Professional Hope and Goals

I hope that I continue to be open minded and free from biases when I am working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds.  I also hope that I am sensitive to the individual needs of each family and do what I can to help them.

A goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to better educate their professionals in these areas.  If all adults who worked with children and families were aware of and sensitive to diversity, equity, and social justice issues, it would help families and children become more comfortable in the school setting. 

I would like to say thank you to all of my classmates for a wonderful eight weeks.  I have learned so much from the discussion posts and blogs.  The topics and issues that were covered in this course have taught me lessons that I will carry with me forever.  Thank you to everyone for giving me new perspectives and ideas.  

Welcoming Families From Around the World

I teach kindergarten and am getting a student from Germany in my room next week.  I will do whatever I can to prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards the child and her family. 

1. I will research Germany to find out how their schools are different and similar to ours, what the family structure is like, what traditions, holidays, customs, and food are significant. 
2. I will try to learn a few key words in German, example: bathroom, backpack, food, water; in order to help my new student adjust and become comfortable in her new learning environment.
3. I will speak to the students in my class and teach them a little about Germany.  I will also show them ways to communicate with her even if she does not understand English. 
4. I will try to find some children’s book in German to have them in the classroom to help her feel at home.
5. I will speak to the family (if they do not speak English, I will have a questionnaire in their native language) and ask them about their child, her past school experience, interests, and any other information they can give me.  I will also ask them to share what their hopes and dreams are for their daughter and what they hope she will get out of her school experience. 

I hope by taking these steps it will make the transition for the little girl and her family a little easier.  I hope it will show the parents that I want them to be an important part of their child’s education and that school is a warm, inviting place where parents and educators work together for the benefit of the child. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

An incident with prejudice I personally encountered is after I married my husband (who is black) and we were still working at the same school, a black co-worker of ours said to me, “You are another white woman taking our good black men away.”  I did not know how to respond, I was just a woman who married the man I loved, our skin color should not matter.  She continued to be rude to me throughout the rest of my time working there, all because of who I married. 

This incident is still something that hurts me to this day.  I had never been anything but nice to this woman and had worked with her for years and we were always very friendly.  My husband and I were always very professional at work.  In fact, we dated for an entire year while we were working together and no one knew.  Her comment made me feel like I thought I was better than her because of who I married, which is the furthest from the truth. 

I am not sure what would have to change for this incident to be an opportunity for greater equity.  I suppose if my co-worker had more of an open mind and viewed us as equals, it would have helped.  I also feel that maybe I could have responded in a way that provoked some healthy conversation about her feelings.