Welcoming Families from Around the World

Week 7:  Welcoming Families from Around the World

1.  The name of my family’s country I chose:  Malawi, formerly known as Nyasaland, located in

      Southeastern Africa. 

2.  Five ways to be culturally responsive to my family:

      A.   Get to know more about the country’s economy and education

      B.  Have translators to help me with the primary language spoken: Chichewa, of which over 57% of

            the population speaks.

     C.  Learn more about the country’s culture

     D.  Learn more about the demographics of the country

     E.  Find out ways I can support the families and children of whom I will be working within the

           Community. 

     These preparations will work towards benefitting my family in many ways.  By learning more about this country’s economy I would learn that this country is one of the least developed countries and has a struggling economy dependent of foreign aid.  In addition, I would also learn that this country entitles its people to at least five years of primary education by its government and an effort has been made to improve literacy skills, access to more educational materials, and programs to feed children.  I would also be aware of the need for translator because 12% of the population speak English and I would need to communicate verbally if the family did not speak English and try to learn some of their primary language.  I would also learn that this country has a rich culture in dance and soccer.  This information is useful in possibly engaging the family to teach me about their dance and play soccer with them.  I would also know this country has a population of 15 million people.  Approximately 68, 000 deaths per year from AID/HIV with a life expectancy of around 50 years old and a high infant mortality rate due to high risk of infectious diseases, poor gender equality, and maternal mortality.  This information can be used to educate the family to promote better health conditions and education.  Overall, I think it is important to work with families and children by not only learning about their country, but to also ask them what they want and need for their children and to find ways in which I can support them through my knowledge and other services and resources. 

 

The personal side of biases, prejudices, and oppression

Blog 6:

Ageism is something I have witnessed from time to time while working with my new boss.  I worked with my former boss for many years before he retired at 67 years of age.  My current boss is in his early 30’s and some of our patients have commented on his looks.  I have heard, “Wow, you look so young!” Are you sure you are a doctor?”  and “You are a baby!” “Is today your first day as a doctor?”  I never really thought about ageism much nor that it was an issue with discrimination for those people considered younger.  Whenever I notice the doctor feeling bad about some of these comments, I will often say, “Wow, my feelings are hurt!”  “I am not being told how nice I look.”  I feel comfortable saying this to my patients because I know them well enough to say just about anything tactfully to them.  I feel that these patients who have made comments regarding how young the doctor looks, are not trying to be mean or hurtful.  I think they were just accustomed to having a former doctor who was much older than the current doctor and they are taken aback.  By learning more about ageism, I am more aware of it occurring with younger people and older people.  I have learned that our society values youth to a certain degree as well as being older to a certain degree.  Youth is great, so long as it doesn’t make one question another person’s experience and/or expertise. 

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

An example of a microaggression I witnessed this week would have to do with sexual orientation.  At one of the cosmetic stores where I live, there are two males who work there.  I was looking over the various colors of rouge, when I overheard a lady ask one the males if he could help her find the right color foundation for her face, and then added, “You’ll be better at this than I will.”  After observing this microaggression, I immediately thought of the video I watch with Dr. Sue and when he said that unintentional microaggressions are more damaging than others.  I believe this lady was trying to compliment the guy, but naturally assumed he was gay and that gay men are better at dealing with make-up.  The man was friendly and did help the lady, but I wondered what he was thinking and if he was gay, how did he feel about her assumption? 

This week’s readings and video reminded me to be more sensitive to stereotypes, discriminations, and prejudices.  I did not realize unintentional microaggressions could do more harm than the others, as it demeans, insults, and causes it targets to feel less valued.  I also did not realize that prejudices can begin at age 3.  Personally and professionally, as an early childhood educator, I feel it is so important to instill in children positive social-emotional developments to value and respect all people, especially those different from themselves.  Children should be able to recognize differences and embrace those differences instead of distancing themselves from it and producing negative feelings, which are difficult to reverse as children grow older.  We must strive to be an inclusive society for all people and to educate our young children about the need to perceive the views of others and work effectively together to make positive connections, which will produce positive outcomes towards a better society.  

 

Reference

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

 

 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Blog: Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

1.  Tomoko: Believes diversity is comprised of people from different countries and culture is what those people carry with them from past generations.

2.  Kalpana:  Believes diversity is about different thoughts, ideas, and experiences along with race, ethnicity, religion, and genders.  She also believe everyone has a culture and every culture is different by how families live and what they have experienced and choose to continue.

3.  Wendy:  She believes diversity is about different cultures coming together.  She believes diversity also has to do with people’s skin color, the foods they eat, and from where they came.

 From the aforementioned definitions of culture and diversity there are many aspects of what I have learned culture and diversity to be from this course.  I have learned that people perceive culture and diversity mostly from what they see on the surface.  Only one person I asked about culture and diversity included individual thoughts, ideas, and experiences, which go beneath the surface of appearances.  I think our society still needs to gain better insights as to how complex culture and diversity are instead mainly believing culture and diversity has to do with one’s skin color and/or race. 

One aspect of culture and diversity that has been omitted is a person’s abilities.  People are all unique in what they can do and what they can offer, whether they are considered to have a disability or not.  Also, not considered was economic class, gender, daily living, and sexual orientation. 

Through these definitions of diversity, I continue to be amazed of how people view diversity and culture.  These views, for the most part, seem superficial to me.  Only the “tip of the iceberg” views.  I think we need to be educated more on how complex and multifaceted culture and diversity truly is in the lives of each individual.   Dominant culture also strongly influences many cultures and so I believe the thinking about such a topic is influences our definitions, for the most part. 

My Family Culture

Blog: My Family Culture

 

    The items I would take if I were only allowed to take three items with me to another country with a culture different from my own would be my Bible, my photo album, and my credit card.  I would tell the others that these items would help me remain stable while adjusting to my new culture.  My religion is what keeps me grounded, my photo album would help me retain my memory of my family/culture, and my credit card would help me support my family financially to help us get adjusted to our new life.  However, if I were told I could only keep one item it would definitely be my Bible, because if I am in a culture supposedly different from my own, I would likely not have access to a Bible and my faith is what keeps me centered and focused.  I didn’t realize my religion/faith had such a huge impact on everything about me and that without it, I would not be the person I am today. 

 

When I Think of Research...

 

Blog Assignment: When I Think of Research...

 

There are many insights I have gained about research from taking this course.  I learned research is important in that it creates knowledge and awareness to use when making vital decisions, such as those made in the early childhood field.  I also learned about factors which make high quality research.  These factors include building on valid theories similar to the research being studied, being objective in the research, use a variety of methods to collect data, and after an analysis and findings are shown, submit for peer review is recommended.  Also, it is important to be familiar with research standards, such as not treating the participants as objects but rather treating them by always putting their best interest first. 

 

Throughout this course, my understanding about the nature of doing researched has expanded my knowledge about research and how to be a better researcher.  The nature of research involves knowing what to search for in using good research, knowing the specific part of scholarly articles, such as abstract, methods, measures, results, and conclusions, and knowing how to navigate around an article by knowing what to read.  From a different perspective of the nature of research, I also learned putting the participant first is most important in research.  In addition, I learned there are various types of research, such as ethical, purposeful, contextualized, and equitable research as well as approaches, such as qualitative and quantitative. 

 

I also learned many insights regarding lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood.  In planning, I learned it is important to decide what is to be researched and how it will be done, such as when, where, and who will participate.  It is also to consider what the goal of your research.  In designing research I learned it is important to first research previous works of the topic being studied and researched to learn if it is plausible to research further.  Next, I learned to how to create a hypothesis from my research question.  (For this, it is vital to make sure the topic is not too broad).  Lastly, I learned about experiments, variables, and types of groups that should be considered in the topic to be researched. 

 

I did encounter some challenges in this course regarding research.  My challenge was in creating a hypothesis that was too broad and would be challenging to prove even if it was more specific to research.  I believe I would have had to mainly rely on past research collected from this topic.  My original hypothesis evolved around poverty and abuse of young children and how this affects the brain.  Given my lack of experience and expertise on this issue, I decided to change my topic to something I was personally and professionally aware: Teeth.  Overall, I dealt with the issue by researching a topic I was not only comfortable with in doing, but also felt confident in being able to prove my hypothesis. 

 

My perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course.  I felt this course strongly supported validating early childhood educators as professionals and not just care-takers of babies, toddlers, and young children.  I feel this course truly enhanced my professional abilities and has created more confidence in my abilities to be a better educated professional.  Overall, I feel I could actually be a high-quality researcher and I appreciate all my colleagues support and encouragement in helping me achieve these strengths throughout this course!  I wish everyone the best and hope we will continue to move forward together. 

 

                                                                                                            Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010).  Doing early childhood research:
 .                                                                                                          International perspective on theory and practice (2^nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

 

Research Around the World

Week 5: Blog

Some of the current international topics on the Early Childhood Australia site are on children’s rights.  I thought considering our research topics this might be interesting to review.  (earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/)

Children’s rights-UN Convention (CROC)

What is the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC)? 
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC) is a universally agreed set of non-negotiable standards and obligations. It is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights. United States

Convention on the Rights of the Child - a plain-English summary 
A plain-English summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. United States

The Convention on the Rights of the Child in languages other than English 
CROC in seventeen languages other than English, including Chinese, Arabic, Italian, French, Spanish and Turkish. Belgium

The best interest of the child as set out in CROC 
The principle of the best interests of the child is set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The article includes which actions are affected and whose actions are covered and what might be included in the concept of the best interests of the child. Australia

Myths and facts concerning the Convention on the Rights of the Child 
Four primary myths exist about CROC, including that CROC interferes with Australia's sovereignty, with the balance between the commonwealth and state governments, with parent's rights; that it is anti-family; and that CROC is unnecessary in the Australian context. Australia

 

I also thought it was interesting to gain insights into this site’s specific interests in early childhood:

ECA's Early Years of School Network

ECA advocates for the best interests of all children from birth to eight years of age, which includes children in the early years of school education. Many of our members work in primary schools, education departments and in roles facilitating children to transition into school from preschool or early learning services (long day care and family day care) but there is a sense that ECA could be doing more in this area.

In response to strong interest across the country we are establishing the ‘Early Years of School Network’ to connect people with a shared interest and strengthen our profile. Our ECA WA President, Jenny Jay (Associate Professor for Early Childhood Studies, Curtin University) will lead the network. Participation will provide members with an opportunity to keep up-to-date and engage with other professionals working with children in the early years of school. It will also inform the work of ECA, including the development of submissions, publications and events. In addition to ECA's submission to the Review of the Australian Curriculum above, some examples of recent activities include:

·         The ECA WA Branch has recently developed, in collaboration with three partners, a submission to the WA Department of Education on pedagogy in the early years of school

·         The ECA Tas Branch will be hosting a joint event in September with Early Childhood Educators Tasmania

·         ECA publications is planning a special edition of Every Child in July, 2014 on transition to school and will be seeking input and article suggestions.

The Early Years of School Network will operate on the LinkedIn platform. To join the network:

1.        If you already have a LinkedIn profile, click here and send a request to ‘join group’. Once approved, you can access the site anytime to find information and/or join the discussion.

2.        If you don’t already have a LinkedIn profile you will need to establish one first. There is no cost, just visit www.linkedin.com, set up a profile and then search for the ‘ECA Early Years of School Network’. You can also add ECA and individual colleagues to your network.

 

In keeping with the spirit of our research, I also thought this topic was appropriate for us as professional: 

 

III. In relation to the conduct of research, I will:

 

1.        Recognise that research includes my routine documentation and investigations of children's learning and development, as well as more formal research projects undertaken with and by external bodies.

2.        Be responsive to children's participation in research, negotiating their involvement taking account of matters such as safety, fatigue, privacy and their interest.

3.        Support research to strengthen and expand the knowledge base of early childhood, and where possible, initiate, contribute to, facilitate and disseminate such research.

4.        Make every effort to understand the purpose and value of proposed research projects and make informed decisions as to the participation of myself, colleagues, children, families and communities.

5.        Ensure research in which I am involved meets standard ethical procedures including informed consent, opportunity to withdraw and confidentiality.

6.        Ensure that images of children and other data are only collected with informed consent and are stored and utilised according to legislative and policy requirements.

7.        Represent the findings of all research accurately.