Professional Hopes and Goals

One of my hopes in working with children and families of other diversities is to make them feel welcomed and appreciated.  I think that it is important that we make children feel accepted wherever they go.  I plan on doing this by interacting with my colleagues to gain insights about cultures I may not be familiar with and to find ways to include these families into our learning environment.

A goal I have is to teach children that we are not all the same, but that being different is okay.  I think that we need to start with our youngest children first and teach them about different cultures.  For me, learning about the "ism's" during the course, demonstrates a lack of education on other diversities.  By educating youngsters, we may be able to make a difference in years to come where we won't have any or at least minimal prejudices and biases.

To all my colleagues I want to say thank you for all your correspondences and opinions.  I have learned so much from each one of you.  I look forward to having more courses with you in the future.  Good luck with all your endeavors!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The country origin for my family is Romania.

The five ways I will prepare for my family are:

1.        I will research their Romania and learn all I can about the culture.

2.       I will talk with colleagues and try to find out any information they may have about Romania.

3.       If the family’s language is different from English, I will have a translator help me write a welcoming letter to the family.

4.       Through my research, I will devise a lesson on the culture of Romania and invite the family to share their culture with the class.

5.       I will develop a list of organization contacts for the family to make the transition to the United States easier for them.

I feel that with these steps, I will make the family feel welcomed to their new home.  I think the most important message I can send to the family is that I respect their culture and am willing to accommodate their needs.  The language barrier will be the most important aspect to overcome, and I know there are wonderful websites/programs that are available for translations.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

A moment that I remember of witnessing bias, prejudice or oppression is one that I heard about from my cousin.  It involved my cousin and uncle who both have their pilot licenses and live in Arizona.  They were both very prejudice of anyone outside the white race.  One day while flying, they spotted a group of Native Americans; so they decided to fly extremely low around them.  They did this several times, causing the Native Americans to be ducking.  Upon the fourth pass by, my cousin realized that the group was gathered for a funeral.  My uncle and cousin felt bad afterwards, and left them alone.

This act diminished equity in that all cultures have the right to mourn or show respect for the deceased.  With the ceremony being interrupted by the plane flying low, it was disrespectful to the living and also the deceased.

When my cousin told me about this I became so enraged.  I was ashamed to consider them my family.  I was also upset because our heritage includes Native American.  Our great grandmother was full blooded Cherokee.  This act was a disgrace to our family. 

My uncle and cousin since this act have changed their ways.  They have turned their lives around and appreciate that every person has the right to live their lives as fit.  I am no longer embarrassed to go out with them because I know that there will be no bias remarks made.   This incident was a total eye opener especially for my cousin.  Considering he was in his 20’s when this happened and is now approaching 50, it shows that people can change and sometimes it may take a while.