Professional Hopes and Goals

I think about the various ways that I can continue to learn about young children and ways to support their families at the same time. I want to learn as much as I can on different topics in the early childhood field to help support young children and their families to be successful. I feel it is important to help young children and their families truly discover who they are as a person, within their culture, and how their experiences make up who they are in their own skin. The understanding and acceptance of who we are within the world around us will help us begin to discover how to work with others, how to interact with others, and how to response to others in a respectful manner. My one goal for the early childhood field would be to educate young children and their families, including other early childhood professionals the importance of diversity, equity, and social justices are what make a person unique and different from others and to learn from one another. I would make young children, families, and early childhood professionals to share their experiences and their culture with others to learn a way of life that is new to them and how it is important for others in their life in this world they live in. I want each person to know they are unique and valued by others for what makes them who they are is all that matters.

I want to take the time to thank my colleagues and professor for their support and knowledge to help me through this class. I learned by asking questions, sharing personal experiences of diversity and learned to take chances to make a difference by coming out of my shell to fell comfortable to talk about diversity with others. I want to share the knowledge I have gained from this course, my colleagues; thoughts, views, and beliefs on different subjects, and my professor for making me think outside the box. 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

As an early childhood educator within an Early Head Start Program, we have seen a great deal of diversities and cultural acceptances. I have seen similar cultures and diversities throughout my years and I have never connected with a family that came from the Philippines. As a teacher within the field, learning about a new child and family coming to the United States and being accepted into my program. There is a five-step preparation I would conduct to prepare for myself, the children, their families, and other early childhood professionals about the new family.

Step One: Research: I would research information regarding their country, their culture, and their customs to get a better sense of understanding about the child and their family. I would research their views and thoughts about education and their educational system to work with the differences between the educational systems in the United States.

Step Two: Language: I would take the time to learn simple words within their language and try my best to pronounce the words with their articulation then my own. I would label the classroom in their language to help support the child and family feel accepted in the classroom and program.

Step Three: Teaching and Learning Moment: I would share with my classroom about the findings of the Philippines and how they are different and similar to the dominant culture. I would collect music, books, and materials that represent the Philippines to the best of my ability. I would have the children in the program explore these materials and feel comfortable with them to support their peer with their transition to the classroom. It will show the family the efforts the teacher and the program put into making the family and child feel comfortable in a new place away from their one and only home.

Step Four: Meet the Family: I would want to meet the family and have an open conversation about their culture and customs that are a part of their live with an interpreter if needed. Share the culture within the program and speak openly about these differences. Take the time to listen to their thoughts, views, and beliefs, and needs of their child and their family.

Step Five: Invite: I would invite the family to the classroom to share their culture, customs, and materials that play a major role within their culture that has meaning to the family. Encourage the family to share their culture and customs with the children and staff within the program.

As an educator, I would hope these preparation steps will benefit myself and the family by beginning on a common ground of understanding one another. The relationship will be strong by the fact I took the time to get to know their culture, their customs, and their educational system to help guide the newest family within the program. It will make the family feel relaxed and comfortable to know a complete stranger took the time to learn about them and make them feel at home even though they feel completely out of their element. This family and educator will have a strong bond and understanding of respect and the knowledge to learn to make the other comfortable by being open and sharing intimate connected conversations to learn as much as they can from one another.  

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

Looking back at my life and the experiences I have had throughout my early childhood career, I have experienced bias over a position I held on a professional level. I took a chance of becoming a leader and supporting those who are teachers to be the best they can be professionally and personally. I was offered the position and was excited to prove that I could handle the position at a young age, late twenties. I supported and helped the teachers overcome and deal with challenging behaviors and struggles they were having in the classroom. I took the time to train the teachers on various topics within the early childhood field and encouraged then to complete the assigned chapter within a month’s time. This is all supported by the Director of the company until some of the teachers brought their complaints to the Director about my performance. The teachers complained that I was spying on them when I entered the classroom and observe what was happening in the classroom. The teachers complained that I was not helpful when they needed help with a challenging situation. The teachers complained that I got special treatment compared to the other staff members in the program. I spoke with my supervisor, who is the Director of the program. We spoke about the various complaints and how to work on them. I was told I should be helpful and supportive when needed and not to push the staff in a negative way. I should always keep myself available to help in the classrooms because that is what an Assistant Director did within any early childhood program. I questioned her about my position and expressed my thoughts on the position, I was turned down and encouraged to make the changes. I felt degraded about my performance and experience within the early childhood field after 10 years. I felt my experience within the field was belittled and what I learned meant nothing. I felt that I still needed to learn more about the early childhood field and was looking towards my supervisor to help me grow professionally in the field. I felt as if I was a teacher instead of an Assistant Director. It made me want to work back in the classroom as a teacher. I felt like I was not being supported in my role as Assistant Director and my supervisor was not guiding me through trainings and support.

The feelings this brought up throughout this situation was heartbreaking. I felt that all the education I had was inferior and I want to the wrong type of school. It made me feel that I what have learned based upon my education, failed me and it was not acceptable to be an Assistant Director. I felt that the years of being in the field, working with young children and their families, would not benefit my ability to be an Assistant Director.  I felt lost and worried about my ability to perform the tasks needed to be the Assistant Director, including my role as a teacher. It made me want to go back to school and gain more knowledge about the early childhood field to achieve my goal of becoming a Director of an early childhood program someday.

I think both parties and individuals should be able to sit down and discuss the situation and how my made each of us feel at the moment. If I had more confidence in expressing my feelings to my supervisor, I would have expressed the way she made me feel whether or not she intentionally meant to come across in a certain manner. I would want others to feel confident to share their thoughts and views on a situation that has made them feel belittled, degraded, and inferior towards another person. The ability to speak clearly about how you feel and how a situation made you feel should be a topic to speak about and discussion. Each situation we are in, we can learn from; learn how to deal with situations based on cultural differences and coming together to make a difference.