Professional Hopes and Goals

My hope in working with families and children from diverse backgrounds is to always remember the value their differences add to the world. Everyone has worth and should be treated with respect.

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is for teachers, administrators and other professionals to be offered consistent training and hands-on ways to use the information they receive in daily activities.

This course has challenged my thinking both personally and professionally.  The discussions were invaluable in that they allowed me to be exposed to different ways of thinking.  The diversity profile acted as a working journal. Enabling me to describe and empower myself with adjectives.  Writing these adjectives somehow made me think about them and give affirmation to my thoughts.

I thoroughly enjoyed discussions with my colleagues and Dr. Williams.  The professional and personal insights given were helpful in understanding the course material.  Thank you all for sharing information that I will be able to use in my career and everyday life.

With each completed class I feel I am building relationships and resources for the future. Good luck to everyone in fulfilling your educational goals.   

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The new family I will prepare to receive in my childcare center is from South Korea. Some ways I plan to be culturally responsive towards this family are as follows:

I would research South Korea to find out something about the country.  Learning about where the family is from would allow me to find out some differences and similarities of our countries. 

The second way to prepare for my new family is to learn how to pronounce their names.  I believe this to be most important because your name is a part of your family culture.  I want to be respectful towards the family and make an effort to help them feel I am making an effort to establish a good relationship. 

The third way to prepare is to learn a few words in their language. Being able to say hello and welcome them with a smile will make the introduction less stressful.  I have seen first hand how language can be a barrier or a bridge to communication.

Fourthly, I would learn how they prefer to be greeted.  It is important to know whether they prefer a handshake, whether eye contact will be an issue or who is greeted first, the father or mother.

Lastly, I would find someone in the center or community who had experience with families and children from South Korea.  I think our communities have a wealth of experience that we can tap into.  This South Korean contact could be used for me as well as for the family to have contact personally in the future.  

I believe preparing for the family will help ease transition in the child care center as well as the community.  This preparation will show the family they are important to us and we want them to be a part of the center.  Finally, preparation will assist me as an educator to get a good start in establishing and maintaining a good relationship with the family.

  

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The Miss America pageant started out as a bathing suit contest and has evolved into the largest scholarship provider for women.  A question that should be considered is why does this competition still include a swim suit competition? It seems as times have changed the pageant has remained the same.  The pageant has been criticized as being stagnant, sexist and outdated. In spite of the scholarship opportunities, in my opinion, the women who participate in this pageant victims of sexism and in some cases racial prejudice. 
They are objectified by having to look a certain way and have a certain body type.  These beautiful women have to have the perfect hair and make-up to be appealing to those who are judging them.  I believe these women can compete for the scholarships without having to look like barbie dolls and wear swim suits.  I don't believe any man would have to expose themselves as much as these women do.  

The winner of Miss America 2013, Nina Davuluri, was the first title holder of Indian American descent was mistakenly thought to be of Middle Eastern origin.  She is also an aspiring physician from New York.  After the announcement, there were immediate racist jokes on twitter and other social media.  Vanessa Williams, the first African American Miss America, reached out to her in support.  Ms. Williams also went through a tumultuous time due to her race after she won. 

I believe future pageants should not include swimsuit competitions.  Women should not have to be sexual objects in order to win scholarships. Ms. Davuluri's platform is "Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competency."  This is a social media campaign to promote multiculturalism and civil discourse.  This platform will contribute to educating people about the issues of inequity, racism and sexism.