Communication

I just had the privilege of listening to Gary Eagleton who is a consultant for Ruby K.Payne for "Bridges Out of Poverty". He spoke on the issue of poverty and how communities can help others get out from under the trenches of poverty.

I felt he was an effective speaker because he knew how to engage the audience by walking over to participants and asking them point blank questions using their first names, roaming around the room connecting with everyone, smiling, using strong voice, and telling personal stories that help relate and connect the audience to the topic. He came across as knowledgeable and credible because of his educational background and life experiences.

I would like to model my own behavior after him because I think that other adults get so much more out of a speaker that engages his audience and helps them connect to the topic by using relevant personal narratives. Also, it keeps their minds from wandering off the topic. However, some of his confidence comes from experience which can only come in time.

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have in regards to working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that I will treat all families with respect and make an effort to understand their own family culture and to make them feel they are vital and unique to their community. Just as Seifert said, "seek first to understand, then to be understood"(2007).

One goal that I have related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that I can be an advocate to help educate others in my family, community, and professional life about the consequences of microaggressions and "isms" and teach them why change is necessary.

I want to take this time to thank all of my collegues for their comments and discussions with me both at the discussion board and in the blogs. I have gained much insight and with your help I feel as though I have begun my long journey towards change.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

My family will be coming from the country of Mali. To prepare to be culturally responsive to the family I will:

1. Gather information such as community organizations and other resources that will both teach me background informatiom on their country and give them resources of support to help them transition.

2. Learn key words from their home language to help the family feel more welcome and comfortable, as well as to foster a familiar environment for the child and let the family know that I will value and work to keep the home language alive in the classroom.

3. Learn about their customs, practices, and religion

4. find an interpreter who can accompany me on their initial visit to make them feel welcome and comfortable so that there are no language barriers.

5. Having an interpreter will allow me to find out more about their family culture such as gender roles, role of children, intergenerational relationships, and interdependence as well as strengths and challenges they might bring to the program.

Over all I hope these preparations will strengthen the parent/teacher relationship as well as foster a culturally positive classroom environment.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I have recently witnessed the bias and prejudice of my neices fiance. My niece who is white announced that she and her boyfriend who is african american are getting married next month. This is something totally new to my family since the only ethnic person is my sister in law who is a Native American. Her parents were in total shock at first because inter racial marriage is against their belief so they attempted to cut her off. When that did not work they realized that they did not want to lose her so they are making an attempt to get to know Toney. In the meantime, I have heard comments from family members like he is the typical black male who was not raised with a father, he is lazy and does not have any ambition, he is only marrying her because black men believe that white women are a prize like a trophy, I hope he is not abusive to her, she is going to lead a rough life. I am totally embarrassed that members of my own family would make stereotypical comments such as these and I almost did not share them.

This incident diminishes equity because Toney was not even given a chance. He was pre judged based on the assumptions and prejudices of others who have never even been that close to someone with a diverse ethnicity. He was not initially treated like an individual.

As I mentioned before, I was embarrassed by such comments and I hope that I can try and educate my family to help them make a change in their attitude. Maybe this marriage will be a new start for change. Initially I had some uncomfortable feelings about it because of how I was raised, but thankfully after what I have learned through this course, I was able to look at the relationship differently.

The ones who will need to change in order to turn this incident into opportunity for greater equity is the one who has experienced the pain of prejudice or the ones who observe inequities and want to advocate for change like my neice and her fiance and me. If those who are being oppressed wait for the oppressors to change, then equity will be more difficult.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week I only noticed one micro-aggression at work and that was when some staff members were discussing the hiring of a new coworker. One of my co-workers made the comment that the only criteria she had for the new employee is that she was not old. This was offensive to me because all of my co-workers are in their twenties and early thirties so "old" to them is probably my age. I hear comments like that all the time and it makes me feel hurt and angry that they would judge someone by their age, and that maybe they so not see me as a viable employee because I am a middle age woman.

While reflecting on micro aggressions this week I was able to learn that they happen more often than we think and in many forms and settings. Thinking on my own experiences gave me a glimps of how it might feel to be discriminated against although some forms of prejudice I will never be able to experience. However, they can make me more aware of my own words and actions toward others.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I spoke with my co-worker Sam who is Mexican, one Early Childhood home visitor Raquel who is Columbian, and my brother-in-law Roy who is European. When I asked Sam about what her definition of Culture was she said it is your surroundings, what has brought you to who you are, and your actions. I then asked her what diversity meant to her and she said that diversity is found within a culture, it is not just about race but is about the region.

I asked Raquel what her definition of culture was and she said it is family differences; some do not talk much, some do not share their feelings openly, it is about how they discipline, traditions, food, language, lifestyle, independence, interdependence, values, and immunizations. Her definition of diversity is how people are different, their color, language, and their teaching of values.

Roy said culture was a persons ethnicity and foods.
To him, diversity meant differences that are accepted of others; just a way of life.

The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied which are included in the answers I received are foods, language, migration, values, and showing emotion.
The aspects that have been omitted in my answers are holidays, artifacts, costumes, family relationships, work, housing arrangements, community connections, intergenerational relationships, ideas about education, recreation, health care, role of children, religion, gender roles, and historic events.

Talking to others about their definition of culture and diversity has given me a broader view of the words as well as reiterated what the text has shown as definitions. It has made me think about areas of culture that I had not thought about like interdependence; when a family spoon feeds their children until they are around 5 years old or so.

Like Roy, I too had originally thought culture was just about ethnicity, food, holidays, and costumes. I now know that there are many more aspects that are involved in defining culture and diversity.

My Family Culture

If I were to be evacuated to another country and I could only take three items with me that would be tough. I really do not have too many "things" that would represent my culture that I would find important enough to take.

Most of the things that I hold dear are not physical things, but traditions, my beliefs, practices and my religion. They are with you no matter where you are. One of the most important things to me would be my family, and they would already be going with me. So, if I had to choose 3 things I would choose my Bible, extended/current family pictures, and a cross necklace that my husband got me. I really do not have anything from my mother or extended family that has been passed down.

My Bible would be important to me because it is apart of my heritage and it would be important for me to pass that on to my children. My Great Grandparents came to the United States as Russian/Mennonite immigrants looking for Religious/political freedom. My grandfather was a Mennonite but he married my grandma who was not apart of the society that he grew up in, so that generation is basically where the way of life started to die off. Most of the traditions got lost because my grandmother refused to learn the German language so my mother was only taught a few words from her father. We still have some of the traditional foods on the holidays but that is mostly as far as it goes.

The pictures speak for themselves because I would want to remember the faces and have memories of my family and the things we did together. The necklace would be important because it was a special gift and it represents two relationships that are important to me.

If I were told I could only keep one item It would make me feel like a part of my only heritage was being stripped away. It would be difficult to leave two of the items but I would definitely keep the Bible because it means the most to me.

Insights I have gained about myself include realizing that my family culture is less about "things" and more about what I stand for and believe about my heritage. These are the things that I pass on to my children and they can not be taken away. I also found out that my family culture is not that strong in passing down tangible items but the focus is more on tradition and spiritual aspects. I have also learned how difficult and scary it must be for families who are here as first generation immigrants. They should be able to hang on to their culture of origin.