Professional Hopes and Dreams

One hope that I have when working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is to always be culturally aware, competent, and sensitive. I hope to become more prepared to teach children from different backgrounds. 

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to help families teach children about prejudice and discrimination. Also, create opportunities for our children to interact and make friends with people who are different from them. 

I would like to thank each of my colleagues for contributing to my learning throughout this course. Thank you all for sharing your insights and knowledge on the blogs and in discussions. It has been a pleasure working with everyone. I would like to wish you all the best in this course and in future courses as well. Wishing you continued success!!! 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

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 my family’s country of origin is Asia. 

The five ways in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family is by (1) learning familiar words in my family’s language (2) becoming familiar with and including the cultural traditions of my family in the classroom (3) adding classroom visuals reflecting my family’s culture (4) incorporating books that reflect their culture and (5) integrating their art, games, and music into the classroom activities. 

These preparations will benefit me and the family in many ways. There will be an ongoing process of learning for me and the family. Becoming familiar with and including the cultural traditions of the family will help me learn about my Asian family and their history. The family will have opportunities to participate in their child’s education and also have opportunities to share ideas and stories. These preparations will help me meet the needs of and be culturally responsive to my families and their children.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I have witnessed prejudice many times. There was one occasion when I witnessed a Caucasian woman not wanting to sit next to a Hispanic woman on the tour bus. There were many people on the bus and there were just enough seats available for everyone. The Caucasian lady was standing up on the bus and the Hispanic lady told her that she could sit with her, but the Caucasian woman told her that she was okay. The Caucasian woman stood for almost an hour and we could tell she was tired of standing so someone suggested that she should go sit down but she refused to do so. Come to find out, the Caucasian woman told many people at the front of the tour bus that she did not like Hispanic people. The reasons she gave for not liking Hispanics was because they were immigrants coming into our country to take over, they should not have the same rights that we have, and they smelled.

This incident of prejudice diminishes equity by the Caucasian woman judging the Hispanic woman because of her race. She is not treating the Hispanic woman and other Hispanics fairly because of her beliefs that they are in the United States to take over. She thinks that they should not have the same opportunities that we have because they are immigrants.

This incident brings back memories of when my husband, friends, and I were waiting for the elevator to come down. A Caucasian couple was waiting also. When the elevator came down they did not want to get on with us even though they saw that there was more than enough room. They wanted to wait until another elevator came down because they did not want to get on with us because we were African-Americans. This incident had me upset for a long time.

In order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity I think that the Caucasian woman will need to change her attitude about Hispanics. She needs to gain an understanding that all Hispanics, and other races, should be treated fairly regardless their race and despite what she thinks about them. She should have sat next to the Hispanic woman on the bus, conversed with her, and learned something about her and her culture.