Week 7: Welcoming Families From Around the World

Scenerio: You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice- a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

Country of origin: Vietnam

Creating a culturally responsive environment a teacher needs to recognize “the importance of including students' cultural references in all aspects of learning, enriching classroom experiences and keeping students engaged.” (Tolerance.org).  This means incorporating the child’s and family’s daily life into the classroom. I like the chart on page 56 of Anti-bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves (2010). It shows the surface culture and the deep culture. To really have culturally responsive environment, I need to go beyond the small circle of surface culture and dig deep into the deep culture of the family and the child. I need to find stories that relate to the Vietnamese culture. Place words and phrases around the room that help the child understand and know the name of things. I need to come up with questions to ask the parents about how they would like the daily routine to be conducted. I need to research on how  the community is helping immigrants and settle into a life in the area and resources I can provide them and the community. I need to look into how each of the items listed in the chart are tied to the family that is coming in.  I will have to provide other colleagues, families, and children with the knowledge that I come in contact with.

                These preparations will create an environment that is not completely overwhelming for the child or the child’s parents. For me as a teacher, I will have some understanding for certain actions. I also feel that this will help create an open door for communication for the parents that are already enrolled and the new family coming in.

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/being-culturally-responsive

Week 6 Blog: The Personal side of bias, prejudice, and oppression.

                Okay, to this week, when the assignment included tv shows, I remember from Tuesday or Wednesday’s watching Jeopardy and thinking of an instance on the show that showed some sort of bias, prejudice and or oppression. It is college week on the show and the three contestants had one category on College funds. The contestant was from an all black, Christian college. The girl answered the statement , which had to do with a scholarship for African American Women. Right after she answered, Alex said, “I figured you would get that answer, first” or something in that context. I was shocked. I looked to the contestant but she laughed and picked another category. I was kind of perplexed by that statement. What if she didn’t know that answer? What if she got it wrong? What makes her know that answer? Is it because she is black? What if the white male answered that question? Would he have known the answer? Would it make him ignorant if he knew the answer and got it right? Or got it wrong? I guess I see Alex’s statement as a microaggression and a view that creates a bias.

                Another incident happened when I was younger. My uncle lived down in NYC during the week. One weekend he brought home a young man from work who as about 15. He was black. My uncle and aunt took him in and raised him till he was 18. One day he came home and was really sad. He sat at the table and said that a few of the guys that he played football with made fun of him for not knowing what a skunk smelled like. What happened was that during football practiced the smell of a skunk came through the gym workout room doors. He asked who was smoking and that they could all get in trouble. The guys told him that it was a skunk. They said things like that of course he knew what weed smelled  like. I felt so bad for him. He loved living here but never felt more embarrassed. These statements were attacks stating that because he is black from the city he has been around drugs or has done them. He even stated that. He knew that it was a direct attack on who he was because of his color. In fact he went to state that he had a hard life growing up as a kid and has been around it and has done it. It doesn’t make who he is know and there is no room judgment anyway. Thinking about this today, made me realize how oppression runs deep. It affects down to the core of emotions and feelings.

In both instances, people need to be educated and learn that when you say something as a joke or say something towards someone's personal identity it can hurt. It is the think before you speak. If it could hurt someone's feelings, don't say anything at all. A joke doesn't always make it funny.

Week 4 -Practicing Awareness of Microaggression

A week or so ago, I was in Hannaford. I was in an isle with an older lady. She dropped her pen and I bent down to pick it up for her. As I did that I said, “Don’t worry about bending down. I got it for you, ma’am.” I was only doing it out of kindness but I could see on her face that she was thrown back by what I said. I could see how she might take this as an insult to her age. This happened in everyday life, in a public facility. After I had walked away from the lady I felt embarrassed. After this week, I realized that was a form of microaggression.

One of the biggest things that I took away this week was that prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination are unintentional. It still hurts deep for those that are the target. It is our lack of understanding and many times our unconscious feeling of superiority and ignorance our society puts out. In terms of the lady in Hannaford, I did make a judgment by her age in my mind. As a teacher I need to think before I speak. I need to put myself in others shoes. Ask questions and find resources about cultures and the prejudices I have and our society has. Prejudices, stereotypes and discrimination are due to the lack of knowledge and superiority that people feel like they need or think that have.