Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Over the course of this week I learned about microaggressions and I am guilty of having done this as well as been a victim of it.  I have also witnessed my friends and colleagues use microaggressive behaviors.  Just this week an early childcare operator who I am working with stated that she did not want to deal with a specific parent because she is young and feels like she is getting over on her when it comes to child care services.  As Dr. Sue pointed out in this week’s webcast, “The perpetrator of a microaggression experience themselves as good, moral, decent individuals. And that makes it very difficult for them to understand that, in some way, they have made a statement, engaged in a behavior that has been offensive and reveals some bias or stereotyping on their part.” (Laureate, 2011)   While I think that the childcare operator meant no real harm she is stereotyping this parent because she is a young girl and views her as someone irresponsible.  While this mother provides everything that is stated her child needs while in care, has a job, and takes care of her child to the best her ability the operator still finds fault in the parent. 

As an early childcare professional and being in the business for over 25 years I have learned to work with people and to develop a working relationship with families and other professionals that is understanding and supportive.  While this is the operator’s first sole child care business, she is very new in the art of building workable relationships.  After she made her comments on the young parent, I asked her why did she chose to get in to child care and what made her open up a child care business?  Her response was not what I thought it would be.  I was looking for her to say because I love/like children.  She said that she wanted to own her own business and not work for someone else anymore as well as have something her children to take over.  After me looking at her for a moment in silence I had to say that you have gotten into this business for the wrong reasons.  But now that you have you have to build bridges with your families and the community you serve that is workable and“…there has to be a sense of interconnectedness with all of humanity.” (Laureate, 2011)  As a child care operator you have to be empathic to your parent’s needs and having the position of “…we have to view leadership as supportive of intergroup harmony and intergroup relationships, free of bias and stereotyping.” (Laureate, 2011) 

This week I have saw that I need to treat people the way in which I wish to be treated.  I have learned that it is not just what is said but what is unsaid that could present a discriminatory, prejudice, or stereotypic view.  I try to teach my personal and early learning children both to not judge people but to get to know a person.  But I do realize that this is a difficult task due to “cultural conditioning processes is that none of us are immune from inheriting the racial biases of our forebears.” (Laureate, 2011) But I believe that if we teach a better generation then the last these things can be overcome.  “I think if you look at the democratic ideals of this society, what you see is that we all believe in inclusion, in respect, in equal access and opportunities.” (Laureate, 2011)

 

 

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer).  (2011). Microaggressions in Everyday Life. 

[Webcast].  Baltimore, MD: Author.

 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

 

In order to gain a different perspective on diversity and culture I asked a friend, Monica Wilkins, and two early childhood colleagues what their definition or understanding of what culture and diversity means to them.   Monica Wilkins is a store manager and comes from a diverse family where her grandfather was white and her grandmother was black.  My first colleague, Denean Cameron, is an early childhood business owner who worked at the local Jewish Community Center prior to opening her program.  Ms. Cameron is a breast cancer survivor as well as a student at Walden University.  The other colleague, Ms. Drukeenu Nolan, is a new to the early childhood field but was in foster care during her formative years.  When I initially asked each person to tell me what their definition or understanding of culture and diversity they had to think about it and asked me to allow them time to think on it.  After about an hour I received the following interpretations on culture and diversity. 

Monica stated she could not think of a definition or way to interpret what culture is to her but she did say diversity  is the, “execution of different genres.” (Greene, 2013)  Denean states culture to be, “what I believe in and where I come from and diversity as “respect & understanding of someone’s difference such as religion, race, sexuality, and gender.” (Greene, 2013)  Drukeenu stated culture to her is, “a way of living and beliefs and diversity as different cultures blending together.”  (Greene, 2013)   I can say that no answer that any of them gave is far from what I understand culture to be.  The best definition I have seen and heard for culture would be Nadiyah Taylor for the webcast cast from week 2.  Nadiyah said culture is, “almost like a pair of glasses.  You know, the gestures that we make, how we make eye contact or don't make eye contact, the way we hold our bodies, how we perceive the world, all of those things for me are cultural, and so I think it's really just our way of being in the world and very personal.” (Laureate, 2011)   

I think that my friend and colleagues all have an idea of what culture and diversity is. I think they did have difficulty explaining or expressing what culture and diversity is because I believe they do not think or give any thought to either.  What I told each of them is to take a moment and think about the people you socialize with.  And asked them, is there some things you do with some friends that you would not do with another?  Why is that?  I had them understand that is the diversity and culture that is the underlining reason for that.  We respect them for their beliefs and practices despite the differences we all share.

Culture and diversity are the dynamics of a person.  It is the embodiment of what a makes a person an individual.  A person’s individual culture can be diverse because of the generations and experiences that have come before, things of the present, and those yet to come. 

 

References

Greene, Q. (2013).  A Conversation with Monica Wilkins, DruKeenu Nolan, & Denean Cameron. 

            Baltimore, MD

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer).  (2010). Family Cultures: Dynamic Interactions

           [Webcast].  Baltimore, MD: Author.

My Family Culture

The last major catastrophe event that I can think of that would have caused a great threat to my country was the attack on the White House, Twin Towers, Camp David, and Pentagon.  If this threat had been carried completely out I would have had to possible had to relocate my entire family because I don't live to far from Camp David.  If I had to relocate it would not only be devastating but also difficult.  Difficult because everything you have is important and serves a purpose.  If I have to relocate from my home and was instructed that spacing was limited to three personal items I would have no problem choosing.  In relocating the three items I would take with me would be a picture of my mother, my father, and the Bible my mother had kept in a fire proof box and is a treasure to my entire family.  Both of my parent’s pictures sit on my living room table.  I would take these items because both of my parents are deceased, my mother passed away in 2002 and my father passed away in 2011 and played an important role in making me who I am as well as my children’s life.  The Bible would have to come because it is a treasured instrument to my family. 

If I was told that I could not take all three of my items with me and had to pick one I don’t know what I would do.  I would have to choose to stay behind.  If that was not an option, I would have to choose the family Bible.  If I could I would take my parents pictures out of their frames and stick them into the Bible.   I could not part with the treasured family Bible but at the same token I do not want to leave to only pictures I have of my parents either. 

When I Think of Research...

When I saw the title of this course I thought I was doomed.  I thought I was doomed because of my past experience in researching and writing research papers.  As I started this course I thought I knew a lot about research and how to conduct and construct a research paper.  I also thought about how much I did not like researching, having to read so many different resources, or having to construct a working paper that would fit what the instructor was looking for, expected, and showed my full understanding. 

As this course started I must admit that my anxiety got the best of me and cause me to not do too well in the beginning.  I reached out to a couple of classmates for help for understanding as well as the instructor.  And I thank you all for that.  As well as all my fellow classmates for your input, words of encouragement and thoughts on all subject matters throughout this course.  As the weeks went on I began to take more time to understand by reading one day, thinking another day and writing the third.  While I am a good writer under pressure, clearly that did not work in this course and I had to put in a time management plan in order to get through this course successfully.

I must say that I am glad I stayed the course and completed this class and am empowered with more knowledge about research then I had when I first started this class.  Had no ideas that a good research study is comprised of so many different components.  I also learned about the different strategies used in recording and conducting research in an effort to get the best results.   Most importantly I learned about quantitative and qualitative research designs.    

As a result of completing this course and all assignments I have to say that as a early childhood professional I have a new outlook when it comes to looking at studies.  While I still do not care to conduct research I do have a respect for researchers because of the time and work they put in to have a study that is well-rounded and informative.  I will read research studies and take from them the idea of gaining insight into how the information can suit my area of work.

Research Around the World

In looking through all of the international early childhood websites, the one that I found quite interesting was European Early Childhood Education Research Association or EECERA for short.   This website contained a lot of information in reference to the early childhood world in European states that could influence or by utilized in United States early childhood programs. 

This website is divided into several sub-categories which provide information about membership, conferences, links & partners, county coordinators, Special Interest Groups, officers of the Association, new events, and journals.  What I found to be the most interesting to me was the Special Interest Group section of the website.  This was of interest to me because it is a cross-national venture of individuals that come together with a common experience, knowledge, or education of a topic or issue. “These collaborations can be simply for dialogue and deliberation or have a particular focus such as a research bid or an intended publication.” (EECERA, 2012)  

As I explored the journal section of the website there were some research topics that were informative and useful for any educator.  Some articles within the journal talked about things that could affect a child’s phonological awareness, views transitioning disadvantaged children from preschool to primary school, comparison of two townships of how South African children transition to 1^st grade,  a cultural variations comparison between teachers in Budapest, Hungary and American teachers, a doctoral study conducted in western Sydney on three playgroups supporting a diverse group of parents, and the use of Wenger’s situated theory of learning on 35 early childhood professionals in 15 early childhood setting to get their perspective on early childhood professionalization.

A few things that I considered to be noteworthy would be that fact that the new events section was not available for review.  I think that does the website a dis-service because educators, advocates, parents, and other professionals interesting in the websites activities are not going to be able to access the information.  Another thing that one should know about is that the Journal of EECERA is publicized only four times a year, is currently in its 18^th year of publication and considered a leader in the field worldwide.  And the final thing that I thing everyone should know about the articles in the Journal is that they are in translated into three languages: English, French, German, and Spanish.

 

 

Reference

European Early Childhood Education Research Association. (2012). European Early Childhood Education Research Journal.  Retreived from www.eecera.org/

European Early Childhood Education Research Association. (2013). European Early Childhood Education Research Journal,  21(1). Retreived from www.tandfonline.com/toc/recr20/21/1

Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

I must say this topic is one that was very difficult for me to think on. I believe it was six or seven years ago as I worked as a licensing specialist, there was a new project under development that offered programs in the summer an opportunity to operate outside of their licensed capacity for school age children only.  While to me the specific program was not new but it was something new to incorporate within child care programs.  As a Licensing Specialist I saw many problems this could present when it can to supervision, health and safety of children in care.  

This new project was to have programs formatted to serve more school age children in a structured environment.  So across the Maryland region 20 programs were selected and monitored from the effectiveness of this program.  As a result of the study, the project was adopted for all early child care programs to enroll in that served school age children.  What this change meant was that capacity restrictions were removed just in school age rooms only, staff qualification were also not looked at they only needed to have current and proper first aid/cpr for the children they were in charge of, and they had to register to have their program approved and pay for a summer camp certificate which had to be renewed every year. 

Of course with any program there are pros and cons.  The con with this project was that it did not ensure the staff working with the children had the proper skills and knowledge to engage the children in their care that is fun but at the same time educational, challenging, and developmental appropriate.  Let alone there be enough room for all the children they will have in the program in an effort to prevent injuries and overcrowding.  The real pro I see in this project is the fact that they will serve more school age children.  This gives the children an opportunity to be involved in activities with children their own age that will be stimulating.  Especially with families having to work children will not be left home alone getting into trouble or playing video games all day.

I can say that to this day many early child care programs are utilizing the project while some think the cost of the certificate is too expensive and opt out of the program.  But I have tried to explain to programs that the certificate will pay for itself and then some because of the number of additional children they will enroll for the summer.

Personal Research Journey

The topic of interest to me was funding in the early childhood field.  In narrowing this topic down I asked the following questions?  How can access to funding improve the quality of services provided? When funding is readily available, how can early childhood programs use the funding? And finally, what types of funding opportunities are available to early childhood programs? 

I chose this topic because it is a problem that many programs deal with.  Having enough money to buy supplies, pay qualified, quality staff, and have child care tuition that is affordable is something that is of importance is any early child care program but locating funding sources is a major concern.  As I have worked in the early childhood field over that past 25 years I know personal several programs that suffer from the lack of funding thus forcing them to go out of business.  I think when programs are equipped with enough funding they are able to supply the services to children and their families.

As early childhood professionals, what resources have you explored, dealt with, or received money from in order to improve a child care program you worked with?  Do you have any referrals or contacts that you you would recommend to me that I could pass along to the provider community as an avenue to acquire funding for their program?  What insight can you give me in my quest of researching funding for early childhood programs?