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.

Observation of a microagression

I work in a school community which includes many impoverished immigrant families from Mexico.  Recently, I witnessed a verbal microagression towards one of our families.  The family, I'll give them the last name Rivera, was helping to decorate one of our school parent meeting rooms.  Many of the teachers and staff were helping with the decorating as well.  The Riveras, husband and wife, were heading up the project and delegating various tasks that needed to be completed.  When the project was complete a teacher approached the couple and asked,

"You're English is so good, where are you from?"  The Riveras responded, "Yeah, well we're from Phoenix."  The teacher stated, "Oh, I thought maybe you were from Mexico and spoke really good English, but I guess you would speak good English if you're a native Arizonian." The conversation ended abruptly and the teacher left the room shortly after.

As an observer to this microagression, I felt very uncomfortable for both the teacher and the Riveras.  It was akward because it was evident the teacher assumed the Riveras were immigrants and had learned to speak English "well enough."  I felt the teacher's verbal microagression was unintended because after she realized the Riveras weren't immigrants her body language and facial expression showed embarassment.  I also felt uncomfortable for the Riveras because the teacher's microagression caused them to "explain" their language ability and nationality. 


I have always perceived discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes as "things" or "events" that happen in most places; however, not frequently on a school campus. This week's lesson regarding microagression has expanded my understanding that  discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes happen everywhere.  I also understand that microagressions whether intended or unintended are avenues for discrimination, prejudeice, and stereotypes to negatively impact people.

Diversity Perspectives

I interviewed three people (one family member and two friends) to discover their definition of culture and diversity.

Person #1
Culture:  The ways a person/people live.
Diversity:  A variety of people based on ther race, ethnicity, gender, and culture.


Person #2
Culture:  The food people eat, the religion people believe in, the clothing people wear, the language people speak.
Diversity:  The different characterisitics of people (religion, race, gender, ethnicity).


Person #3
Culture:  The ways people live based on their race, ethnicity, religion, traditions, and class.
Diversity:  A mix of people that are different in their culture, race, socioeconomic status, etc.

Which aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course are included in the answers I received—and what are some examples?

The responses to my interview questions included a broad perspective of culture and diversity.  The people connected race, gender, ethnicity, gender, religion to culture and the idea that diveristy is a variety or mixture of these aspects.

Which aspects have been omitted—and what are some examples of such omission?

The definitions of culture didn't include the concept of family culture or social identities.  The people I interviewed did not include the idea of family culture and the ways family have a great influence on individual cultures.  Also, the responses did not include the idea that society influences culture such as our indiviual identities and the "groups" to which we belong.    

In what ways has thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics?

Talking about culture and diversity with other people helps me to take into account the perspectives of others regarding diversity.  I think talking about culture and diversity with other people helps me to keep an ever expanding, working definition of culture and diversity.  This assignment has influenced me to continue to talk with others about culture and diversity.

My family culture

Imagine the following:
A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

Blog about all of the following:

• A description of the three items you would choose
• Family photographs-  I would take as many photographs/photo albums as possible.
• Family recipes-  I would take my family's favorite recipes. so I could prepare meals developed from mutiple generations.
• Books- I would take some books for me and my son.
• How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you
• I would explain that the family photographs provide a visual of my family's history for generations.  Photographs provide a face to a name and a picture of places our family has lived.  My family photographs are memories of moments we have had together and can be shared with future generations.
• My family recipes are important to me and my family because one o our traditions is to get together on Sundays and prepare meals to be shared with one another.  Many of the recipes we prepare have been cooked for generations.
• Books are an important part of my family's value on education.  I have read to my son since he was born.
• Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you
• If this was to occur, I would keep the family photgraphs because they can't be replaced.  I would feel sad and disappointed to give up the other items I brought with me; however, I would be grateful to keep them.
• Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise,
• As a result of this exercise I realized my family photographs are really important to me.  I was able to narrow my one item to family photographs because they provide a visual to my family roots and an avenue to tell my family's story. 

Thinking about research...

This course has provided me with an in-depth explanation of the research process.  I have learned new concepts, such as quantitative and qualitative research.  I have gleaned how to properly conduct research and how to analyze a study for ineffective, improper research methods. I intend to use research techniques such as direct observations, interviewing and sampling to conduct future research. Decreasing bias and analyzing research for bias were challenging. I found that developing self-reflexivity will support me in overcoming bias in research.

I believe as I continue on my education journey my experiences in this course will positively impact my ability to solve problems and answer important questions.  I will continue to learn, ask questions, and seek answers through the research process.

EECERA helps to answer some questions!

What are some of the current international research topics?

• Children's perspectives and participation in research
• Outdoor play and learning
• Professionalism in early childhood care and education 

 What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

• There is a Special Interest Group (SIG), Young Children's Perspectives, that was formed in 2004.  This group strives to reflect reflect children's rights and perspectives through collaborative research.  This SIG has also drawn attention to three issues regarding children's involvement in research: children's rights to protection, their rights to participation, and their rights to privacy.

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

• There are several Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that research and study specific topics in the early childhood field.  The website provides email contact information for the participants in each SIG.  Below is a list of current SIGs:
• Birth to Three
• Equity and Respect for Diversity
• Leadership and Integration
• Leadership Mentoring for Early Years Services
• Learning and Participation
• Mathematics Birth to Eight Years
• Outdoor Play and Learning
• Professionalism in Early Childhood Education and Care
• Transitions
• Young Children's Perspectives
• Working With Parents and Families