Professional Hopes and Goals

 Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse background

I do work with children and families from diverse backgrounds and the hope that I have is for me to be able to make them feel comfortable, welcomed, and part of our community. I want them to feel that they belong and that they can share their ideas, customs, and any information that is important to them. 

One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice 

The goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is for all early educators to be required to take courses on issues of diversity, equity, and social justice early on so they can learn the important information. The sooner we learn, the better it is for everyone. 

A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

I would like to take this time to thank all of you for the positive comments and the support that you have provided me with. I have enjoyed reading your blogs and discussions and I have learned so much from your point of view and from your ideas. Thank you so much and I wish everyone much success in your future courses.

Reyna

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Welcoming Families From Around the World

• About 195 different countries exist in the world today

• According to the U.S. census bureau, the United States’ population includes individuals and families from 150 different countries.

                                                                                             Scenario:

You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

Sri Lanka is the country of origin of "my" family.

Country in South Asia

Five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family

1. I would learn about the culture and about the family roles.

2. I would learn some basic words such a "hello, how are you, goodbye, friend, play", and    other words that will help me communicate with this family just incase they are not fluent in the English language. 

3. I would go to my local public library and get books about Sri Lanka and also books in their language. 

4. I would get material that represents their culture (posters, toys, etc.).

5. I would also have baby dolls and other dress up clothes for the child to wear. 

• A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family

I would hope that these preparations would benefit both myself and the family in the ways that they will help them feel welcome and part of the classroom family. It would also help us to communicate with each other and help begin building a partnership. 

Social and family life

Everyday life for Sri Lankans

Parents and children

In Sri Lanka, a family should have its own household which, at least symbolically, is identified with cooking. A wife will cook for her husband and children, even when living in the same house as other family members.

While any public show of affection is not well received amongst adults, children are highly adored and everyone, both men and women take care of them and are affectionate with them.

Traditionally, infants are kept with their mothers, although when growing older, fathers pay more attention to boys and mothers, to girls. Even if Sri Lankans like to have male children, they prefer that their first child would be a girl, so that she can help and be a good influence on younger siblings.

The ultimate authority in the family is the oldest male member of a household, whether that is the father, husband, brother, or son, and corporal punishment is common towards younger boys.

As children grow, they are taught to develop a feeling combining shyness, shame, modesty and fear. This feeling is taught both within the family and the school. As a consequence, Sri Lankans tend to be calm and not loud when speaking (except for merchants) and when greeting others, it usually is with a smile more than with words (Justlanded.com).

Languages of Sri Lanka. Several languages are spoken in Sri Lanka within the Indo-Aryan, Dravidianand Austronesian families. Sri Lanka accords official status to Sinhalese and Tamil. The languages spoken on the island nation are deeply influenced by the languages of neighbouring India, the Maldives and Malaysia (Wikipedia.org).

References

https://www.justlanded.com/english/Sri-Lanka/Sri-Lanka.../Social-and-family-life

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Sri_Lanka

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

 Blog: The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression 

• What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression? Keep in mind that one can encounter such incidents in real contexts, including online environments, as well as in fictional ones, such as movies, books, television shows, and the like.

About 3 years ago, I was hired by a real estate company to work the front office and help with accounting. Everyone that works there is white and I am Latina. The office manager had her daughter train me on my first day and at the end of the day she asked her daughter in front of me; "How did she do". Her daughter responded; "She did great! She answered the phone and tended the clients and even learned how to input information in the system". Then her mom (the office manager) said "I'm surprised. She's actually one of the smart ones". 

• In what way(s) did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?

I think that the specific bias and prejudice in this incident diminished equity in the way that I was not given a fair chance from the get go. I was labeled and stereotyped by my surface culture and was paid less than others because of my race and culture. 

• What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

I felt awkward, sad, frustrated, mad and let down. I did not think that it was fair for her judge me before even getting to know me and to put me on the spot and ask such question in front of me. I never felt comfortable after that incident because I knew how she felt about Latinos. 

• What and/or who would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity?

The office manager is definitely the one that would have to change. She needs not to discuss her employees performance in front of them and should give everyone the opportunity and fair chance. I have my real estate sales person license and experience in managing the front office, but she chose to overlook those aspects and focus more on my race and on the stereotypes.