Professional Hopes and Goals

When I think about working with diverse children and families, I hope to protect them from bias an prejudice by creating an anti-bias environment.  I hope to learn about various family cultures by involving young children and families in my classroom and using that knowledge to provide an anti-bias education. 

My goal for the early childhood field is to affect positive change in relation to diversity and equity by taking a stand on bias and prejudice.  I will be able to take a stand on issues of diversity, equity, social justice by increasing my self-awareness of my personal biases, identifying microaggressions when they occur, and by educating my colleagues on ways to promote anti-bias in my school community. 

For my classmates- thank you for sharing your thoughts, feelings, and experiences in working with young children and families.  You have shared some thoughtful insights and have offered innovative solutions for current issues in the field.  Good luck with the rest of your classes!

Welcoming Families from Around the World

Pretend Scenario:

A new family has recently emmigrated from the Philippines to the United States.  Their daughter will be joining my preschool program soon.  There are several ways I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family:

1.  I will gather pictures, posters, and other materials which reflect the Filipino culture so the child and family feel welcome and accepted in the program.
2. I will gather, read, read, and display age appropriate fictional and nonfictional books that reflect the Filipino culture.
3. I will meet with the family and learn about their educational goals, family culture, and language diversity.
4. I will establish a daily form of communication with the family they are most comfortable with.
5. I will develop a plan to provide the family opportunities to be actively involved in the classroom setting.

My hope is that through careful planning and attention to meeting the needs of the family they will feel welcome in the program setting.  I believe including photographs, sharing cultural stories, and reading books of the Filipino culture.

Sharing personal stories of bias, prejudice, and oppression

An incident that occurs frequently in the school setting is the celebration of dominant culture Christian holidays.  Last year, I observed a teacher celebrating Christmas, Easter, and Valentines Day with her class of diverse students.  Three of her students followed jehovah's witness beliefs and were unable to participate in the celebrations.  During the celebrations these students were sent to another classroom of students who were not celebrating at the time.  This was example of institutional oppression and exclusion.  These incidents sent the message to students, "if you're not one of us you're an outsider."
This message dimished equity of those students because the celebration was in recognition of traditions of some students while excluding others who do not recognize the dominant culture traditions.

For me, I remember feeling a sense of unfairness and sadness for the excluded students because they received a message "you are different and we don't completly accept you for your beliefs/traditions."  I felt as though the teacher could have turned these celebratory traditions into educational opportunities for the students to exchange/share cultures rather than exclude students who "didn't fit."  By creating an environment where students learn and share cultural beliefs and traditions all cultures become accepted and welcomed; therefore, all students are equal with no dominant culture influence.