Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week I was required to attend a week long training for my job while, there a middle aged white woman ran her fingers through my hair and said "oh wow that's all your hair" the context of this microaggression was racial, I believe that the woman was expecting my hair not to be real, although she did not exactly say that, however she was surprised to find out that an African American was capable of having long hair without it being extensions. I felt comfortable about how to respond to this woman I had only met two days prior, so I simply said yes and continued my day. The ways in which this experience this week affected my perception of the effects of stereotypes on people, is that people still believe in to them without considering that not all people are the same regardless of there background or culture.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

For this blog assignment for this week we are required to interview three people (one whom as to be of a different culture, ethnicity, or background) and ask them what's their definition of culture and diversity these are the responses I received.

Friend:I'd say culture is the way of life for a particular group and how that lifestyle shapes them.. environment, traditions.. diversity is what makes something different than the next.. diversity kinda makes culture.

Sibling:Definition of culture a person environment what shapes them . Diversity : different backgrounds for  example this neighborhood is diverse meaning different types of people  from different ethnicities, races, and backgrounds live here.

Some one of a different race: my definition of culture means traditions passed along from generation to generation that are still practiced today, along with how you environment effects these traditions. How I would define diversity is by identifying someone culture and determining the differences.

The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course that are included in the answers I received is that diversity can be defined in many different way no one person has the same definition. The aspect I would omit is the stereotypes when it comes to culture that based on how someone looks you assume what culture they belong to. For example if I was to see an Indian person I can assume she is buddhist or Hindu. When think about other people's definition of culture and diversity it has influenced my thinking because it allows me to look deeper in to what the world believes to be culture and how I would be define culture or diversity.

My Family Culture

My Family Culture

If I were among surviving citizen and the emergency government decided it will best serve me to evacuate to another country whose culture was completely different from my own. The three items I would take to represent my culture would be a bible for religious purposes, a recipe book with recipes of soul food dishes, and my family scrap book with pictures and captions.  If there were questions as to what these articles mean to me I would be open and honest about them and allow for question, how I would explain the importance of the bible would be to explain Christianity and how the bible relates to it, the recipe book is important to me because I want to reserve African- American cuisine, and having my family scrap would help me explain my culture and how my life was before having to move. If upon arrival I was told could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items I brought with me I would be completely sadden. I would feel as if my families’ culture would be soon forgotten. Insight I gained about myself as a result of this exercise is that reserving my culture is very important to me, and it helps support my self-identity.

When I Think of Research

While taking this eight week course on Building research competency the insight what I have gained about research is that it takes time and dedication as well as discipline. Research requires for one to take his or her self out of the equation in order for the results to be valid. The lesson that I learned about planning, designing and conducting research in early childhood is that it all must be done in an orderly and timely fashion. Some of the challenges I encountered what trying to stick to the facts and not going off my opinion when conducting research, how I met this challenge was staying true to my findings and seeking evidence to back that up. Ways in which my perception of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course has only strengthen my level of respect these professional.  I can only hope to be labeled as a early childhood professional later in my career.

Research Around the World

What are some of the current international research topics?

·         Improving the quality of childcare through parenting enrichment and training of trainers: The Eritrean Model

·         Leadership skills training for Administration and Parent support Training for Caregivers

·         A Guide for Effective schools and Parent Collabration in support of Early Childhood Development Program in Tanzania

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

“Among others, Landers (1992) and Evans (1998) greatly acknowledge and advocate for the family’s role as a major force in the development and provision of ECD. They perceive the family’s involvement as an indispensable ingredient for sustaining the accomplishments of early childhood programs” I always thought of parent to be an important part of the success the early childhood program after reading the text the term use to describe family involvement was a “indispensable ingredient” which caught my eye because it very rarely used in relation to the early childhood field.  To be an indispensable ingredient means that you are essential to the process without it all things lack.

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

I noteworthy information I found on this website is that although it is not advertise in the media, Africa is taking stride to move their early childhood programs to a quality level through research, education, and training.

 

Reference:

Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): Developed and maintained by the University of Victoria, Canada, this virtual university is the international gateway for early childhood research worldwide. Through the link below, you can access ECDVU’s Sub-Saharan Africa portal. The second link takes you to a list of current early childhood research conducted by students in Sub-Saharan Africa.

http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php

http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

While completing research for this week's blog about the benefits of research in regards to families and children.  I found an article titled "New Study On Homosexual Parents Tops All Previous Research" by Peter Spriggs. This article raises questions as to whether or not children who are raised by same sex parent are affected negatively in compassion to children who are raised by married mother and father. This topic has often been discussed amongst my colleagues and myself however there was no proof that either side was correct. While reading this article and identifying the conclusion of the research the article stated that "The myths that children of homosexual parents are "no different" from other children and suffer "no harm" from being raised by homosexual parents have been shattered forever." I find this to be a positive research article because it verifies children do not suffer from having same sex parents. Children deserve to be love whether it is in a traditional home or homosexual parent. If we are putting the children first as a child advocate if there is not harm done to the children having homosexual parent then it is our responsibility to promote love.

 

Reference:

New Study On Homosexual Parents Tops All Previous Research (2015) by Peter Spriggs

http://www.frc.org/issuebrief/new-study-on-homosexual-parents-tops-all-previous-research

My Personal Research Journey

The topic I chose was to learn more about is curriculum and assessment guidelines as it relates to early childhood education programs. Why I chose this topic is because not every early childhood education program has the same curriculum and are assessed the same, which cause me to want to research in depth to find out why and what is being done to insure that all children are being assessed accordingly and have a curriculum that is conductive to their success as an early learner. Emphasis is most often times placed on how teachers teach, while is still feel this is an important piece to receiving a quality education, we as advocate for children must not forget what we are teaching our children. Standardized test have been apart of assessing children for years, I am now pleased to see that steps are being made to performance-based assessments that more accurately reflect children's learning. Based on the research of ECLKC (1992):

 National organizations call for schooling to place greater emphasis on:

• Active, hands-on learning
• Conceptual learning that leads to understanding along with acquisition of basic skills
• Meaningful, relevant learning experiences
• Interactive teaching and cooperative learning
• A broad range of relevant content, integrated across traditional subject matter divisions

Curriculum development should take into account the many sources of curriculum:

• Child development knowledge
• Individual characteristics of children
• Knowledge base of various disciplines
• Values of our culture
• Parents' desires
• Knowledge children need to function competently in our society (Spodek, 1988; 1977; in press)

I found these suggestions and practices to be very helpful when building an appropriate curriculum of quality, as well as an effective approach to assessing children. While researching this topic I see their I more to learn and if my colleagues have more insight regarding this topic please feel free to share.

Research:

 

 

What Does Research Say About Early Childhood Education (1992)

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/eecd/Curriculum/Planning/edudev_art_00421_081806.html