Communication Idol

The person I think demonstrates effective communication is my supervisor. I feel that she is an effective communicator because she is always keeping us informed of what is going on, she makes herself available questions, is open suggestions, and gives great constructive criticism during evaluations (never once has her suggestions for improvement, made me feel like I am a bad teacher, unlike my previous supervisor). Also, she does not make assumptions, and makes sure she has all the facts first before talking to someone. She knows there are two sides to every story. I would definitely model some of my own communication behaviors after her because she has developed great, trusting relationships among her staff, and people are respectful of her. Two things I would like to do better.  

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that I can learn from them, just as much as they can learn from me. I hope they can also have an open mind about the different backgrounds as I do, and that we can recognize each other's differences, and develop a respectful relationship.

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to continue promoting equity and diversity in the classroom. We learned that children start to develop prejudice and bias at a young age, so if we can end these, then our children will help end discrimination in our world, and will then pass their knowledge onto their children and future generations.

I wanted to thanks all my colleagues for all the support and ideas you brought to the table throughout this class. I always enjoy learning from you, and hearing your personal stories. Hearing some of your stories about how people discriminated you broke my heart, and I don't understand how people can be so cruel sometimes. We all now have a better understanding about diversity and equity, and hopefully we can help end discrimination and prejudice in our world! Best of luck as we continue on this journey!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The country of origin my family is coming from is China.

In order to prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family I will:

1)      Research information about China, their culture, religion, language, traditions, and foods, to get a better understand of the family and their culture they were accustomed to.

2)      Also, by researching information about their culture, I can incorporate toys, books, and other activities into my classroom lessons in order to make them feel comfortable, and also teach the other student about the new student’s family culture.

3)      Prepare information for them in Chinese in case they are not fluent in English, and have either a translator or technology, such as an iPad with a translation app, in order to communicate with the child and family.

4)      Arrange a time where I can visit them in their new home and they can show me some of their culture traditions and I can better understand their culture and see it firsthand.

5)      Have the family fill out a questionnaire in additional to get an even better idea about the family.

I am hoping that by making these preparations I am helping the family make their move to the United States easier, and feel more comfortable that I understand what they are going through, and trying not to make it so overwhelming. It will also show the family that I care, and thus hopefully be the first step in developing a good relationship with the family. I will benefit from this because I would have to learn more about a culture that I’m not too familiar with, and be able to incorporate this new culture into the classroom, and teach other children about them. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

Teaching in a school district where there are many different types of culture, religion, and sexual orientation, I have seem many examples of bias, prejudice, and oppression. One example of prejudice that I have experience was when students make fun of my hearing. I often have students tell me I need hearing aides (before they know I have them) or tell me I have to turn them up. A lot of times I just a laugh it off, but sometimes it upsets me. They don't understand the concept that I have a heredity hearing loss and that they need to speak clearly to me instead of mumbling their words or speaking very softly. I get frustrated with myself when I have to have them repeat what they are saying or I saying something wrong because I fully didn't hear them. I also get embarrass. I know these are high school kids and I'm the adult, but sometimes, because of my hearing, they don't take me seriously or see me as a teaching authority figure.

In order to change this incident into an opportunity for greater equity, I would explain to the students hearing aide usage is on the rise because of all the loud music people listen to these days and with their headphones. Therefore, there are more people out there with hearing issues, but that doesn't make them less equal. I would tell the kids that we all have something wrong with us, but I don't make fun of them for it. We have to learn to respect people that are different from each other, and that next time they encounter someone who has hearing aides to speak slowly and clearly in order for the person to fully understand them, and to be patient with them, instead of making fun of them.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggression

I don't necessarily remember the specifics of what happen, but microagressions that often happen to me pertain to me hearing and having hearing aides. When I mention someone that I have hearing aids I often get "oh I only thought old people had them". At first it made me and embarrass because I felt like people were picking on me for having hearing aids.. I eventually learned that I should just explain to people that I have a heredity hearing loss, which runs in the family, and I had no control over it. Often times now when people mention this, especially my students, I explained to them that generation will actually have more hearing aid wearers because of all the loud music they listen to through their headphones.

After paying close attention this week to microaggressions, I realized that discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes still exist and happen everywhere. The simplest thing of calling someone else a name and not mean it can be a microaggression. For example, I had a bi-racial student tell how in one class she was told to go back the Africa by white student. I asked her how she handled it,and she told me went off on the student because she was sick and tired of people making jokes and comments. We never know when something we say is going to offend anyone, so we have to be very careful in what we say, and think about what we are going to say before we say it!

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I asked three people, My brother Mark, my friend Carla, and a student of mine. Below are their definitions of culture and diversity.

Student (age 15):
Culture: "When I hear the word culture I think of a lifestyle or another country who does something different than here in the U.S."
Diversity: "When I hear the word diversity I think of the different people/race of people in the world."

Mark (age 23):
Culture: "I think of people's backgrounds, ancestors, and family traditions."
Diversity: "Multiple interactions of cultures."

Carla (age 27):
Culture: "The behavior and characteristics of a specific group or society."
Diversity: "It's multi-cultural, not the same, variety of characteristics, unique."

Looking at what I have studied so far in this course the people I talked to had pretty much the idea of culture is one groups way of life and behavior. They consider culture to classified as specific group. When looking at diversity I feel that the their responses were similar in a way of that it's different among people, and each person is unique. I feel Carla's definition of diversity basically saying we are all unique. I also think Marl's definition of culture also is good talking about how its tradition and passed down from generations. It withstands the length of time.

One thing I noticed was with culture is the people didn't mention that culture was a person's was of thinking, values, behaviors, and traditions. They thought of culture more as a group as a whole that act the same. When looking at the difference in diversity, I wasn't surprised my my student's response saying diversity is people of different race. Diversity is so much more than just race. It can be gender, religion, class, abilities, values, traditions, interests, etc., the list can go on and on.

After looking the my three people's definition of culture and diversity I realized that we all have a different perspective on what we think culture and diversity are. It made me realize that diversity is what makes us unique from one another. Not one person is like the other, and that is how diversity is created. If everyone was the same, there would be no diversity. I also learned that culture is something that is withstanding and takes time to develop. By talking to people about their ideas of culture and diversity I now have a better idea of culture and diversity and my definitions had been developed deeper.

My Family Culture

If I had to only chose three small items to take to me to another country I would choose a teddy bear, a photo of my extended family, and my recipe box. I would choose the teddy bear because it is made after my grandma passed it away, and it was made for one of her nightgowns. My grandma helped shaped who I am today, and the bear is constant reminder of the memories I have of her and my grandpa, and all the traditions they taught us, and I would be able to share those with people in another country. I would bring a family photo in order to keeps those family members close and near to by heart, but it will also help me remember all memories and traditions I created with them that help  shape who I am today, and I can explain those traditions as well to people in another country. Finally, I would bring my recipe box because I have recipes in it that have been passed down through generations and I could still create those dishes in a new country with the people there.

If I was told when I got to a new country I could only have one those items, I think I would chose the recipe box. I would choose this because I can always share my memories with people and those I won't forget. I don't have all the recipes in the box memorized, and thus I would need the recipes in order to share those dishes from my culture with other people.

After completing this exercise I realized that I was raised that family is everything. They are the ones that will always be there for you through the ups and downs and life, and they can't disown you. I also realized that my  family is what shaped me to be the person I am today. We have traditions that have been passed down through generations and continue to be passed down. Some of our traditions may not be part of the dominant culture, thus it could be difficult if we were forced to move to a new country, but hopefully we try our best to carry out those traditions in a new country as well and maybe adapting new traditions as well.