Reflecting on Learning

Over the past 8 weeks, I have continued to learn about anti-bias education and its importance in early childhood education. I have experience volunteering and working in many child care centers across my home state of North Carolina and can tell you that from experience, anti-bias education is not something that is practiced everywhere. It is my hope that through advocacy, we can get an anti-bias curriculum in every child care center and preschool not only in North Carolina, but across the country. Anti-bias education is so important to the positive self image and development of our children; our future.

I would thank to thank everyone for taking the time to read and comment on my blog week after week. I learn not only from my instructors and research, but through my interactions with each of you. Thank you and I wish you all well on your journeys.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

This assignment asked us to do some research through UNICEF to discover challenges that children face around the world. This really opened my eyes and put my own life into perspective, making me feel as if my life is extravagant, which is very well is in comparison to the millions of children living in poverty and poor health conditions around the globe.

For my research, I chose to take a look at Latin America and the Caribbean. I chose this region because I am somewhat familiar with this region, as I have had extended stays in both Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. My stays there really shined a light onto the way that these people live. Through my experiences and conversations with the natives of these two places, hunger and poverty are no stranger. It is not uncommon for people to travel hours to a job, work 12-14 hours, and then travel hours home. Most homes in these very hot places do not have air conditioning and all of them do not have safe drinking water. My love for these beautiful countries and the amazing people that I encountered really sparked a passion in me and caused me to want to help these people and their beautiful homelands. I donate regularly to organizations that go to this region and stay there, building safe homes for families. I try to stay up to date on relevant issues in this region and donate my time, money, etc. to helping out when I can.

With Latin America and the Caribbean being the most unequal regions in the world, it is to no surprise that the residents live in extreme poverty and hunger. Achieving primary education is an accomplishment, as only 1 in 4 children in the poorest 20% complete primary education. Safe drinking water, sanitation, health care, and safe homes are among the problems that families and children face. In fact, there are about 60 million people in the region that do not have access to safe drinking water, and about 100 million without sanitation. Natural disasters are also a problem, leaving more than 100,000 residents homeless just last year. (Source: UNICEF)

With all of these struggles that families and children in this region face, how in the world do we expect these children to develop into healthy adults? A lot of these children are going hungry, have no access to clean drinking water, and are not receiving immunizations, leaving them suseptible to things like malaria. When looking at their lives, education is the least of their worries, they are simply trying to survive. Facing these types of struggles leaves these children suffering. Their brains can not properly develop when they are starving. Their bodies are dehydrated due to a lack of water. They are often sick and have no access to health care.

As an American, I am obviously very privileged. I have a full time job, a car, a house, and food in my kitchen. I have more than enough clothing and am often wasteful without even realizing it. I think that anyone who is privileged should really open their eyes to what goes on in the rest of the world. We can help these children and make a difference. We need to shine a light onto these issues and get people involved. If we are in a position to help, why wouldn't we? Innocent children should not suffer because they happened to be born in a poor country. I think that it is important that we advocate for ALL children, all around the world.

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

This weeks topic is something that, for lack of a better phrase, really lights a fire under my behind. It is something that strikes a nerve with me and makes me want to run out into the streets to try to change it right this second. It is the topic of the sexualization of young children.

Next time you are taking a stroll through the mall, take a few minutes and just people watch. See how many "couples" walk by holding hands and try to guess their age. Are they 13? 14? See if you notice any little girls, I'm talking 8 and 9 year olds, wearing pants that have saying on the back such as "juicy" written across the butt, thus drawing attention. Walk into Victoria's Secret and look for the thongs designed for tweens, ages 12-18, because they are there. Things like this are not only showcasing sex, but promoting it!

Children living in a highly sexualized environment is more than just inappropriate, it is detrimental to healthy development. Levin and Kilbourne (2009) sum it up nicely when they write that [children] living in these highly sexualized environments "...can seriously harm their ability to grow up to have healthy attitudes about themselves and their bodies and to have caring relationships in which sex is an important part" (p.4).

While this is a topic that I am very passionate about, it is something that a lot of people pay no attention to. Recently, when walking through the children's clothing section of my local Kohl's, a friend pointed out how cute a pair of jogging pants were. They were hot pink with the word "cute" written across the butt. I mentioned that I thought it was inappropriate and she responded that it was only inappropriate because people like me point things like that out, and that we should let kids be innocent. While I do agree that children should be innocent, I still believe that it is our job to always protect them. Flashing words across their rear ends draw attention to them, and whether we want to talk about it or not, there are pedophiles everywhere. In fact, "as many as 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually abused at some point during their childhood" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). This is a staggering statistic that I think is very important for parents everywhere to realize.

Reference
Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

I admit, growing up a Caucasian American has granted me many privileges in my life that others do not have. However, I have experienced, and continue to experience -isms in my life. Growing up with a single mother, I was often ridiculed by children because I didn't have a dad. I was also made fun of because I lived with my grandparents. Kids would say that I was too poor to have my own house and made fun of my glasses and clothes. Because of this, I could never be one of the "cool kids." Now that I'm an adult and understand the way that the world works, I strive not to judge others and in turn, hope that I am not judged, as it is very hurtful. Even still, I experience -isms. One that comes to mind quickly is sexism. Being a woman in today's society is certainly much better than it has ever been before, but we are still not treated as equals. I mean, we get 77 cents to every male dollar for crying out loud! I experience sexism when going about my every day life. For example, a couple of weeks ago my cousin drove her car over to my house and said it was running funny. I checked the oil and discovered that it was almost completely out of oil. We drove the car to the closest store to buy oil, which so happened to be Target. I decided to go ahead and put the oil in the car in the Target parking lot, because I was nervous to drive it with it being so low. In the time that it takes to lift the hood and put oil in a car, I had three separate men come up to me and ask me if I needed help. While I appreciate the kindness, do I really look that incapable? Or is it simply because I'm a woman and we shouldn't know how to do things like that?

With all of that being said, it is obvious that I am affected when I experience -isms. It upsets me, outrages me. Sometimes I feel sorry for ignorant people and other times I'm just plain irritated. It is hard to experience these emotions and maintain a calm, typical demeanor. Therefore, I feel that should I experience these -isms on a daily basis and come to work with children, I feel that the children would definitely pick up on my emotions. The children might also feel upset, angry, or irritable. We all know that bad moods are contagious, and the last thing that we want to do is rub our bad mood off onto our children. Looking at this from the outside, I think that it is important that we talk about emotions with our children, as well as ways to manage our emotions. I think that by practicing these things inside of our classrooms, we will be better equip to handle these types of situations. Discussing emotions also teaches the children that we all have good and bad days, and that it is okay to feel however you are feeling, but that we just need to learn to deal with it appropriately. 

Observing Communication

This week we were asked to observe an adult and young child communicating in a real-world setting and reflect on the experience. For this assignment, I observed one of the toddler teachers, Mrs. Susie, and her interaction with the children in her classroom. Susie's classroom consists of 12 children, ages 2 - 2 1/2. She has a co-teacher that assists her during the day. Here is what I observed:

Ben and Alyssa, both two year olds in Mrs. Susie's class, were lined up outside, getting ready to come inside and wash their hands. Ben got restless and started pushing on Alyssa. Alyssa obviously did not like this and began pushing Ben back. They were going back and forth for a few seconds, pushing each other and squealing, when Mrs. Susie immediately intervened. Susie walked over to the children and took Ben's hand, leading him away from Alyssa so that he could not touch her. She squatted down to their level and spoke with both children, stating "pushing our friends is not okay because it could hurt them. If we put our hands on our friends, it should be to use gentle touches, like giving a hug. Ben, can you show me what a gentle touch looks like? Good job! Alyssa, can you show me what a gentle touch looks like? Great! Let's practice together, Ben, can you give Alyssa a gentle touch? Awesome! That is exactly the way we should touch our friends, through gentle touches. If someone is putting their hands on you and you don't like it, you should use your words and say "please stop - I don't like it!." Let's practice saying that. Great job Ben and Alyssa!"

Reflecting back on what I observed from Mrs. Susie, I can not think of one single thing that needs to be done differently. It is blatantly obvious that Susie is a master at what she does and using DAP language and techniques. Getting down on the children's level and explaining the situation were excellent. Having the children demonstrate what you expect of them and reinforcing it with praise, even better. I don't think that there is anything that Susie could have done to make the communication more effective. I am proud to have her as a teacher at my school.

Observing Susie at any given time is always a joy and educational for me as a young professional. It is very apparent that she is highly educated (she has a MA in family counseling and child development) and that she genuinely enjoys what she does. I feel that her communication with the children has positive affects on the children and helps to build up their sense of worth. She is constantly redirecting, modeling her expectations, and praising the children in her class. She celebrates little accomplishments and makes the children in her class feel important and special. She is an amazing teacher with superb communication skills. I constantly learn from her better ways of handling situations and often consult with her on situations that I find difficult. She is not only a teacher at my school, but she is a mentor for many.

Comparing my personal communication skills with children to that of Mrs. Susie, I can see that I do have some room for improvement. I sometimes do not show the level of patience that Susie has and try to always be mindful of that. I also strive to always maintain the constant, calming tone of voice that Susie displays. I am continually working on myself, trying to improve for the sake of the children that I work with every day.

Creating Affirming Environments: My Family Child Care Home Center

Louise Derman-Sparks & Julie Edwards, two early childhood professionals and anti-bias education experts, highlighted the fact that toys, materials, equipments, posters, and furniture all influence how children learn. An environment that is rich is anti-bias materials invites children to explore and discover, and encourages them to ask questions. Therefore, it is very important to celebrate diversity inside of the classroom. "What children do not see in the classroom teaches children as much as what they do see."

If I were to open up my own family child care home center, I would ensure that my center is very warm and welcoming to families. I would do this by having small, child friendly furnishings and warm, home-like touches. Having a family tree wall in the classroom would be a great way that I could incorporate pictures of all of the families in the center, while giving the children a place to see pictures of their families when they need some comfort.

Aside from incorporating photos of existing families, it is important to display pictures of diverse families as well. Posters of photos of different family structures and of families from around the world, including different races and clothing types, would be very beneficial to the children. Displaying different types of homes/houses around the world would be good as well.

I think that it is also important to show pictures of diverse individuals, such as individuals with disabilities, individuals of different races, individuals wearing clothing traditional to their culture, and individuals with physical differences. Children are more likely to ask explore and ask questions when information is given to them in a place where they feel safe.

The materials that I use in my family child care home center are just as important as the environment. Providing books on different topics and highlighting diversity are important because they not only instill a love of reading but also show and discuss human differences and similarities. Music is important as it incorporates the children's home culture while introducing new cultures. Dolls and puppets allow the children to freely explore racial diversity while dramatic play props, such as multicultural food and clothing, allow the children to act out roles and relationships. All of these things are equally important because they are exposing children to differences while allowing them to freely explore and ask questions in a non-judgmental environment.

One other thing that I would do in my family center is to celebrate as many holidays as I could, without diving too deep into religion. Too often children are only exposed to Santa Clause and I think it would be so much fun to research and celebrate Diwali and the Chinese New Year with the children as well.

To sum it all up, my family child care home center would showcase the families and cultures within my center, while highlighting diversity as well. The children would get the opportunity to learn from each other while discovering more about their own culture, as well as other cultures. Diversity would be celebrated in my child care center.

Source:
Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

What I Have Learned

Over the course of the last eight weeks, I have dove deeper into the topic of anti-bias education. I have been forced to evaluate myself to expose my own, personal discomforts and biases, and have made a plan to lessen those. I have progressed from Harro's Cycle of Socialization to the beginning stages of the Cycle of Liberation. I have been challenged and have learned from my peers. I have learned quite a bit about not only anti-bias education, but myself as well.

When I think about working with children from diverse backgrounds, which I do every single day, my hope is that anti-bias education will always be incorporated into their lives. I hope that they will always be exposed to differences and taught to accept and embrace others. I hope that they themselves will always feel accepted for their own unique characteristics. I hope that they will never be outcast or bullied, nor will tease others for being different. I hope that this generation of children will truly know what it means to love one another.

A goal that I have for the early childhood education field, especially in rural towns across the South, is to include anti-bias education into the every day curriculum. Having been born and raised in a small town in North Carolina, I have personally experienced education in this area. There is no diversity in these towns, as the population is strictly made up of Caucasian families. As if the lack of diversity isn't bad enough, diversity isn't talked about or taught. I did not go to school with an African American until I moved away from home and attended a university. While I didn't think anything of it, because I'm a very laid back person and don't have an issue with people until I need to have an issue, other people I know did because they were simply ignorant to the concept of diversity. While ECE does push anti-bias education, as I see it everyday in Raleigh, NC where I now live, I do think that more needs to be done in smaller towns where diversity is not such a common concept.

In closing, I would like to thank all of my peers that have assisted me in the completion of my assignments. Thank you for assisting me, challenging me, and offering your kind and encouraging words. Best of luck to all of you on your journey!

Start Seeing Diversity

This week we were asked to create a piece of art to represent what diversity means to us. I chose to create a photo collage that I feel embraces different ethnicities, races, religions, languages, cultures, and sexual orientation.

 

We Don't Say Those Words!

It is a common fact that children are very blunt little people. They don't really have a filter yet because they don't understand what is appropriate and acceptable to talk about and what is not. Children will talk openly about peeing, pooping, vaginas, penis'...really whatever is relevant and being talked about at that stage in their life. It is our jobs, as parents and educators, to teach children the appropriate time and place that things should be talked about. We don't want to scold children into thinking that anything is taboo to talk about because we want children to trust us and talk to us openly and honestly.

A few months ago, when visiting my family that lives out of town, I took my niece, Jayda, who is four years old, to the store to pick out a birthday present for her mom. As we were walking around Target Jayda noticed a significantly overweight woman and said, very loudly, "Look Cassie, that lady is not a pretty princess like you. She is just too fat!" Out of pure humiliation and panic I immediately snapped at Jayda and said "no ma'am, we do NOT say things like that! That is just ugly to say and not okay, do you understand me?" I mean, it was a pure reaming right there in the middle of Target. Looking back at the incident and reflecting on what I am learning about anti-bias education, I can see that I did not handle the situation as effectively as I should have. I think that it is important to teach anti-bias education to children so that they are familiar and comfortable with different kinds of people, thus eliminating the need to point out differences so bluntly.

Gender, Gender Identity, & Sexual Orientation

Gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation seem to be a touchy subject when it comes to the preschool classroom. Recently my school went through the environmental rating scales known as ITERS and ECERS. In preparation for this I printed out a variety of pictures for the classrooms such as female construction workers, male nurses, and gay and lesbian families. Some teachers came to me expressing concern with putting the pictures of gay and lesbian families on their walls. One teacher said "Cassie, most of our families are rich, white families and you know they are going to have something to say about these pictures." In response I told her that it was okay and if anyone had issues then they could come talk to me. In reality, no one complained at all and the children were really excited to see differences on their walls.

I think that homophobia and heterosexism definitely permeates the world of young children. If you walk into a toy store, such as ToysRUs, you will notice that everything is categorized with a hidden tone of gender roles. They place "girly" dress up clothes in the section with dolls and pretend cleaning toys. While they place "boyish" dress up clothes in the section with tonka trucks and nerf guns.

With regards to language, such as "sissy", "tom boy", etc., I can recall a tour that I did for a woman that came in a couple of years ago. She said that she has two girls that love to get dirty and are real tomboys and she would rather them be like other little girls who wear dresses and are seen rather than heard. I was so appalled to hear this come out of her mouth about her own children! I responded by saying that our school promoted individuality and embraced each other's differences; if she wanted a boarding school type of preschool then we were not the right fit for her.

Team Building & Collaboration

This week we're learning about team development and the importance of team work. We learned that the five stages of team development are: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.

Looking back to my own, personal experiences with team work, especially reflecting on the adjourning stage, I recall a time that I worked with a group of classmates on an elementary education music project. This group was the hardest to walk away from because we became a very close group of ladies. There were four of us total and we found that along the way we became more than just classmates but very good friends. We celebrated our hard work when the project came to an end by going out for dinner and drinks. We ensured that we stayed in touch via social media and still, to this day, chat with one another.

I think that when working with a team, if the team has worked effectively, then the adjourning stage is bittersweet. I found that people all working together to brainstorm and eventually reach a common goal really become friends along the way. I think that the adjourning stage is important and taking efforts to stay in touch with your peers allows you to keep professional contacts that could be beneficial in the future.

Managing Conflict in Relationships

When working in an industry such as early childhood education, it is important to have some conflict management strategies in your back pocket. As a director of a preschool I have often times been faced with very upset parents who on an anger scale of 1-10, were a 10. It's important that I know how to handle these situations so that they do not further escalate and simply because it is part of the customer service aspect of my job.

One strategy that I have used in the past with teachers who were not getting along is to have them take a 20-30 minute break to cool down before our meeting to discuss the problem. This is an example of an escapist strategy because at that moment we are avoiding the conflict. Sometimes I feel like this is the best thing to do to allow people to calm down and really think about things. Emotions are sometimes too high to try to resolve the conflict right away.

Another strategy that I use with both teachers and families is a cooperative strategy. Cooperative strategies focus on problem solving and trying to meet the needs of everyone involved. Let's say, for example, that the Smith family does not want Harper to transition into the one year old room next week because they feel she is still too little. Even though she is a year old and I need her spot to open up in three weeks for a new child starting, I compromise with the family and explain to them that I can allow her to stay in the infant classroom for another week but after that she will have to transition. The family walks away feeling satisfied because they feel like they were heard while I am satisfied because I still have the space available for the new child. This is a win-win situation.

Another example of compromise within my workplace involves teachers arguing over whose turn it is to complete the portfolios. One teacher is claiming that she always does the portfolios and that she is sick of doing all of the work. The other teacher is adamant that she completes portfolios just as often and now that she is accusing her she just won't do any. I handled this very simply by dividing the portfolios in half. One teacher was assigned one half while the other teacher was assigned the other half. I kept record of which teacher had which children's portfolios so that I could keep track if someone wasn't pulling their weight. The teachers felt like this was a fair solution to the problem and everyone walked away satisfied.

Evaluating Our Communication Skills

This week we were given the opportunity to take an online quiz, testing our verbal aggressiveness and communication anxiety. We then passed these quizzes along to two friends/family/colleagues to be evaluated by them as well. Here is what I discovered:

I absolutely, positively HATE public speaking. I get extremely nervous when I have to speak in front of others and have had panic attacks that make me faint in the past. Even in small groups with people that I talk to every day, I hate speaking. It makes no sense in my mind and no matter how much I try to convince myself that it's an irrational fear and try to psych myself into thinking that I want to speak and that I will love it...ultimately I freak out. So with that being said, I scored myself very high in the communication anxiety quiz. My husband, who also completed the quiz for me, also scored me high. I think, however, that is because he is aware of my fear. The director of my school, however, scored me in the mild range. She is not aware of my fear of public speaking, so I think that this fact wasn't present to influence her. This just shows that my nervousness does not show when speaking at staff meetings, director conventions, etc. I must do an excellent job of masking my fear!

The second quiz, verbal aggressiveness, I scored at the low end of the moderate range in all three evaluations. I was honest with myself on this, and my husband and director were honest as well. The scores were only one number apart which proves to me that this quiz must be fairly accurate. It also opens my eyes to the fact that I need to work to bring my verbal aggression down into the low range and hopefully, one day, into the none category, as I do not want to ever purposefully disrespect someone.

I think that this was a great exercise for me to partake in and really value the information that I gained from completing it. I hope that others have found this experience to be as eye opening and rewarding.

Communication & Diversity

This week we are learning more about communication, especially as it relates to culture and diversity. We are all familiar with the golden rule: Do unto others as we would have them do unto us. However, this week I learned a new rule, called the platinum rule. The platinum rule states to treat others the way that THEY would like to be treated. This really made me think, because growing up with the golden rule, I had never thought of it that way before. What a great concept though! Not everyone would like to be treated the way that I am treated. Vegetarians would not want to be taken to dinner at a steakhouse to celebrate their birthday. Classical music fans would hate being given tickets to see Lady Gaga as a gift. When working with, and communicating with people of different cultures, we shouldn't treat them the way that we want to be treated, but the way that they would want to be treated.

So when thinking about my communication skills, I have to say that they are different depending on who I'm taking to and what background they are from. I believe it's important to have the skill set to change how we do things in order to accommodate others. For example, when families come into my school for a tour, I immediately introduce myself and shake their hand. From my studies about different cultures I know that individuals from the Middle East do not shake hands with their right hands. Therefore, I am aware of this fact and offer my left hand when I meet with them. I also understand that in many other cultures the women do not discuss money. So when speaking about tuition prices, while I speak to both parents, I give the written pricing information to the male figure because that makes them the most comfortable.

Overall, I think that it's important to be able to fully accommodate and welcome families and children of all cultures and backgrounds. Understanding different cultures and being aware of differences really helps to be able to communicate most effectively.

The Importance of Verbal & Non-Verbal Communication

This week we are studying about different types of communication, both verbal and non-verbal. Our assignment this week was to watch a TV show that we've never seen before with the sound off. We were to make observations regarding the communication, and then go back and watch the show with the sound off. Here are my observations from this assignment:

TV Show: The Blacklist
Observations:

• There was a plane crash and appeared to have only a few survivors
• A man appeared to be interrogating another man, based on what appeared to be yelling and angry facial expressions
• Men in suits are seen escorting another man in a suit to what appears to be a secret holding cell. It looks like the man speaking to the "criminal" is sympathizing with him or feels bad for him
• There is a concerned girl in the office whose face appears to not understand what is going on
• There is a panicked man on the phone who appears to be fidgeting, in a hurry, and talking with his hands
• The man who appeared to be interrogated was taken/kidnapped with a bag over his head making me wonder if he is a terrorist and had anything to do with the plane crash
• A different man was watching the news coverage of the plane crash then walked to the door with a gun. He immediately put the gun away and let the person in the door. Based on the visitors facial expressions they are concerned about the plane crash.

What I learned when I watched the show with the sound on: 

• The man who I thought was being interrogated was actually not, he was just explaining to a fellow worker what happened. He also is not a terrorist; the flashback of the person being kidnapped was not him.
• The man who was being held in the top secret cell was actually not friends with the people escorting him. He was speaking smugly to them about how his girlfriend was worth it.
• The girl who I initially thought was concerned about the plane crash was actually concerned about covering it up
• The man on the phone, who appeared to be panicking, was not significant at all and was only in the background
• The man with the gun, who I thought was concerned about the plane crash, was actually responsible for it

I liked this assignment because it was out of the ordinary and a nice break from "typical schoolwork." I also found it a very meaningful assignment. This assignment really highlighted the importance of non-verbal communication such as facial expressions, hand gestures, etc. While I gained a lot from paying attention to only the non-verbal communication, I learned more from the verbal communication. I learned that you can make assumptions based on non-verbal communication that turn out to be completely false. Therefore, both non-verbal and verbal communication are equally important. 

My Mother, An Effective Communicator

My momma, Traci, is the most effective communicator that I know. She has charisma, she's funny, and everyone just seems to listen when she talks. When I think about her particular behaviors when communicating, several things come to mind. The first is that she has excellent eye contact and body language. She maintains eye contact the entire time that she is communicating with someone and really expresses interest in what she's saying, as well as what the other person(s) is saying. Another thing that she does, that I feel is effective, is that her tone and language are very positive. She has a very pleasant tone when she's communicating with people and is enthusiastic about what she is discussing. Not only that, but she fully explains things, helping people to understand why they are being asked to do something a certain way. My mom also allows other people to talk. She doesn't dominate the conversation; she says what she needs to say and then allows people to express themselves without interrupting. She listens and respects what they say, taking other people's opinions into consideration. I think that all of these behaviors makes her a very effective communicator and helps her succeed in her job as a pediatric nurse manager.

I feel that all of the behaviors that my mom possesses regarding communication are productive. She is a very effective communicator and I admire that about her. She is a great leader and her staff respects her very much, something that I hope that I can achieve with my staff as well. I would be very happy to possess all of the communication behaviors that she holds and strive to better myself on this subject daily.

Professional Hopes and Goals

When I think about my future work with children and families from diverse backgrounds, I hope that I continue to use everything that I have learned from this course. I hope that I remember all that I learned about microaggressions and the power that our words carry. I hope that I remain sensitive to others cultures including their language, religion, and parenting styles. And I hope that I can continue to educate my staff on this topic so that we are sensitive to diversity and embrace and accept everyone for who they are.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood education field, with regard to diversity, equity, and social justice, is to continue moving in the right direction. As Louise Derman-Sparks said, "the passion is in the vision." I think it's important that all ECE professionals remember what that vision is and educate their staff on topics such as diversity, microaggressions, and the importance of valuing culture and incorporating it into the classroom.

This course has definitely been my favorite thus far. I have really enjoyed learning about all of the topics that we've covered and discovering more about myself. I thank everyone for your support in discussion boards and blog posts and wish you all continued success on your journey throughout this program.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

    Let's imagine a scenario: I am the director of a preschool and just enrolled a new family. This family, the McConnell's, are from Scotland and their 4 year old daughter, Kellin, will be joining the Pre-Kindergarten class. To prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards the McConnell's, I will do the following:

1. Learn more about Scotland - the typical religion of the country, typical parenting styles/ways children are viewed, how their education system works/what they view as typical with regards to education, common diet, government structure, popular music, etc.

2. Inform the Pre-K teachers of the child's culture and educate them on the facts that I learned about Scotland and ways that they can help Kellin feel welcomed into their classroom.

3. Ensure that their culture is reflected in the classroom so that the child feels valued (ex. pictures of Scotland on the wall, pictures of men in kilts with bagpipes reflected with the rest of the multicultural pictures, a Celtic CD in listening center, etc.

4. Invite and encourage the parents to become a part of the PTA program that we have at our school.

5. Strive to incorporate celebrations for days that Kellin would celebrate were she still living in Scotland, such as May Day.

I believe that by incorporating the five things listed above, the McConnell family, and Kellin, would feel more welcomed. Having a knowledge about their country and their culture would hopefully be appreciated and make them feel accepted and valued. Incorporating specific cultural items and celebrations into the classroom would help Kellin feel more at home and accepted. And by encouraging the McConnell family to become active in the PTA, it would be my hope that they would truly feel welcomed into our community and our school.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

When thinking about bias, prejudice, and oppression there is one incident that sticks out in my mind. This is not an incident that I personally experienced but one that was described to me in detail by a very close friend who happens to be African American. Trina, my friend, told me a story that occurred when she was in first grade. Her best friend at the time was a Caucasian girl named Karen. Trina and Karen were inseparable at the time and always played together.  One day Karen came to school and passed out birthday invitations to all of her friends. Trina waited and waited but never received one. Fast forward to Monday and all of the girls in her class were talking about how great Karen's birthday party. Trina walked up to Karen and asked her why she didn't get invited to her party, since she's her best friend. Karen said "My mommy said you couldn't come because you're black." Trina recalled this as the first time that she realized that there was a difference between black and white people and feeling like being black is bad.

This incident diminished equity by demonstrating blatant racism. Not only was the parent racist, but taught her young child those feelings as well. For me, seeing Trina in person recall this story, it was very emotional. I, as a Caucasian woman, have never felt those extreme feelings of prejudice before and I could tell by Trina's emotions and tone of voice how much this incident still impacts her. She made a point to say that to this day she will never forget that incident and that it still hurts her feelings and makes her feel less than. Personally I can not imagine feeling the way that she felt.

In order to change this situation into an opportunity for greater equity, I think that the situation would have to be completely different. If perhaps the mother allowed Trina to come and talked about their differences in skin color but taught Karen that everyone is the same on the inside, then maybe there would be an opportunity for greater equity.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week we are learning about different types of microaggressions. This has been really interesting to me because I have never taken a sociology course and all of this information is new to me. When thinking about microaggressions, one situation that I experienced comes to mind.

My friend Dazell, who is an African American female, was hanging out with myself and some of my friends, who happen to be Caucasian, at a pub. The guys that were there started talking about classic rock music and Dazell mentioned that she loves Led Zeppelin. One of the guys said "wow, I didn't realize you guys listen to rock music. Do you not listen to rap?" I saw the look that immediately came over Dazell and the situation became very awkward. She played it off, laughed, and said that she pretty much listens to all kinds of music. I could tell though, just by knowing her, that she was offended. I felt embarrassed for the guy that made this comment because it was, to me, an ignorant comment. I also felt bad for Dazell because she was being stereotyped and not looked at as just a human but a race. This situation is an example of a microaggression.

I think that by learning about microaggressions we can learn to become more aware of them. As a professional in the early childhood field I am constantly in close contact with children and families from different backgrounds and cultures. It's important to be aware of microaggressions and be sensitive to other people's cultures. We have to remember to think before we speak because our words can truly hurt others, and often times, without us realizing it.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

This week I asked three people to give me their definition of culture and diversity. While some people chose to elaborate more than others, I feel that all three answers are correct and are part of what makes up culture and diversity.

I first asked my mom, Traci. Her definition of culture - Different practices, beliefs, morales, and ethics that make up someone's social network. It includes mannerisms, the way people look at things, and their beliefs.
Her definition of diversity - A collection of different people from all different backgrounds and their cultures.

Next I asked my best friend, Amber. Her definition of culture - The way that we live in our personal society.
Her definition of diversity - Different types of people living in the same society, including races, religions, and sexual preference.

Lastly I asked my co-worker Dazell. Her definition of culture - Someone's race, religion, language, family unit, food preference, child rearing style, and opinions. It's basically everything that makes up a persons life - what they believe in and how they do things.
Her definition of diversity - Different people and their cultures living in the same place. Most obviously their race and language but it goes deeper than that to include all of the things that make up their culture.

My personal definition of culture, from all of my previous studies and the information learned thus far in this course, is - Everything that makes up who a person is. Their beliefs, way of life, and family structure. It can be as simple as food and as complex as language and parenting styles.
My personal definition of diversity - Different people (races, religions, gender) and their specific cultures living and collaborating in one society.

Looking at the definitions that my family and friends provided, I think that everyone's definition is pretty much in line with mine. For example, my mom's definitions of both culture and diversity contain the same information as mine, it's just worded differently.

Looking at all of the answers as a whole, I don't feel that any information has been omitted. If I'm looking at individual definitions then I feel that Amber's is very vague and could be elaborated on a bit. She didn't mention all of the unique things that a culture entails such as a person's beliefs and practices or their unique views.

Evaluating other people's definitions of culture and diversity has helped to influence my own understanding by reminding me that the concepts are very broad topics. Everyone has different opinions on what culture is and what diversity is, making it almost impossible to be right or wrong. I think it's important to remember that some understand the concepts of culture and diversity more than others and that we should take the time to accept and even appreciate other people's way of life. We can learn so much from each other and the world would really be a much better place if everyone was more understanding and accepting of everyone's different culture.

My Family Culture

The objective this week is to imagine ourselves in a situation where we must evacuate to another country and can only take along three small items that are important to us, things that we hold dear and that represent our family culture.

For this assignment I am going to assume that since I am permanently moving, that I can take my husband and dogs with me, since they are my family. Aside from them, the first item that I would pack to take with me is a photo album that I created with pictures of my wedding in Jamaica and my reception back home in NC. This photo book is important to me because the pictures are of the happiest day of my life. Looking at the photos bring back so many happy memories and have pictures of my entire family and all of my friends.

The second item that I would choose to bring along with me is an afghan that was crocheted by my grandma. I live in the south so naturally I have afghans from everyone all over my house. My favorite though is the one that my grandma made for me as a high school graduation gift. She wanted me to have a little piece of home when I went off to college and I love it so much. It reminds me of how loved I am by my family and how lucky I am to have them.

The third item that I would bring is a cookbook that was given to me, by my mom, as a wedding gift. She had everyone in the family write down recipes on recipe cards and created this awesome, home made cook book. The book contains some of my grandma's, great grandma's, and great, great grandma's secret recipes along with some of my moms favorites. I use it every time I want to make a special meal, dessert, or potluck recipe.

If upon arrival to my new country I was told that I could only keep one item and had to give the other two away I would be very upset. Each one of these items is so special to me and represents my family culture, my roots. I can't imagine my life without these things and have seen, through this assignment, how much they really mean to me and that I need to remember to never take things for granted. As I sign off from this blog post, I will be calling my grandma just to tell her that I love her! :)

When I think of research...

Over the course of the last eight weeks, I have learned a lot about research, more specifically, all that it entails. I have learned about the different types of research, different methods to collect data, and how to ensure that my research is valid. I don't think that I really understood all that must take place in order to conduct a study.
Developing a research simulation really put things into perspective for me, helping me understand the time and effort that goes into developing a research question, selecting a focus group, choosing a type or types of research to conduct, bringing in outside help if needed, choosing methods to collect data and analyzing it in a way that is not bias and valid. After all of that is done, you then have to write your findings and publish them. This makes me really appreciate research studies much more, knowing the hard work that it takes to get answers to our questions.
I think it's important for myself, as a early childhood professional, to understand the research process. This makes me more educated on my field of profession, helps me choose valid research to get knowledge from in the future, and allows me to have the knowledge to educate others in the future, which is very important as I am a preschool director and leader.

Research Around the World

This week I chose to explore the website of the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA). To tell you a little bit about EECERA, "EECERA is an independent, self-governing, international association which promotes and disseminates multi-disciplinary research on early childhood and its applications to policy and practice. EECERA is a non-profit organisation, wholly-owned and subscribed to by its substantial and influential world-wide membership. It generates its own revenue, receives no external funding and thus ensures its independence, radical attitude and innovative openness." You can find their website at www.eecera.org.

When navigating the website, I cam across the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, which is proclaimed to be one of the most prestigious early childhood journals in the world. When searching their journal article database, I quickly learned that their trending topics in the field are much like ours. The first article I cam across was an article discussing the battle between children learning through play and academics. This reminds me of a constant conversation that I, as an administrator, have with parents regularly.

 Another topic that caught my attention discussed learning and teachable moments during outdoor play. It caught my attention because this is something that I am constantly stressing to our teachers. I explain how children should still be learning even when they're outside, it should be an outdoor classroom. I really find this article informative and it puts my thoughts into well expressed words. I plan to print it and present a copy to my teachers tomorrow.

Technology in the classroom is also a hot topic in Europe, as it is here. I chose to use the influence of technology in the preschool classroom as my topic for my research simulation, so I found it really interesting to read this article. The article does not discuss the effects that technology could have on children's behavior or sleep patterns, as I am interested in investigating, but rather the influence that it plays on children's social interaction, which is also a very intriguing point.

Overall I learned that Europe seems to be facing the same, exact issues that we are facing here in America. I really find their journal to be a valuable resource and have favorited this site so that I can stay current on hot topics and continue to print articles that are of importance to my staff.

Research and it's Benefit to Children

Research is conducted every day in the science and medical fields. The most important research, in my opinion, is the research that helps create cures to diseases and medicines that help people live quality lives.

 One thing that I find to be a very interesting topic, is the increasing diagnosis of children with autism. The number of children with autism continues to go up every year and there is still no known cause. If I could conduct research that would benefit children, I would choose to conduct research to find first the cause of autism. I think if we can find out what causes autism, then we can reduce the number of children diagnosed with this condition. After finding out the cause(s) of autism, I would then work to try to find a cure for it. Autism is such a complex condition, since it is a spectrum, children can vary from very high functioning to very low functioning. I think it would really benefit children, families, and the world if we could find out why this is occurring, how to prevent it, and ideally, how to cure it.

My Personal Research Journey

With a new year comes a new class, and in this case, a new research topic! My broad topic idea for this research simulation is to see how early childhood education benefits children overall. After thinking about this topic, and what more I would like to learn about this, I broke my topic down into three subtopics. They are:
1. To see how early childhood education benefits children's verbal skills
2. The influence that early childhood education has on children's empathy, manners, and overall social skills
3. The influence of technology in the preschool classroom - the pros and the cons

My task now, is to choose one of the subtopics to focus on for the remainder of this course. Each of these topics interests me, so this is the hardest part for me so far. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on these subtopics. Which one do you think will benefit families and the ECE field the most and why?

As always, I appreciate your thoughts and look forward to us all helping each other out these next 8 weeks!