISSA and Partners Work to Improve Access to Quality Early Education Provisions in Rural Kazakhstan.” Retrieved from ISSA Newsletter: http://www.issa.nl/newsletter/10/winter/network5.html.