Professional Hopes and Goals

     I think my goals and the goal I see for the Early Childhood program kind-of go hand-in-hand as far as diversity, equity, and social justice go.
     As for myself, I hope to educate my co-workers on the vastness of diversity and how our microaggressions affect both family and children. I still hear far too many make fun of or laugh at those who are different then themselves, thinking just because a child is little or does not understand English they do not realize they are the brunt of that laughter. It makes me so angry! Another issue is the various ways parents wish to raise their children should be respected yet I do not feel it is in my program. There are far too many stories to go into but my hope is to change some policies.

This leads me into one hope I have for the ECE programs themselves and that is to take into account the various cultures and diversity's way of looking at life and implementing them into the program. If youngsters still use a pacifier then let them, perhaps not all of the time but wean them slowly. Many countries teach codependence on the group while we push for independence- is that the only way here in America? I wish to see the classrooms teaching empathy and tolerance as is taught in the Global Classroom styles. I have huge aspirations for change in the ECE world and it is all for the children and family's sake.




I would like to thank each of my classmates for all they have taught me these last few weeks. You have stretched me to think outside of the box.  Doctor Williams, you made me squirm a bit in my comfortable skin as I looked at those around me in ways I did not realize I was missing. Thank you all and good luck changing the world!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Kyrgyzstan

This county is located in Central Asia between China and Kazakhstan. A Muslim Turkic people who gained their independence from Russia in 1991. They speak Kyrgyz, Russian, and English. There are so many interesting facts about this country yet reading about this country and their culture I see I would have some soul searching to do to be culturally responsive to a student entering my classroom. I am going to identify some of their ideas that I definitely could see some bristling about and this is what I will address.

1) Children are still expected to be quiet and not allowed to go to parties or to disturb guests within the home. Infants are strapped to their cradles and quieted when they make a noise. I need to be aware of this when a child from this culture is within the classroom. This would explain to me why s/he does not speak much or respond to my questions or conversations. I would work with this child calmly and quietly in hopes that s/he would realize it is okay to speak at school and stay quiet at home.

2) This country is ethnically diverse which causes unrest resulting in riots and violence, a class system, and though girls are considered equal to boys they interact very little with each other. Knowing these facts would explain to me why the girls and boys are not interacting. Those bringing their child to school and at pick-up time would not want to inter act with those of different sex so if a father is picking up their child, he would not wish to speak to me. I would respect this and in turn it would show the child I am respecting who they are as well.

3) Ceremonial traditions are very different than what we here in the U.S. would be comfortable with. These traditions revolve around the preparation of a slaughtered sheep (sometimes a horse), serving people according their class, and the mandatory practice of several shots of vodka. This is a little against what I was raised with and I would need some rethinking to be "okay" with this. I would need to allow the child to speak openly about any celebration they may have celebrated at the home with no sense of condemnation (animal rights or worry about alcohol consumption of the adults). 

4) Girls are expected to help out around the home while the boys are considered rowdy and active so they are not expected to do many chores. To be culturally sensitive in this area I could make a "game" out of clean-up time. The girls may be more acceptance with the clean-up routines while the boys may need a different approach.

5) This country is rich in oral literacy tradition with many epic stories and lyric poetry to relate history and entertainment. To carry on this tradition in the classroom I would love to become more adept in story telling outside of a book cover as well as continue with our many finger plays and children's songs.

Making sure I understand these very diverse traditions within this culture would help any student feel more at ease within the classroom. These children would feel accepted and this would help them to have an easier transition from one culture into another as they go from home, to school, and then to home again. To truly engage students, we must reach out to them in ways that are culturally and linguistically responsive and appropriate, and we must examine the cultural assumptions and stereotypes we bring into the classroom that may hinder interconnectedness (tollerance.org, 2017). I need to make curriculum relevant to all students in order to reach them otherwise I am just performing classroom management skills. A student always does much better when they know their family is accepted for who they are and these very different traditions are no different. Families also need to know I accept their child for who she or he is knowing it is safe both physically and emotionally to leave their child with me. A child does not learn properly unless s/he feels safe and ensuring I know not only about where my students come from but what they have experienced will give them that sense of safety.

I have one memory that I may have shared before but it is so pronounced in my head that it warrants another telling. I work for an inner city Head Start where, more times than not, I am one of and sometimes the only white person in the classroom. One spring we decided to take the children to a park in another area of the city, a more affluent part, and all five of the classrooms at our site went. It took about 4 buses (the smaller ones) to get us there. I was sitting in the back so I could get children unbuckled once we were parked. As we pulled up beside the park I noticed the parents were slowly lining up along the edge of the playground, some with their arms folded. I don't know if they even realized they were doing it. As children and teachers (none of who were white) got off the bus, more parents entered the line and the stiffer their bodies seem to become. I was one of the last people to get off of the bus and I swear, as soon as they saw me arms went down, bodies relaxed, and all went back to tending their children. The only one of us these white parents would speak to was me and this was to ask where we were from. This is one of the conversations,
Parent 1: "What school are you from?"
Me: "Head Start in Albany"
Parent 2: "What is Head Start?"
Parent 1: "It's a school for poor people (whispering poor)."
I had to walk away before my head imploded!

This whole incident was taking away equality from the children and the teachers. Though nothing was exactly said the body language screamed volumes saying, these teachers and children were not really welcomed here but since I was with them, then it was okay. I know this is vague and all maybe just in my head but it looked so ominous!

As I said, I had to walk away from the conversation I had with those two women before I got angry. I was embarrassed by my association of these white people. Now that I think about it, when I discussed it with my co-workers later on they had not even noticed it. I am not sure if this was because I imagined the whole thing or that these African American people are so used to it they just did not notice.

I would have to change. I have to educate myself to better understand both sides of an opportunity such as this. Because I became so angry and so embarrassed my head was not clear enough to educate those I spoke with about the amazing opportunity Head Start was to educate all children because 10% of our students are considered over-income making it not just for poor people. I could have introduced my students to those children who were already playing there to plant the seed of tolerance. I could have asked my AA co-workers for their advice and their experiences to better educate myself. I feel it was a ripe situation that I totally missed other than using it to educate others.