Professional Hopes and Goals

I decided to work with children based on the many goals I had of trying to help this world become a better place. Now as I am studying in this field and working with children I have come to realize that changing the world is going to be a true challenge and is going to take a lot of work but I am going to try to give it all I’ve got. I want to make sure that the children that I serve are able to freely express themselves without feeling shy or embarrassed. I want them to feel equal and not feel ashamed of their culture even if it is different. I want them to feel secure in whom they are and help them not to indulge in micro aggressions or any form of hurtful biased behavior. I hope that I teach children to appreciate and learn from one another’s cultural difference and not judge or talk down on another persons differences.

I would also like to set a similar goal for the field of early childhood education. I would like to change our way of thinking when we think of differences. I would like for the world to accept the differences within one another and learn from them. I would like for there to be no more separation in terms of classism, racism or gender differences. I want us to see each other and accept each other for what we are worth and not be judged based on these attributes.

I would like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart to each of my colleagues and a wonderful professor! You have all shared some deep, personal moments and expressed feelings that have been great learning experiences. I have learned so much from this class and really enjoyed the fact that I have been able to release some true feelings that have allowed me to learn a deeper side of myself, and for this I am truly grateful. I can’t believe we are so close to the end of our program! This has been a great experience and thanks to all of you I am walking away from this class with a better understanding of myself and this helps me to be a better educator at the end of the day.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

I am working in a child care center that has children within its program that of similar cultural background. We have a few children that practice varying religious beliefs but for the most part none of our children within my classroom are from another country outside of the United States and most children within my classroom are of the Christian faith. I just received word that we will not be receiving another child from a foreign country that does not practice our religion nor do they even speak our language. As a matter of fact this new child is coming from a country that I do not know anything about, they do not even speak our language. The country this child is coming from is called Nauru and it is a former German Empire colony and another name for this country is Pleasant Island of the South Pacific. Many people of Nauru will need to collect rain water when they have those monsoon rains (which are most popular between November and February) because they do not much natural fresh water. Here are five ways I would prepare myself for this new child into my classroom:

1.)    I would first attempt to research the name of this child’s current residence and his country and find out all I could about culture and get any ideas that can be found on helping this small child to continue and keep in close range with his culture.

2.)    I would find many multicultural materials that are pertaining to this new country that I and my class must soon be use to and getting accustomed. I would find books, picture, and collectibles about the country of Nauru to get my class prepared for this new child’s arrival.

3.)    I would give the children a small lesson on biased behavior and make sure that they do not have any already conjured up reactions or prejudices about the new children soon to enter our program from another country. I would learn a few words of the new country and have the children practice so when the new child arrives the new child can feel welcomed. I would make changes to my current lesson plan so the new child can have some lessons that would help to restore the other children within the classroom.

4.)    I would learn some songs and maybe even a lesson that is familiar with traditions practiced within the other country that my new child would be coming from. I would have the class learn something about the country that the new child came from.

5.)    I would set up a conference for the families of the children within this program so that we can get information first hand on what to expect from these children and their families. I would also give them some background and familiarities about our country so they can begin to adjust and become a little less uncomfortable.

 

I would hope that all of my research and preparation would help the new children and family to get a better understanding of our country and how we learn and teach in America. I would hope that these families would understand that we are a team and we are here to help them to receive the best possible education possible within our borders.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I have a memory of oppressive behavior that happened to a family member and this sticks out very vividly in my mind. She was looking for a job after graduating from college and had a few interviews set up to go on. One morning she received a call from a company that had seemed very interested in her credentials and experience. They stated they had several positions available that they were trying to fill. They stated she had passed the phone interview stage and is now moving on to the face to face interview. They had practically assured her the job based on her qualifications and he recent degree. They scheduled her for an interview and when she arrived they had her waiting for over an hour. No one else was in the office and no other interviews were scheduled for that day so she should not have been there for over an hour. Once she finally got to the back to proceed with her second interview they had explained how the positions have been filled. She went back and forth with the lady for awhile before she finally left. She called later to speak to the person in charge and they were unaware of such behavior and they wanted to interview my family member on the spot. She was not interested in working for such a company but she felt very defeated she told me after the entire incident occurred.

This situation diminished equity because it was apparent that she had the qualifications that were needed for this job. The company was interested in her credentials at first but once they found out that she was a minority they were no longer interested in her skills nor her expertise of the job any longer. The treated her unfairly and unjustly which is not at all acceptable in our modern world.

When my cousin had explained this situation to me it really made me angry as well for a few reasons. First reason this situation made me so angry was because it was just wrong and unfair.  No one should be denied a job when they fit the description and experience needed to have the job except the skin color needed. I was also outraged by this situation because it made her so angry and discouraged. This was her first real experience with job hunting after college and this made her feel defeated. I felt this was unfair and I really felt sad for her by going through this. I explained to her that this is a very unusual occurrence and to not feel discouraged by this situation. She needs to get back on her horse and keep riding it.

In order for this story to end with a higher level of equity the young biased, racist lady that was the office coordinator needs to be stopped in her track before this company has an interaction with the wrong person that is not going to put up with what they are doing and will get them shut down and in big legal trouble. I think the racist attitudes need to be changed.