Professional Hopes and Goals

My hopes and goals are to be able to identify diversity by exploring culture, language, economic status, learning styles, gender, race, gender, race, and ethnicity.  I want to learn and identify the individual self concept. Next Iwant to acknowledge diversity by accept and sharing our differences.  Finally, accept diversity by respecting our individuality and uniqueness and establishing strategies to accept people for who they are.  Changes in myself is to remove any personal biases the will hinder me of identifying, acknowledging, and accepting diversity and not be judgmental because we all have uniqueness. Children should have the joy of learning in a safe, trusting, and nonbiased environment.

I would like to thank my colleagues for your support and dedication as I make this journey in early childhood education. Thank you for your feedback and contribution to my goals and aspirations.  I also want to thank my professors and mentor for their inspirations and advice.  I look forward from hearing from you all as I continue my transition.  

 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

I have a young boy from Honduras who has moved to the US with his sister, mother, and father.   I tell my students in the classroom that the young boy is from another country and we want to welcome him and make him feel at home.  My students began to work on activities to welcome the new child by creating drawings and posters of his native country that is tropical and rich in colors.  The young boy is bi-lingual in Spanish and English.  I choose a book to read to the class that reads in Spanish but interprets in English to welcome him and learn his language.  Tortilla with beans and meat are the popular food in Honduras, this will be the selected lunch for the day so that the new student can feel more welcome.  The young boy parents are also welcome to his first day of class so that the students and I can learn more about his home culture and traditions as well. Preparing this day for the new student from Honduras will make him feel comfortable seeing his homeland has been incorporated into the classroom and the other students participating.  This will also help him make friends with the other students, learn about each other and get rid of any biases or prejudices. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I can recall about 2-3 years ago having a discussion on Fox News page on Facebook regarding who should run against President Obama in the 2012 election.  Well most of the supporters on this site were all for former Governor Sarah Palin.  You can imagine the conversations going on.  I made a statement about Palin resigning as Governor in the middle of her term and questioned do we really want someone like her to run our country.  I white male with a profile picture dressed in a service uniform with medals hanging from his collar responded to me saying,  “ Carla, stay out of this conversation and leave it to the professionals and get back in line to get your government cheese.”  Well you can imagine how I felt, shocked.  Of course I let him know not only did I have a MBA, but I’m employed and do not receive government assistance.  I then received an in box message from a lady who read both of our commits.  She not only apologized for this man’s rude behavior towards me but said I handle myself well.   What made him believe I had no voice?  Was it my skin color?  What made him believe I was not professional?  Was it my skin color?  What made him believe I was receiving welfare?  Was it m skin color?  My profile on Facebook also states my education and employment.  Not being part of the dominate culture; he assumed I had no knowledge of current social and political issues.  This incident showed me that oppression and prejudice is alive and well today.  Because of its history, I don’t know if it will ever be eliminated but we must do as much to reduce it.  It should be replace with understanding that we all come from different cultures, values and backgrounds and we all need to remove these hidden bias.  When responding to this gentleman, I believe I handled the situation well with great pride to let him know I was nothing what he recalled of me.  Maybe years before I received these accomplishments the outcome of how I handle this situation may have been pretty ugly.  However, this gentleman never responded back to me after I corrected him.  Maybe he got my point to never assume my skin color places me in a lower class.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Microaggressions are indignities that are verbal, behavioral or environmental and may or may not be intentionally communicated to women, people or color, gay/lesbians with insulting message behind them.

I remember being on an elevator in a court house.  On this elevator was myself, two other black women and two white men.  As the elevator stopped and opened, the two white men excited.  As the door finally closed, I and the other tow black women remained on the elevator.  One of the woman said, "I guess all the lawyers left the elevator," than she begin to laugh.  Then the other black woman said, "no, I'm still on the elevator."  Although I did not know neither women, I was quite embarrassed.  I'm sure the black attorney was insulted by the hidden message of white men in a court house can only be lawyers.  Whether the message was intentional or unintentional, the other black women message was very sterotypic of believing the white men as attorneys and not the black woman. 

I have learned that some point everyone may indulge in Microaggressions behavioral.  However, we must learn to interact and share our differences without judging others. 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Microagrations [DVD].Perspectives on diversity and equity. Baltimore, MD: Author.

 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Culture is identified as the ideas, beliefs and values of a group of shared traditions while diversity is the characteristics of being diverse or unique.  Our cultural diversity is acknowledged by our rich tradition and beliefs.  Cultural diversity has showed us the different beliefs, customs, and traditions of many cultures with diverse backgrounds.  However, language barriers can differ from culture to culture.  For example, working with many people who are bilingual in English and Spanish can be sometimes challenging due to pitch and speed of the voice.  Moreover, having more than one language is valuable to connect and interact with others from different cultures.  Cultural diversity will always include some form of language diversity.  Understanding that people are different should be respected.  Cultural diversity should teach us to be more sensitive to the needs of others and be more acceptable to people background.

 

 

Assignment: My Family Culture

Imagine

 

If a major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of my country and had to be evacuated to another county which culture is completely different and I'm only allowed to bring 3 small items with me that hold dear and represent my family culture would be photos, my bible, and soul food.

 

 

Photos will remind me of family and love ones I left behind.  Photos will also bring memories of my country and everything I had to leave behind.  I would bring my bible because I grew up in a Christian base family with faith, hope, inspiration, and a connection to God.  Soul food because of it's tradition in my family especially on the holiday's coming together eating around the table with large family meals bringing us togetherness, happiness and bonding.

 

If only allow one of the three mention items I would chose the photos for the images and memories.  The bible I carry in my heart and can still have a connection to God and my faith.  The soul food can be replace with a new traditional meal that will still bring family gatherings.

 

 

It would definitely be a culture shock for someone to have to leave their homeland to evacuate to another unknown country.  Not realizing, this happens everyday in the world.  Our beliefs and customs are very unique in our family culture.  Family culture is very important to us in who we are.