Professional Hopes and Goals

This is my last blog post for the course, Perspectives on Diversity and Equity.



One hope that I have when working with children and families from diverse backgrounds is to learn as much as I can about their diversities, while showing compassion.



One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice would be for each person in the field to do everything possible to make the world more equitable and socially just. We can do this through education and also through learning more about diversity in the world. 



I would like to say thank you to my colleagues. I have learned so much from reading the discussion posts and the blogs. The most important thing that I will take away from this course in regards to my colleagues is the experiences that they have gone through. I have learned so much from these experiences. My colleagues come from diverse backgrounds and I thank each and every one of you for sharing private parts of your lives and your experiences with me. I wish you the best of luck in your future courses and careers.

I also want to thank Dr. Morgan for all of his insight and information he has provided for me. I have a much deeper understanding of myself, my bias's, and diversity because of you. I enjoyed your questions on the discussions because it really gave me time to challenge myself and reflect about my feelings and thoughts. Thank you.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

If a family from another country were to come to an early childhood classroom that I worked in, I would want them to feel as welcomed as any other family that has a child in the classroom. So I imagine... what if a family just moved here from Iceland, how would I make them feel welcome? How could I prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards the family?

Five ways in which I would prepare myself:

1. I would read as much as I could about the cultures of Iceland.

2. I would begin making contacts with teachers in Iceland to understand what the early childhood education is like in Iceland.

3. I would send a getting to know you questionare and I would meet with them to get to know the family better. I will make every effort to express to this family that I may not know everything about their culture, so if they find that the classroom or staff are missing an important point, to let me know.

4. I would ask the family to spend a day in the classroom with their child. After, I would initiate a conversation in which they compare our classroom to the one that they are used to in Iceland. This will help me to understand areas about their culture that are different than the culture in our classroom.

5. I could talk to other centers and schools in the United States that have children from Iceland to find out what ways worked for them.

I hope that these preparations will benefit the family and make them feel welcome. If I understand more about their culture, I can be more respectful of their culture. The preparations will help me because the child will have a smoother transition.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression



Unfortunately, prejudice still occurs on a daily basis. I recall a parent sharing a story with me about her son who is black, who was called racial names during school. This was very upsetting to the child. This child and other children who go to school and are victims of racism do not have the same equity in their education, as other children who do not have to deal with racism. The child has to go to school in fear that they will be called names or even worse, harmed due to their race.

I get angry when I hear of these incidents. It reminds me of times when I was picked on for being Jewish.
When this occurs in a school setting and the administrators find out about the incident, it is a good teaching moment. This incident can be turned into not only a teaching moment, but an opportunity to find ways to make school more equitable for all races. When incidents like this occur, it helps to open up the doors of communication and hopefully then, change will come.