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.
Monique,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your honesty about your hope. I think that if we are honest with ourselves, we all have a great deal of growing to do in relation to people's cultures.
I also agree with you about the importance of this topic for all early childhood professionals. It was not available when I went to college. I am grateful for the self-reflection that I have had in this course so that I can be more sensitive to all children and families in our program.
I have enjoyed working with you in this class and wish you only the best as you continue your quest towards a Master's Degree. I hope that our paths will cross again.
Monique,
ReplyDeleteI liked your posting, and I agreed with what you said about the quality of early childhood educators. We are responsible for the child's development in their early stages, which will be crucial for their future development. I also agree that we should try to keep their home cultures as much as we can in school to make children to be a whole. Thank you so much for sharing.
The goal you posted was powerful! Often times, we focus on getting the job done, teaching our students things they need to learn, and fail to remember that we must also help strengthen who the child is individually and culturally. Understanding children's culture and what makes each one of them unique is an important part of our job as early childhood professionals. Thank you for being honest and open about yourself. I believe you are not alone in what you described as your insensitivity toward children from other cultures. Thankfully this course has equipped us with the proper tools to help overcome this attitude and embrace children and families from other cultures.
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