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?

In today’s time there is a lot of talk about politics.  People are trying to decide who to vote for and why.  There is so much controversy on every topic that it begins to heat up whenever people gather to discuss it.  This was the case for my observation.  I observed people in my school during lunch breaks.  The topic of politics came up between 3 teachers.  They were discussing the Marriage Amendment. Two ladies said that they were devote Christians and that they didn’t believe that two people of the same gender should be married.  One stated that she felt that all people should have the same benefits but just not change the word “marriage”.  The third lady said that she felt like it was fine to change the definition of marriage but that she didn’t like the fact that the government had been given the right to decide which people should get what.  As the conversation progressed the first lady became frustrated because she said that it was just wrong for “those people” to want to change everything to fit their needs.  The third lady asked her what she meant by “those people” and she said gay people.  She asked why they couldn’t just live the way they wanted to without wanting to change everything to fit their lifestyles. 

I found that this conversation showed examples of micro aggressions from the sexual orientation level.  It should feelings of anger and resentment as well as concern.  People didn’t want to see their lives changed and didn’t understand the lives of others.

 What did you think and feel when you observed the microaggression or when you found yourself as the target of a microaggression?

During this conversation I wanted to remain unbiased so I stayed quite even though I have taken part of this same type of dialogue before.  I felt awkward listening to people discuss the fate of others as though they had the right to.  I also felt defensive because I could see how the conversation could easily change into something involving race or religion.  I understood the arguments of all the parties but it is hard to remain positive when you are so passionate about any topic.  I think this is what happened with these ladies.  They all had strong opinions and they wanted to share and maybe even get the other person to agree with their point of view.

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

This observation allowed me to see how passionate and forceful people are about topics that they believe in.  People are not willing to change their opinions unless they see a strong reason to do so.  They are willing to fight, yell, and scream in order to get their points of view across.  I also see how the perceptions of which you were taught can influence your way of thinking.  The “Christian” women were strong in their feelings because this is what they had been taught their entire Christian lives.  The other woman may have been just as religious but was somewhat more laid back and willing to explore other options.

Perspectives on diversity and culture

It seems that my friends have similar views on what is culture and what is diversity as you will see when you read their definitions.  After discussing this issue with them I can say that we all need to recognize and respect the differences in culture so that each person can feel appreciated and embraced.

Tasha-

Her definition of culture is traditions, race traditions, heritage and your ancestry, and the environment in which we live.

Her definition of diversity is to be an individual and to be different.

   

Nia-

Her definition of culture is the language, food you eat, your family background, and your environment.

Her definition of diversity is multiple ethnicities, and cultures.

 

Tabitha

Her definition of culture is that it’s a way of living, different ways of thinking.

Her definition of diversity is mixture of cultures and different backgrounds.

 

Some of the aspects that I received and that we discussed in class are: background, families and their traditions, differences, and different ethnicities.

 

 

Talking to these friends allowed me to see how similar we are in our thinking.  We all felt that our backgrounds and families were important.  We also felt that our environments encouraged the way we think about ourselves and how we think about others.

 

Some of the aspects of culture and diversity that I feel came have been acknowledged in this course and by my friends are:

-Culture is a heritage

-Culture is a way of living

-We have to be accepting of diversity

-We have to be accepting of differences

One main aspect that I think we all struggle with that has been left out is our need to be knowledgeable of others and their beliefs.  We say that we are accepting until we have to deal with it directly.  I think that by looking at ourselves and finding the issues that we might have prejudices against, we can begin to change our way of thinking and therefore change the way that we act towards others.

I think that looking at the way other people think has helped me to better understand how important culture and heritage is.  Sometimes I think that I take for granted the traditions that my family has.  I feel that it’s just “supposed” to be that way.  Truth is after my mom passed away I saw a lot of changes in our family.  My mom was only 53 when she died but she affected the way our family did things.  It is sad to see traditions change but it makes me fight harder to keep them going.

My family culture

A description of the three items you would choose

If I had to uproot my family and move with only 3 necessities I would take:

-Birth certificates

-Pictures

-Cuddle item that means something to my kids.

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

I would take the birth certificates so that my children and I could prove where we were born and revisit our birth places when given the chance.  I would take pictures so that the children could remember where they had lived and feel close to something that is familiar.  I would also take a cuddle item for them so they wouldn’t feel entirely lost in a new world and in a new environment.

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

If I was told that I had to give up 2 of the items I would be disappointed and hurt.  I think that these items would help us to be able to reestablish ourselves in a new world.  If I had to give up 2 items they would be the pictures and cuddle items. I think that it would be more important for us to be able to prove where we had come from and where we need to be.

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

An insight that I gained about myself is that I am focused on my children and their comfort zone.  I want only what’s best for them and would absolutely put them and my husband first.  I do think that as long as we were able to stick together as a family would could make it through anything.

When I think of research...

When I think of research…

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

I have come to realize that research is hard and timely.  It takes a lot of patience, planning, and dedication in order to provide quality and useful research information.

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

I honestly had never really thought much about how research was done in this manner before.  I remember studying about certain types of research and wondering why they only focused on children in certain areas or why it was only men doing the research?  From this course I have learned that you have to search with an open mind and you have to look at more than just one group of anything in order for your information to be accurate.

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

The lessons that I learned from these topics are that you have to fair, mindful of the information that you are about to receive, and you have to be willing to run the long race in order to complete the study.  I think that planning and preparing is crucial to receiving accurate information.  You have to know what you are looking for and how to obtain that information.  You also have to be willing to prepare the information in a non-biased manner.

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

Some of the challenges that I encountered in this class were trying to fully understanding the information and how to apply it.  I was not always sure of what the terminology meant and which plans would work best for my study.  I also felt myself questioning my study and if it was going to be something that was needed by the parents and teachers.  My study was on the types of concerns parents had regarding the schools and education that their children were receiving and how those concerns would benefit the education of their children. I had to rewrite and reprocess this information a couple of times until I got it right.  In order to meet my challenges I had to be willing to take constructive criticism from my teachers and listen to the questions that my peers asked and apply it to the work I was doing.  This helped me better prepare for my challenges.

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

I don’t think that my perception of early childhood professionals has changed.  If anything I am more respectful and appreciative of the time and effort that they have to give in order to manage a quality program with quality curriculums.  It is a thankless job at times and it is important to keep encouraging teachers and administrators to the best of our abilities.

I would like to thank all of my peers for your encouragements and dedication.  This was a tough course for me and I leaned on some of you to make it through.  I hope that your road to success will be a success as we continue to go on this journey together to reach our goals.  Thank you.

Research around the world

The article that I read was called Building Community Leadership for Quality Sustainability in Madrasa Preschools: The Case of Madrasa Preschools Post Graduation Support. This article was very interesting because it allowed me to see that people all over the world have some of the same issues of education that we have here.  These children in Africa are often forgotten about and often don’t receive the same day to day necessities that our children get here without a second thought and one of those is a good education. 

The Madrasa Preschools Post Graduation Support Program (MPP) that tries to assist community owned preschools.  They want to make sure that the preschools in those areas don’t vanish and that they continue to serve the children there with quality teachers and support systems for the families.  This program tries to offer teacher training and develop relationships with the families so that they can assist their children in developing positive learning skills.

At first training of the teachers didn’t have follow up support so the outcome was not as successful as the Community Resource Team (CRT) would have liked.  They have since put into place continuous support teams that reach out to the teachers and the families.  They partner with the parents to make sure that they understand what is going on in the program and how to be better resources for them.  They teach the families about health (AIDS) and nutrition awareness.  The teachers are trained in the development of the children, how the children learn, active learning, and communication skills.

Like I stated earlier it was interesting to find that there was a program set in place in Africa.  I wasn’t aware that there was much being done about the children and their education there.  I am very pleased.  I found that this website had many other areas that you can look into all over the globe that would provide insights on what other educators and community workers are facing in this field.  It is important to understand that the fight on education is not ours alone and that we can band together to make sure that all children receive quality educations and support systems.  If we can fix our roads we should be able to educate our children.

References:

Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): Retrieved: March 28, 2012.  http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php 

Research that benefits children and families

One example of research that affected my family was when my daughter suffered severe stomach pain.  Doctors couldn’t figure out why she was in so much pain.  They did several tests and found that she was holding her bowels.  They asked me if she had suffered any trauma in her life recently.  I told them that her grandmother had just passed away several weeks ago.  Apparently, this was something that she felt that she could control since she couldn’t control the lost that had affected her so deeply.

They did a study test on her to see how she dealt with sadness and tragedy.  At the end of the test it was found that she was otherwise happy but didn’t want to leave her dad and me to go potty.  After the study was done we found different ways to let her know that we would still be there when she came out of the potty.

This study was needed and affective because children deal with tragedy in different ways.  They are just like adults and they try to find ways to take control of their lives when they feel that they have lost control.  This was a very non-evasive study in the sense that it didn’t require overnight visits to the doctors or long observations.  There was a lot of talking and drawing.  My daughter actually thought it was fun.

Personal Research Journey

I decided to research how to be a better resource to the families that I work with and to my community.  I have found that parents are stumped when it comes to certain areas of their children's lives.  They often find it difficult to locate other parents or teachers that can share their compassion for situations that they are going through.  What they don't realize is that their child didn't break the mold and there are plenty of other parents sharing the same issues. 

Through the Walden University website I was able to type in "Parent Resources" and I found lots of different topics that were helpful not only to parents but to me as a teacher as well.  Some of the article that I read are:

A Wealth of Reading Resources.  Retrieved: March 8, 2012.  Full Text Available By: Steward, Frances; Goff, Diana. Illinois Reading Council Journal, Spring2006, Vol. 34 Issue 2, p61-64, 4p.

Parental information and resource centers.  Retrieved: March 8, 2012.  Report by: U.S. Department of Education. ED.gov, 2005. p359. Word Count: 498.Also Known as PIRCs CFDA # (or ED #) 84.310A Administering Office Office of Innovation and Improvement.

Radey, M., & Randolph, K. A. (2009). Parenting Sources: How Do Parents Differ in Their Efforts to Learn About Parenting?  Retrieved: March 8, 2012.   Family Relations, 58(5), 536-548. doi:10.1111/j.1741-

I think these would be helpful to anyone that has these same situations.  Please let me know if you have any further information that would help me in my research journey.