Professional Hopes and Goals

When I think of working with families who come from diverse backgrounds my greatest hope is to offer them the best opportunity to succeed as possible without losing their culture. This class has shown me how insensitive I have been to children from other cultures. While I really respect their differences I think I have not embraced who they are and wanted them to conform to the dominant culture. My hope is to offer these students the same great education and allow their culture to shine through. 

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is more awareness about these issues. The education requirement for a childcare professional is not very high in most states. Some places only require a high school diploma. This does not put too many teachers in classes like these to encourage their growth and knowledge on this matter. It is important that every educator gets the rude awakening that I received about diversity and how to incorporate it in the classroom. 

Through the last 8 weeks I have had the pleasure to learn more about diversity not only from our instructor but from my colleagues as well. Thank you for sharing your personal stories and experiences. Thank you for your insight and responses to my posts that help make me a better educator. I appreciate you all and wish you the best in all your future endeavors. 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

My family’s country would be the Philippines. 

If I had a family come to my childcare center from the Philippines, I would do as much as I could to prepare. First I would find out their native language. There are different dialects in the Philippines so it would be helpful to know which one they spoke.  I would try to learn some basic words so that I can communicate with the family. I would also keep my iphone close because I have an app that can translate for me if I need assistance. 

I would also look into the foods they eat. I would try to offer foods that are more familiar so that the child will still eat. They may not be interested in trying some of our food as yet and I don’t believe it should be forced on her. I would also have the other students in her class try what she is eating so that their plates do not look different from hers and she does not feel singled out. 

I would look to see what religion the family practices. This way when holiday’s come around we can celebrate her’s as well. We want to expose all the children to different cultures so this would be a great experience for the entire class. 

I would also like to know what some traditional clothing looks like. While I am aware that for the most part the people of the Philippines dress like we do here in the states, I know that there are some traditional garbs that are worn for celebrations. These items can become apart of our dramatic play center so that she see’s her culture throughout the day. 

Lastly I would look into family structure for those in the Philippines. Some cultures do not just have the parents and children in the home. Some cultures embrace grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins at home. I would like to be aware of this so we can talk about the different people in her home and definitely have pictures of them in the classroom for her to see. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

Several years ago, I had a friend who was going through a hard time. I wanted to make this friend feel better so I went to buy him a card from Hallmark. The Hallmark store I went to was in the new neighborhood my mother recently moved to. This was a different side of town for us. This side of town was predominantly Caucasian. The Hallmark was in a small shopping center. This shopping center looked like one that receives the same customers time and time again. There were two people working in this Hallmark at the time. One was a young lady around my age (18) at the time, and the other was an older lady, approximately in her 60’s. Both ladies were Caucasian. As I walked through looking at cards I noticed the older lady on every aisle that I was on. She did a great job at making herself look busy so I did not think too much of it. Once I found my card and a few other items, I made my way to the register. The older lady reluctantly took me since the younger employee was busy with another customer. I put the cards on the counter as I looked in my purse for money to pay with. When I tried to hand her my money she lightly tapped on the counter, confused I said here you go and she made no effort to take the money. The younger employee was now finished with her customer and was watching from her register. I placed the money on the counter realizing that she was not going to take the money from my hand. She took the money off of the counter and proceeded with the transaction. I put my hand out to receive my change. Sadly she went around my hand and threw the money on the counter looking at me with the meanest look ever. I had never been so humiliated in my life. I realized the she was refusing to have direct contact with me because I am black. She did everything in her power to make me feel inferior. I looked her back in her eye and told her that she needed to prepare herself for the future. I was not the last black person she would encounter and her actions need to change before she meets someone who will take this disrespect to another level. Before I could make it to my car the younger cashier had chased me to the car and with tears in her eyes apologized from the bottom of her heart. “She does this all the time” she said “she does not like people like you and it’s just not right. I am so sorry, we are not all like her.” I hugged the young lady and proceeded to get in my car. 

This lady followed me around the store as if I were a criminal. She watched me to see if I would steal cards that cost no more than $2.00 a piece. She belittled me by refusing to touch anything directly from my hand and refused to engage in conversation with me. These actions all diminish equity. I was made to feel like I was not good enough to shop there. Her actions were a horrible representation of  Hallmark as a brand. She would have to change her attitude and behavior for equity to be restored. Because of her behavior I never returned to that store.