Welcoming families from around the world

I just found out that in two weeks I will be getting a new child in my class from Andorra.  Where in the world is Andorra?  I start doing research so that I can make this child and his family feel welcome. First I look up Andorra on the Department of State website. I find out that it is a tiny country between France and Spain in the Pyrenees Mountains. I find out it is a popular tourist destination due to duty-free shopping and variety of winter sports.  I then do a google search to learn about the culture and costumes of the land.
From the world factbook, I learn that Catalan is the official language though many speak French, Portuguese, and Castillian. The dominant religion is Roman Catholic. This is still just superficial facts, I need more info on what the culture is like. I do an image search to see what the culture is like. The scenery is breathtaking. I print off some of the pictures to make a book to talk to the class about before our new friend arrives. We look up how to say hello in Catalan and practice saying it.  I looked up youtube videos about the culture and life and showed appropriate ones to the class. We also researched the food of the area and talked with the cook about adding some to our menu.
I hope that this preparation will help me make the family feel welcomed and that we are here to partner with them in their child's education. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

My friend Kelly is white and she has six wonderful biracial children.  One day about seven years ago we meet up for lunch. She had two of her children with her who look more like their father than her. We were eating and laughing as one of her children was doing different impressions of famous people. An older man came over and I guess thought that Kelly and I were a couple. He said, "it's a shame that you two are living in sin, but to bring kids into this is a shame, besides they should be with their own kind."  We sat there in shock and then I busted out laughing, at no point did we act like a couple or anything. However, the kids sat there with their heads down, no longer smiling or laughing like earlier. Kelly sent them to the car, and she told me that being told they should be with their own kind is something that they deal with often. I did not know what to do or say.

I felt so sorry for the kids to have to deal with ignorance from adults, I feel angry for adults treating any child this way and heartbroken for Kelly as she does not know what to do or say to help her children cope.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Observing microaggressions this week has been tough since I have been on at home all week. However, we decided to go Black Friday shopping and that changed everything. I went with my mom and took my oldest daughter who is 13 for the first time. We waited in line at Game Stop for over an hour, and as we got ready to leave, a lady came in and asked about one of the consoles they had on sale to a young man who was working. The boy looked to be in his late teens and already overwhelmed by everything going on.  The lady was in her late 30's early 40's with three preteen kids with her. She wanted him to hold a console for her. He told her that he could not do that and he could not guarantee that they would have any left when she returned. She called him a "dumb kid" and threaten to punch him in the face and asked to talk to someone older. The manager came out and told her the same thing. She left at that point.
I felt sorry for this young man and I thought about getting in between him and her and telling her that he was only doing his job. He was not rude or disrespectful in any way and told her the same script that he told everyone else, but she felt that she could disrespect him because he was younger than her.  I think this is an example of micro assault, micro insult, and micro invalidation.  I love that the manager told her the exact same thing that the young man said.  I used this as a teachable moment for my daughter, who says she is never working retail.
Before this experience, I never really thought about younger people being the target of micro aggression just because of their age. It is something to be aware of and watch for.

What is culture and diversity?

When I first started to work on this assignment, I thought, I don't know three people whose culture is different than my own. I started to scroll down my facebook friends list and quickly realized that I know several. The three people that I interviewed are very different. One is a missionary in Paupa New Guine, One is a friend from high school who is transgender, and one is a former coworker who is bi-racial. 
I expected each of them to have a different definition of cultural, but they were all pretty similar. All three said that culture was how a particular group of people lived.  I think this is the definition that we all were taught in school. However, each of them had a different definition of diversity.  Erica, who is a missionary, said that diversity was blending different cultures together. Dannie, the friend from high school said that diversity was the differences in all the cultures.  Rose said that diversity was people of different cultures living near and working with each other. 
Let us discuss culture first. Everyone had the same definition of culture, which is vague, but as I have discussed before, it is difficult to get an exact all-encompassing definition. This definition also does not take into consideration that families and individuals within a particular group can vary. That is why I like Nadiyah Taylor defined culture best by saying, it is "our way of being in the world."  
I think my own definition of diversity is the same as Rose's, however, I think all three are aspects of diversity. It is the differences and the similarities between cultures, and people of different cultures living and working together, and at times blending those cultures together to make a new one. 
The most interesting part of this assignment was seeing how three people who are very different all had the same definition of culture but different definitions of diversity.  Erica is a missionary and her family blends their traditions with that of PNG, and thus her definition.  Danny is transgender, and her definition focuses on differences, Rose is bi-racial and her definition focuses on people living and working together. 

References
Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Family cultures: Dynamic interactions [video file]. Retrieved from http://class.waldenu.edu.

My Family Culture

A catastrophe has hit and I can only take three items that represent my family. What would I take?  The first that I think of is a 4x6 family photo.  My second item would be the Bible that my grandma gave me when I was in high school. The third item is a plaque of all six of our handprints that we hang in the living room. We made this shortly after my husband and I got married to show that we are one family.
How do these show my family culture? Family is very important to me whcih is why  I chose the family photo. I want to remember the happy times, remember how blessed we are to still be together, and remember when my kids were little. I don't know how well my phone would be working, if I still had access to the photos on it, so I want to have a hard copy.   The second item, my Bible, is important to me. This is not the Bible that I currently use, but this is the Bible that my grandma gave me after I was saved.  It reminds me of her, her faith, my faith, and how God will never leave me. The third goes along with the first,  that family is important and it is important for us to remember that no matter what we are a family.
If I was told that I could only keep one, I would be sad to have to give up two of my items, but I know what choice I would make.  The picture and the sign are important, but we can make another. My Bible with a personal message from my grandmother is irreplaceable and depending on the country maybe be illegal and unable to even get another Bible. 
My faith and my family are extremely important to me and this assignment proves that even more.

 my kids and family

my great grandma, my mammaw, mom, and me

When I think of Research

• Why is your simulation important to the field of early childhood?

               My simulation is about what teaching methods are best to use when working with children affected by drug abuse.  This topic is important to the field of early childhood because drug addiction is a growing problem that many faces in our country.  Children are often caught in the middle and are behind their peers, academically, socially, and emotionally.  We need to find effective teaching methods to help these children catch up, learn to cope, and develop executive function and end the cycle of drug abuse. 

• If you were to conduct your simulation proposal, who would benefit

               Teachers, students, social services, and communities would all benefit from this study for the reasons that I stated above. 

• What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this

                       My perceptions have not changed about early childhood professionals. 

Research around the world

For this assignment I chose the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).  From the link I learned  that  some of the research conducted internationally are similar to what is being conducted in the states. In the United States, we hear about leadership training for those in the field and how to get parents more involved.  http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php, I saw several research projects with similar topics.  "Involving fathers in early childhood care and education." "Leadership Skills Training for Administration and Parent Support Training for Caregivers," and "Improving the Quality of Childcare Through Parenting Enrichment and Training of Trainers: The Eritrean Model." I was surprised by the similarities that I found. All around the world people want quality early childhood programs with well trained staff and families that are involved.
 I also found a few that I think are unique to the area that the research is done in.  There are several about utilizing indigenous stories, culture,and knowledge into early childhood programs. I think that this is important for everyone to know their heritage and be able to celebrate their culture and who they are. 


http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php

http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php