Professional Hopes and Goals

My hope for children and families from diverse backgrounds is to be apart of an environment that respects, encourages, and celebrates differences.  My hope is that children and families are able to feel comfortable to ask questions and provided a safe environment where differences are seen as an opportunity to grow and learn from each other.  

My goal for early childhood education is to continue to have open and honest communication about diversity and it's affect on children and families.

A special thanks to all of my classmates!  Your stories, thoughts, and ideas help me in my journey to focusing on social justice.

Welcoming Families Around the World

The little girl who will begin in my program is from Sudan.  She comes from a tight knit community where the saying "it takes a village" is very much a reality.  Being able to communicate and to be understood sets the stage for families to feel comfortable with a program.  The first thing I would do, is determine if a translator is needed for me to communicate with her and/or her family.  This must be established before she begins.  If it is not possible to find a translator, every attempt would be made to communicate in a way that lets the family know I am open and willing to do what it takes to communicate with them.  I would learn more about her community.  I would do this by talking with her family and using additional community resources to get an understanding of her community.  I would ensure that what I have learned from her family and community resources are reflected in the program.  I would invite her family to participate in programming and share ideas in how to improve programming.  I would hope that I provide a environment for her and her family that is comfortable, familiar, and encouraging.

The Personal Side of Biases, Prejudices, and Oppression

When I was pregnant with my first child, I worked in a small center as an infant teacher.  Our center had grandparents who were volunteers and were a huge part of our program.  However, there was a grandparent who always rubbed me the wrong way.  He would always make inappropriate jokes about teacher's bodies.  When I complain to my supervisor, I was told that it was just his personality and he was harmless.  I kept my distance from him and tried hard to ignore the jokes.  Once I had my daughter and enrolled her in the program, I requested that he not be apart of her classroom.  My supervisor honored my request, but one day he walked into my child's classroom, knowing I was next door, and stood over her basinet as if to taunt me.  That was the straw that broke the camel's back  I met with my supervisor and told her either he goes or I would be forced to hand in my resignation.  He was quickly moved to another center.  I was disturbed that he was only moved to another center but even more hurt when I learned that the company I worked for named him Volunteer of the Year!  It was only after the all white teachers at the other center complain of the same complaints I had earlier did the company ask him not to return.

This experience made me feel unheard and as if I was the one who created an uncomfortable environment for him.  For him to receive recognition also made me feel that I was the bad person and he was the good one.  I felt that my company let me down.  I think this experience was about both race and gender.  I was complaining about a white male and their was no way I could have been right.