Effective Communication

As I think about those who I believe demonstrate competent communication, my all time favorite is Oprah Winfrey.  It is a long standing joke with my relatives that I wanted to go see the Oprah show in Chicago. It never happened. Oprah was in South Africa several months ago so I told everyone now I will finally have the chance.  Guess what? It didn't happen.  The tickets were sold out in a matter of minutes. I could not believe it.  

Anyway, Oprah exudes confidence when she speaks.  Her inquisitive tone of voice gives me the feeling she really wants to hear what others are saying. Oprah also uses eye contact when speaking. Some other behaviors that make her effective are her ability to show empathy, nodding in acceptance as others speak, her enunciation and her ability to put people at ease.

One behavior I would especially like to model is being able to put people at ease when I am communicating. Because of my background in case management, a lot of my communication seems to be about getting answers.  Often times the rhythm of the communication is uncomfortable.

Believe it or not, I am able to see previous shows of Oprah here. Even though they are years out of date, I still enjoy them. 

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.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

One microaggression I have recently observed was one that was intentional racism.  My children and I were in the local supermarket.  All of the workers in the market are black Africans. To put this statement into context, there are black Africans and white Africans. The white Africans are aware that black Africans are able to speak many languages.  However, white Africans either speak English or Afrikaans. There was some miscommunication between the cashier and the person (white African) in front of us. The white African pretended to speak another language.  However, this language was made up.  The white African spoke in a loud, aggressive and condescending tone as to embarrass the cashier. The cashier simply lowered her eyes in a subservient manner and raised her hand to call the manager. It was obvious the white African was attempting to degrade the cashier by mocking her language and showing no respect for her.

Experiencing this microaggression made me angry.  At the same time, I felt sad for the cashier.  I could not understand why someone would intentionally hurt someone else’s feelings. I could tell my children were uncomfortable as well.  

I can easily understand how the effects of microaggressions can have a lasting, detrimental effect on someone.  Practicing awareness of microaggressions has become a priority for me. Understanding the reason for my emotions of my observation made it easy to have compassion for the cashier.  Additionally, I have been in situations where I was the one not being understood so I can genuinely understand how the cashier felt.

After we left the supermarket, I was proud to hear that my children knew this behavior was wrong.  It was a proud moment when I was able to explain to them why it was wrong and how important it is to treat people with respect.

Having experienced and observed microaggressions, along with having some understanding of what they are, will assist me in being a proficient early childhood professional.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

When asking various people about their perspectives on diversity and culture, I received a variety of answers and examples.  Some descriptions of culture and diversity that were mentioned that I have studied in this course are:  race, religion, where they are from and language.  For example, the South Africans I spoke with about culture, felt a strong connection to which province (region) they were from and their native tongue.  There are 11 official languages in South Africa.  Most Black South Africans can speak all the languages due to living in Johannesburg which is considered the “melting pot.”  They have accepted others despite their differences.

One aspect of culture and diversity which we have not studied is caste.  I learned you are born into this status and can only marry someone from the same background.  Furthermore, there are many biases related to this system that are accepted by people.

During this exercise I learned even though people may share some of the same traits in their cultures, no assumptions should be made.  It is important to get to know people and their views regarding their way of life. Additionally, the same characteristics such as religion, can mean different things to different people.

Establishing good relationships and maintaining open communication is key to learning about culture and diversity in the families we serve.  Also, no matter where you are from, we all want the same thing, respect for who we are.

My Family Culture

The three most important things I would take with me after a major catastrophe would be my bible, a family portrait and my phone. 

I would explain to the others what my items meant by telling them my bible serves as a source of inspiration and instruction in good and bad times.  My family is my support system and I would like to keep them close thus the photograph. I would take my phone to call other relatives to let them know them know we were alright.  I could possibly use some of my apps to help with any language differences.

If I were told I had to give up 2 of the 3 items, I would be OK with that.  My family is most important to me and the other things are simply extra.

I have experience with adapting to new and different environments.  By currently living in a developing country, you quickly learn what is important and what is not.  What I learned from this assignment is I had a reaction to the part of the assignment that mentioned might having to stay in this location permanently.  Since I am accustomed to moving on a fairly regular basis, the prospect of permanency is unknown and makes me a bit apprehensive.  This apprehension is something I may need to explore further.