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.  

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Blog: Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

• Describe at least one example of a microaggression which you detected this week or remember from another time. In what context did the microaggression happen? What did you think and feel when you observed the microaggression or when you found yourself as the target of a micro aggression?

One example of a microaggression that I found myself as the target of was when I was the program director of a children's center. I had been speaking to a photographer on the phone about our upcoming appointment for the children's annual photos and when we finally met, she looked at me from head to toes and said "You, I was expecting a middle age white woman to be the director, well, at least you speak good English". 

• In what ways did your observation experiences this week affect your perception of the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people

This experience made me realize that sometimes we discriminate, pass judgement, and hurt others with certain comments that we make without being aware. I know that I am guilty of doing so, but this activity has helped to be more aware of how I communicate with others and how certain comments can offend or hurt others. I will try my best to choose my words wisely. 

                          

                 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Blog Assignment: Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Monica

Monica is a 22 years old 3rd generation Mexican American. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. When asked what she thought about diversity and culture, Monica said:

"Diversity and culture is what makes people who they are, including their differences and similarities. People come from different cultural backgrounds and with them, they bring different talents and that is the beauty of it all because we can learn from each other".

Tony

Tony is a 64 year old African American man from Chicago. He said that Diversity includes people from different places with different beliefs, religions, foods, clothing, and costumes and that being able to accept people for what they are is essential. He said that culture is not only what is seen on the outside, but also the things that one does on the daily. 

Maria

Maria is a 35 year old woman who was born here, but her parents are from Colombia. 

"Culture is the costumes and beliefs that people have" and diversity is the things that make people different from one another". 

The aspects of culture that were included are that the three people that I asked about diversity and culture stated that diversity and culture is what makes people who they are and that it includes the differences and similarities including their beliefs, talents, foods, customs, and what they have on the inside and not only what's on the surface.

Some of the aspects have been omitted are language, artifacts, intergenerational relationships, gender roles, work, roles, and how emotion is shown which are elements of surface and deep culture (Derma-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). 

People's definition of culture and diversity influences me in the ways that I can see more clearly that we all have different definitions of what these two terms mean. There are some similarities, but we see things from a different point of view because of the way that we were brought up and the experiences that we have experienced. Understanding even that can help us to understand each individual person better. 

                                                                     Reference

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education: for young children and ourselves.    Washington, DC:    National Association for the Education of Young Children. 

My Family Culture

Imagine the following:

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

• A description of the three items you would choose

The three items that I would take are:

1. Family picture album

2. Camera

3. Frame of my college degree

• How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you

Our family picture album means a lot to us because it contains many fond memories lived through pictures. The camera is what it is used to capture the unforgettable moments and starting all over in another country would mean new memories to capture and share with the future generations. My college degree would serve as a reminder to my children of the importance of an education and the struggles and sacrifices that our family went through for me to receive it. 

• Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you

The feelings that I have are of sadness and frustration because that means that I have to give up two of the only three things that I have left and that remind me of my life back home.

• Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise

I have learned that I really do not have any family heirlooms and that I do live in the moment and capture our memories through the many pictures that I take. I also value education and would like to pass that down to my children. I also want my children to be able to share those photos with their children in the future. I do not have but two pictures of myself when I was little and my own family does not value education, therefore I think that those experiences with my own family have influenced the way that I feel about capturing as many memories and how I feel about education.

When I Think of Research...

Dear Colleagues,

I would first like to thank you for visiting my blog this past semester. I appreciate your comments, questions, and knowledge that you all have shared with me. I have learned so much from each and everyone of you. I hope to see you back next semester. I wish you all much success!

Thank you,

Reyna Salas

• What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?

The insights that I have gained about research from this course are confidence, knowledge, and more clarity. 

Before taking this class I did not really know the importance of taking the proper steps when conducting a research study. I also learned how to look for reliable sources and how to narrow down a research topic.

• In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

My ideas about the nature of doing research has completely changed. Before this course, I did not know the meaning of many of the terms used and also the different types of methods that can be used. I can honestly say that I look at the nature of doing research with a whole new light and perspective.

• What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

The lessons that I learned about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood are that  it can be done when planned and designed with caution and that research continues to benefit the early childhood field as we speak. Having a well thought out design and a topic that is not too broad and following the steps necessary and using the methods that best work greatly helps support the hypothesis of the study.

• What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?

At the beginning I felt somewhat unsure about the topic simulation that I wanted to pick, but as we went along and read more about research, I was able to change and modify my topic. Also, a lot of the information and the process of planning, designing, and doing research was all new to me so I felt that it was a lot of information to take in and process., but I was able to review the chapters and reading assignments as well as read other articles about research which helped me to break the information down and understand it more.   

• What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

I feel that I have a better understanding of all the work that it takes to do research and about how research is important to the early childhood field. The early childhood field is where it is because of research and its findings. 

Research Around the World

Early Childhood Australia: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

• What are some of the current international research topics?

STEM: Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (STEM) link with other curriculum areas and programming in early childhood settings.

Learning and teaching through play

How quality early learning benefits children, families and our whole society

• What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

It was great to see that everyone around the world is advocating for children and their rights and that there are a lot of organizations that are working towards providing a healthy and safe environment for every child regardless of their race, socioeconomic status, and/or ability. 

I also enjoyed exploring this website and the webinars and modules that are provided for educators (no cost or for a minimal fee). 

• What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

I found a lot of great up-to-date information on child development for educators as well as for parents. 

Topics for parents

                    How to create a nurturing home environment for learning

 Early Childhood Australia – 2015: Belonging – at the heart of relating to others

 Early Childhood Australia – 2011: Responding  to your child’s emotional needs
 Early Childhood Australia – 2011: Making the most of your environment
 Raising Children Network – Relationships and Child Development
 The Benevolent Society – Resilient Practice Framework Guide 2: Secure & Stable Relationships

Presentations and workshops for educators

Start Early aims to help educators explore, through short online courses, how everyday behaviours and attitudes shape a child’s lifelong relationships.

The Raising Good Kids online course series for early childhood professionals (fee)