Professional Hopes and Goals

I have learned a lot since the beginning of this class.  One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families of different backgrounds would be that the teachers are educated in the different backgrounds.  By this, I mean that teachers need to do research outside of what the families and students tell them about their culture.  This research needs to be done before they meet the child and their families.  This will allow for a more successful learning environment.  It seems as though a lot of teachers these days do not show interest in all of the different cultures and they do not do extra research to educate themselves.  This will only help meet the needs of all of the students in your class.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to diversity, equity and social justice is to make sure that I know as much as I can about every student in my class.  By doing this, I will conduct research on my own, communicate with parents/children and communicate with other teachers.  Communicating with all of these individuals will allow me to learn about the different cultures.  It is a must that all cultures should be treated the same in any class setting.

I just want to thank everyone for being open and establishing a great line of communication from the beginning of the class that continued throughout the entire class.  Without this type of communication, the success of this class would not have been there.  Even though we do not know each other, sharing stories and sharing advice was very helpful to me!  I hope to get the privilege of having another class with you guys sometime down the road of my Master's program.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

            The name of my families country of origin is mainly from Ireland and then America.  My dad’s side of the family came over to the United States from Ireland, in which I am 50% Italian.  There are several ways that I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive to the families.  The most important way I would prepare myself is to do research on the district or county origin that I am teaching in.  While conducting research, I would make sure to do research on the different types of cultures that I could be responsible for.  Doing this would allow me to have background knowledge or the different cultures.

            The second way that I would prepare myself for the different cultures, is to make sure that I communicate with the parents.  Communicating with the parents is very important.  It allows you to learn about the background of the family, what traditions and customs they may have and important information to learn about the family and the child.  This will also allow me to draw a connection between the teacher and the parents/student.

            The third way I would prepare myself would be to communicate with the child.  Communicating with the child would allow the child to feel that the teacher/me, really does care about them and their culture.  As a teacher, it is important to learn as much as you can about the child.

            The fourth way I would prepare myself is by being open and communicating with the staff that I work with.  You can learn a lot from the staff and administration that you work with.  Being a first year teacher, it would allow me to not know as much about different cultures than what other teachers that have taught there know. 

            The last way that I would prepare myself is to be open to learn from anyone and learn in any way.  It is important to take it amongst yourself to continue to learn about the different cultures.  If you are not open and willing to learn about the different cultures, you will not have success teaching.

            The main way that I hope the above ways will benefit the family and I is because I want all of the students to feel comfortable in the classroom.  If they are comfortable in the classroom, the learning will be easier.  It will also allow for a better learning environment for everyone, allowing everyone to feel comfortable learning from each other.  I also hope that these five ways help me learn to develop and grow a relationship with each family.  This will allow for a stronger communication between the parents and kid, parents and teacher and teacher and student.  a

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

There have been a few experiences that I have experienced that relate to bias and prejudice.  One of the most important examples was in relation to my father.  I am very close with my family.  My father has been asked several times if he is a member of the KKK.  He has dark, thick hair and a thick mustache.  He jokes around at times, but is very serious when he needs to be.  He has been asked at church, shopping, school and several other examples if he was a member of the KKK.  There have been several of my sister's friends that will not come over because they say he was either in the KKK or looks like he was in the KKK.  My father was not in the KKK and it is very offensive to him that he is judged based on his looks.  People will not take the time to get to know him because of his looks.  My sister's friends will not even listen to her and believe that he was not in the KKK.  It is also judgmental because they are stereotyping the individuals that are or were in the KKK.  This is not appropriate.  

This example diminishes equity is several ways.  One of the ways that it diminishes equity is because it makes the individuals that are in the KKK feel less superior to other individuals.  Not only does it make those individuals fell less superior, but it also makes my dad discouraged and feel as though he is being judged.  If people do not take the time to get to know someone, even if they are or were a member of the KKK, that does not mean that they are a bad person.  

This incident brought up several emotions.  The main emotion that is brought up is frustration.  The main reason that it brings frustration is because they are judging my father without even knowing him.  It also brings up the emotion or dislike.  

The people that would have to change would be the individuals that are judging and stereotyping my father.  My father is not doing anything wrong, therefore he does not need to change anything.