I see London, I see France…

The country of origin for my visiting family is France. In order to prepare for their visit, I would take the time to learn about their culture by researching the following and putting different methods into practice:

• Learn about their family culture and what traditions are valued
• Learn and practice saying common phrases in their language (hello, goodbye, what is wrong, etc)
• Reach out to the parents and introduce myself in a variety of ways, allowing them to feel comfortable leaving their child with me
• Assign different buddies each day so the student can become familiar with routines and other classmates. This will also ease them into their new environment, as opposed to trying to adjust all at once to a new classroom, unfamiliar territory and other classmates and teachers
• Finally, I would make sure that their country is well represented in the classroom literature, even if it’s something as small as hanging their flag. Creating that sense of positive relations and interactions will help them to feel at ease and that their culture is respected

These practices will prove to build a positive rapport between me, as educator, and the family thus providing a supportive environment in which they can trust that I will do the best for their child and subsequently, for them.

 

Recognizing Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

You want to believe that everyone has a kind heart, that everyone is aware of how their words or forms of expression may hurt others, that everyone is on the same page and wants to be on equal terms. But that is not always the case. Sometimes people do things intentionally and as much as you don’t want to believe it, the truth is that there are some hurtful people in this society who don’t like others simply based on something as simple as their background or color of their skin.

It would be so easy to complete this assignment on the pink elephant in the room-the current Presidential election and the fact that since Barack Obama started his campaign, he has been beleaguered by offenses based on his race and not his record. But, because that is too easy, I’m choosing to focus instead on an incident that happened at my job this week.

A non-profit organization came into the school this week to do a beautifying project and part of this project was to paint murals on the walls of the cafeteria, depicting our neighborhood, our students’ own artwork and the culture of our school. One of the murals that one of the artists painted was that of the number 7 train in Queens and depicted the neighborhood in that manner next to a picture of animals (giraffes, lions, monkeys, etc) with a caption underneath that, which read Africa. Underneath both pictures was the word JUNGLES and another subtitle that said “Exploring the different jungles of the world”. Sure, it’s easy to argue that the artist meant no ill will or harm to anyone, but as an African-American looking at that mural, I couldn’t help but to feel uneasy. And if I felt uneasy, how could I expect my African-American students to feel, as well? How could I expect my African-American staff to feel? The ironic part is that this was brought to my atention by a White coworker. I had to make an executive decision and my decision was to have the artist paint over the mural.

I can’t continue to go through my life, professional or personal, believing that someone meant no harm because there will inevitably be a time when there was intent and by allowing it to happen or continue, I am acknowledging that they feel dominant over me, for whatever reason (African-American, female, etc). I have to speak up because there are others who may not and if by speaking up, I learn that it was not intentional, it was not done maliciously, at least I know I have fostered and developed a small investigation into the other person’s acknowledgement of privilege in this society.

 

Observing microaggressions

So, over the course of this week, I found myself listening and waiting to observe microaggressions in everyday life. What actually wound up happening is that I discovered more while watching television than in my everyday life, because I was sick in bed all week! The hardest part now is trying to determine which instance of a microaggression I should blog about because there were so many. From Survivor to ABC primetime show, Last Resort to The View, there were many instances that I took note of.

I think the best example would be the incident I witnessed on the season premiere of the television show, Survivor. Members of one tribe were discussing who to vote off the island. The group consisted of 3 white players (2 female, 1 male), 1 africcan-american male and 1 african-american female. The white male was talking to the white female about the african-american female as they observed her speaking to the african-american male further off in the distance. The white male said “Oh, she’s gettin gangsta now.” I immediately stopped and thought what a great example this was of a microaggression. It speaks to the stereotype of the African-American female being “the angry Black woman”. When he said the comment of her ‘gettin gangsta’, he changed his vernacular to sound like a Black rapper using slang.

This microaggression is a prime example of racial and gender microagression. Maybe in so many ways, he didn’t necessarily know or realize that what he was doing could be deemed insulting of offensive, yet it shows the prominent dominance of the White culture over everything minority. I’ve noticed a lot with certain reality-type game shows that microaggressions play a big part in determining who stays, who goes, who wins, who loses. The game show aspect in and of itself is a competitive environment, so taking scenarios of dominance from the “real world” proves to exacerbate the competition more.

 

 

My three items..

This is a hard topic to blog about, as I think about what 3 items I would bring with me to represent my culture. Imagining the scenario as a refugee with my family, I would have to make the decision-do I bring items that represent the American culture or items that represent my African-American culture? And as I think more about what I would bring to represent my African-American culture, I have a hard time thinking of items that effectively characterize the culture without perpetuating a stereotype or inadvertently misrepresenting the culture.

So, I have decided to bring:

• A copy of the transcript of President Barack Obama’s first inaugaural speech (As this was a defining moment in history and especially African-American history, I would want to bring this with me to show the other country how important this is to me. More so, I would want it to represent my African-American culture, to demonstrate that we are educated and we can and do have power, despite how much the dominant culture tries to take it away or disregard it.)
• The entire DVD collection of The Cosby Show, A Different World and Martin. This counts as one item simply because they are portraying the same concept. I would want to show the host country that we, as a people, are successful, brilliant, talented, educated and passionate. Since these are 3 of my favorite shows that show my demographic in a positive and real way, I would want to expose them to this, rather than the alternative “reality” shows that have arisen in the past few years.
• Fianlly, I would bring my Bible. Even though many feel that the Christian religion was something that was also forced upon us by the dominant culture, we cannot deny that in times of struggle, we as a group, rely on faith and scripture and that religion to get us through tough times. Bringing my Bible would show the host country more about my faith and hopefully open the door to learn more about their faith. It would also help me and my family to get through this difficult time of transition.

If upon arrival, I was told that I could only keep one item, it would be my Bible. I would feel strongly connected to my Bible as it is the same Bible I’ve had since I was a little girl and aside from the verses and the scriptures, there are numerous mementos and trinkets in there to keep me grounded and remind me of special people and times.

 

It all boils down to…

This research course has given me insight into the things that are important to my career path in the field of education. If I have gained anything from this course, it has helped me to understand that I am continually passionate about making a positive change in this world. Previously, that passion was exuded through my work for a diverse community and a culturally competent environment, however with this course, that passin for equity and equality has emerged into the field of education, as well. Fighting for equal opportunity with regards to early childhood and elementary education has given me a renewed sense of passion. I almost feel as though I had reached my threshold with regards to diversity training and my main goals and mission, however this research course allowed me to pick a topic that I was passionate about and gave me the freedom to pick any topic I wanted. Realizing that the topic I chose revolved around equity and equality in education for young children has given me the ability to continue my work as an education professional and as a Diversity advocate and trainer, in a different perspective parallel to the initial direction I was headed in.

As always, the challenges that I enountered in this course are the same challenges that I encounter with every course and that is simply learning how to balance my time with my career, my education and all of the other things that exist in the life of an adult student. I thoroughly enjoy my classe and what I have learned and am learning and will continue to learn. I am excited about the prospect of where my education is leading me, however the biggest constraint is trying to balance it all so I can be succesful in all aspects. Sometimes (as was the case with an assignment or two), it didn’t always happen and at that point, I try to take a step back and assess the situation to discover how I can amend it for the betterment of my success,

 

My “perfect” research topic…

Given that we are studying early childhood education and programs, including the trends, demographics and issues related to the field (such as poverty, differential quality of programs, financial resources, etc), my perfect research topic would involve studying demographics and trends in the African-American community as it relates to single parent households, coupled with the ever-increasing abence of fathers in African-American households. Additionally, I would choose a subtopic that addressed all of the trends and question the financial stability and financial education that the African-American community sorely lacks.

This research study would seek to include answers to the demanding questions of how, why, where, what and whom? I would seek information on African-American history including child-bearing and parenting patterns during slavery. I would hope that my research would reap positive results, with financial education and services available to minority communities. Many lower-income communities are ignorant to how credit works, what their credit score is, and how to seek and demand quality. This includes education. Learning how to break out of your comfort zone and something as simple as learning that your child qualifies to apply to a neighborhood charter school, as opposed to attending their zone school because that’s all they know, are the type of things I hope would come out of a study such as this. Additionally, I would hope to find answers to the high incarceration rates of Black men and the trends that are pushing this number forward, as well as how this dilemma affects the African-American family. All of this information has ties to slavery and post-slavery days and I would seek to understand how it all relates. Through bloodlines, certain negative and positive traits have transcended over generations and I want to learn how that came to be and what we can do to pass onto future generations.

 

What’s important to a field trip?

It’s a funny question to ask, really. What’s important to a field trip as opposed to what makes a field trip important…however, as I had to decide on the subtopic of my research, I had a hard time determining what’s more important to a field trip, from my 3 initial subtopics (diversity, the importance of play as a standard of curriculum, and examining current curriculums).

Knowing that I may encounter a level of difficulty with regards to examining current curriculums, I have decided to scratch that off the list, so I am left with exploring diversity with regards to field trips or determining the importance of play as a standard of curriculum when it comes to the relevance to field trips. My passion lies with diversity, building a tolerant and equitable environment for all and therefore, I chose the subtopic of diversity when it comes to what is important to a field trip. I will go into more detail once we begin the research projects, but diversity is a key element to the importance of field trips and it encompasses much more than simply ethnicities and cultures. When we speak of diversity, it includes different types of activities, explorations and learning adventures (ex-going to different museums as opposed to field trips simply for play). All of these can stimulate the mind and lead to a better understanding of what is already being learned and established in the classroom.

As I mentioned in one of our discussion posts, I have been a teacher in a pre-school sclassroom where our only field trips consisted of visiting a different park every week. There was no educational benefits to these field trips and therefore, in my opinion, lacked the diversity and many important elements. There needs to be an exploration of different options that contributes to the diversity of the classroom and the learning curriculum. A website that I use often for research with regards to the cultural competence trainings I present and how to approach diversity in the classroom is www.tolerance.org. This website gives a plethora of information on how to engage children in diverse exercises and also gives suggestions for different field trips and activities outside of the classroom.

 

Consequences & Solutions…

Learning about the international early childhood field gave a great deal of enlightenment to the world of early education in general, however it posed difficulty in a few areas, as I seek to develop professionally. Three of those areas are:

• Learning how similar under-developed areas face issues of equity and unfair treatment with lack of funding
• How to provide substantial support to the families that I serve
• Understanding and staying on top of the changing demographics facing our day care centers, child care centers and schools

One goal that I have for this field is to enhance my knowledge in the area of diversity and cultural supports for my families. As you see, I always refer to them as “my” families. I refer to my students as my kids. That level of commitment and dedication to them is what keeps me thriving. I want nothing more than to see them succeed and knowing that I can leave that building everyday with stories of success, development and achievement is all I need to keep going.

 

Learning about UNESCO

UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Having read through their site, I learned that they advocate for Early Childhood Education programs that tend to health, nutrition, security and learning and which provide for children’s holistic development (2012). Additionally, the organization developed and organized the first world conference on Early Childhood Care and Education in 2010.

Through the Global Campaign for Education, UNESCO implemented Global Action Week, which seeks to raise awareness about the importance of education for all. This is something that is celebrated in many different nations during one specified week a year.

 

Learning more & exploring NBCDI

The website for the National Black Child Development Institute has a wealth of information that any educator or educational professional can use for dealing with and working with minority children, in general. Though their main focus is on the African-American child, many of the resources and supports that they utilize can be used for all children. One of the links I clicked on led me to the US Dept of Health and Human Services: Administration for Children and Families Head Start’s National Research Conference webpage. The 11th annual conference is focusing on research on young children and families: effective practices in an age of diversity and change, which is taking place next weekend, June 18th-20th in Washington D.C.

A lot of the areas on this website are not fully developed, leaving me to question what exactly are the goals of ths organization. One of my earlier posts, I stated that I would like to attend the national conference in October, however there’s no insight into their direction, iniatives or goals. When I click on initiatives, I am led to another page with outside links for pre-k education, the head start conference, limited information on a literacy initiative by the NBCDI. My hope is that the organization does more than their website portrays.

There is nothing on this website that speaks to equity and excellence in childcare. Many of the sections of the website speak to advancing development for African-American children but it doesn’t speak to how or why. Furthermore, I have yet to receive a newsletter from this organization. Sadly, I’m a little bit disappointed in what I’ve learned (or have not learned) so far.