Professional Hopes and Goals

My Hope                                                                     

My hope for working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that I will always remember that we are all connected to one another because of our humanity and not because of any outward characteristics that we have.  I hope to always show children and their families that they should celebrate their diversity and that their diversity will be celebrated and respected in the classroom they have become a part of.  My one true hope for this world is that we could all learn to love and respect one another through our differences.  That we can take the love of a God that created us and spread it around the world... until the whole world hears!

                                                    
My Goal                                                                         

The goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that all early childhood educators and workers would be afforded the opportunity to learn about these issues in their college classes or trainings.  I know that when I went to college I did not have any classes related to these issues and I know now that it would have helped me tremendously.  I think that diversity training/education should be a requirement now in any early childhood training.  We cannot live or display that which we are not aware of.  Knowledge is power and I believe it is important that all early childhood educators become armed with the true understanding of diversity, equity, and social justice if they want to make a difference in the lives of every child and family they will meet. 




THANK YOU                                                        

Thank you never seems like enough to say for all of the wisdom, ideas, and advice I have gotten from all of the people who are on this journey with me.  I just want you all to know that I appreciate all that you share and all of the many issues you have helped me to see more clearly.  I am truly a better person from getting to know and learn from each one of you.  You will each remain in my prayers and may God bless you and the work you are doing with others always! 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

                                                         

BURUNDI

                                                                                                                                                      

In order to prepare myself for a new family coming into my classroom from the country of Burundi I would need to do many things.  I would first of all need to research the country in order to find out as much information as I can about the people and the cultures that lie within the different existing communities.  In order to be culturally responsive to this family I would need to do the following five things:

1).  Create a culturally rich and welcoming environment.  I would make the classroom comfortable for this student and the family by hanging posters or pictures up of landscapes or scenery from the country.  I would add to my books and learning materials that would represent the country that this child is coming from.  We could do a class study on this country so that the other students would also be aware of information that they can talk to the new student about.

2).  Develop a way of communicating with the student and the family.  I would need to understand that there is a good chance that this child and the family are not going to speak English.  I would need to be sure to have a translator to communicate with the family and I would also begin to take ESL classes so that I can better equip myself with ways of communicating.  I would also put common words from their language next to pictures of the items in the classroom along with the English word.  This would allow the student to become familiar with the items in the classroom easier while also teaching English to the child. 

3).  Understand Cultural Differences.  I would need to research the culture that this family would be coming from and support that culture within the classroom.  For example what type of clothing do they wear (and have this available in a play area), what types of food do they eat (and have this available during snack), what holidays are celebrated (and make sure to talk about these and even perhaps celebrate them within the classroom), how is respect demonstrated in their culture ( and allow the child to show respect in this way).  

4).   A Plan to Include the Parents in the Classroom.  I would want to honor and value the parents in this by making them feel welcome at anytime within the classroom.  I would extend an invitation to come into the classroom and share their culture with us.  I would maybe have a "culture day" where all families would be involved in a celebration of their culture.  I would have the families share their similarities and differences and teach us about life in Burundi.  I would also have to make sure that I am able to honor them by creating a way of communicating with them outside of school.  I could do this by making sure they have assistance in filling out paperwork for the school and finding a way of communicating with them on a daily basis in a way that a language barrier won't hinder.

5).  Provide Resources for the Family.  I would make sure that the family was connected to any resources within the school and outside of the school that would make their transition into this country a pleasant one.  I would want to make sure they knew about health care, extracurricular programs,  and community programs.  I would provide them with all that they would need to not only be a part of our classroom, but a part of the community as well.  

I would hope that these preparations that I would make to help this family would benefit both me and the family that I would be working with.  I would hope it would benefit them because they will feel comfortable and excited about being in a new place.  I would have made preparations that would allow them to transition into the classroom and community environments with ease and the ability to share their culture with people who are willing to accept it.  I would hope that it would benefit me in the fact that I would be learning about a new country and culture and this preparation would also allow me the chance to get better at being culturally responsive.  I would also be able to self-reflect during the process and see if I have any biases and if I do I would be able to work towards dispelling them while I am expanding my knowledge about the variety of gifts another culture has to offer.   

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

     About 12 years ago I had the opportunity to visit Washington D.C. while visiting a friend who lived near there.  As we were discussing places that we wanted to visit while we were there, I told him that I wanted to go to the Holocaust Museum.  He asked me if I was sure because he had been there and said it was a very difficult experience but one that was worth enduring.  Ever since I had been in high school and watched a video on what the Nazis did to the Jewish people I held a very special place in my heart for this situation.  I told my friend that it was something that I needed to do but I didn't realize just how deeply I would be moved by the oppression and prejudice I witnessed while in the museum.  This was not something that I was directly a part of but when you began the tour, they gave you a booklet with a person's name and picture on it.  During different parts of the tour we were able to read information about what had happened to the people that we were given.  We read about how they were captured and tortured for long periods of time.  The horrors that these people were put through because of someone else's prejudice is indescribable.  At the end of the tour and on the last page of your booklet you were able to read whether or not your person had made it out alive or if they had been killed in one of the many concentration camps.  I can remember crying as I read that the little girl on my card had died without any of her family with her.  In my opinion the bias and prejudice that Adolf Hitler had towards Jewish individuals is one of the most horrific forms of oppression that our world has ever seen.  During the Holocaust microassaults happened every day and they were not the unintentional kind.  They were the kind meant to physically and psychologically harm people.  This trip for me is something that will stay in my mind forever and the images that I saw while in the museum are seared into my memory forever.  It was a truly sobering experience and one that truly clarified for me the kind of person that I always want to be and that is someone who does not judge other people based on their outer appearances and characteristics.
     The ways in which this specific oppression and prejudice diminished equity is because the Jewish people living in Germany never had a chance.  They were being kidnapped, tortured, and killed because of their outer appearance and for their religious background.  There was not equality involved here at all.  The mindset was that the Germans were the greatest and the Jews were not worth the dirt that was under their feet.  The Jewish people could not go out of their homes and many had to hide away for fear of being captured or killed.  Equity for these people was diminished the very first day that Adolf Hitler came onto the scene and there was never a chance for them after that.
     Every time that I see something about the Holocaust, think about it, or talk about it in any way, I have feelings of extreme sadness and anger.  I get angry at the fact that so many people bought into the prejudice of this group of people and went along with the killings and torturing that went on.  I get angry that this was even allowed to happen to other people and that America and other countries didn't get involved sooner to try and protect these people.  Then I get extremely sad.  It makes me so sad to think about what these people went through and the feelings of unworthiness that they must have had.  I can barely stand to think about the little children who were taken away from their families and then left alone to die in cold, dark, and dirty places where they were not fed and not clothed.
                                        
     I believe that what needed to change in order for this incident to turn into an opportunity for greater equity is exactly what happened.  The person that was in charge of creating the bias, prejudice, and oppression had to be taken out of the equation.  I think that in any form of prejudice or oppression the thing that will make things change is for someone to stand up for the weak and let a voice be heard about ending the prejudice and biases that are occurring.  I don't know if there is any person who could read or learn about the Holocaust and not be moved to be someone better than they are towards other people.  Equity can only happen in our world when we give every person walking on Earth the same chance and opportunities.  It takes people willing to stand up and fight for what is right to cause change and to bring about equity for all of us.