Competent Communicators

Barack Obama the president of the United States and in my opinion an example of a great communicator. He has the ability to connect with his audience by being able to identify with average Americans. He delivers his speeches with confidence and self-belief. During his political debates he seems to be very comfortable with the audience. He took each question from the audience and gave a very personable response. I think this makes him a good communicator because he makes the listeners believe in his vision and inspires them.  Although he is highly ridiculed, Obama was successful in making the audience (people of America) believe in his message of change. 

He understands that it is not only enough to know your facts but it is also essential that you deliver them while holding the audience attention.  He also uses common sense and does not swear or tell jokes during his speeches or while answering questions.  He thinks about what he wants to say before speaking, and doesn't interrupt or start talking while someone else is still speaking to him.  I think that he respects the opinions of others by asking for their input and he repeats back what he heard in insure clarity of what he heard.  Overall he understands the importance of words.

I would model my communication skills like Mr. Obama because I would want my audience to feel that I can identity with them.  If I could be a positive influence and inspire others with the words I use I think that would be wonderful.

Professional Hopes and Goals & Word of Thanks

This course has helped me learn a lot about diversity, equity and social justice.  I have gained an understanding of how a person’s family culture, values and beliefs to include world views make up who they are as a person.  This is very important for EC educators because it will give the a foundation to establish relationships and better understand children and families.

The hope that I have when thinking about people working with children and families that come from diverse backgrounds is that they ensure they are well educated on the subject of diversity and that they strive to ensure all families are treated with equity, equality and respect.

The goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field as it relates to issue with diversity, equity, and social justices is for professionals to continue to strive to ensure all children regardless of the backgrounds are treated equally and given the same opportunities to learn and develop.

I would like to thank all my colleagues for the feedback and insights you have shared during this course.  My wish for you is to continue to keep the statement  "the passion comes from the vision" in mind as it relates to your work in the EC field.  

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The country I choose was:  Bangladesh

5 Ways I would prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family:

1. I would try to gain as much information about the family as possible thing such as their home language, family size and structure, socil economic status and wheter anyone has any type of special needs or disabilities.
2. I would learn as much about their native language as possible and learn some of their words that are used common and ways to greet them in their native language.
3. I would also try to establish some commonalities of experiences such as a hobby, or comman food choices.
4. I would become educated on their cultural beliefs as it relates to education and medical practices.
5. I would collaborate with the staff and other members of my team that they will come in contact with so that we all will have a basic understanding of how to make them feel welcome.

The ways in which I hope that this will benefit both me and the family is simply to help me better understand the cultural backgrounds of others and to eliminate all bias, prejudices and discrimination that may be present within me. I would strive to ensure that the child and his or her family felt respected and included in the environment.  

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The memory that I have of experiencing bias, prejudice, and/or oppression is something that happened recently at my children's high school.  There was an English teacher who would use all types of racial slurs in the classroom in front of the children.  My son would come home telling me horror stories several times a week of how she referred to blacks as the “N” word and that how white people will always be superior to blacks.  When I called the school to complain I was told that I was the first parent to ever complain on this teacher and that they had no knowledge of her speaking to children in this manner.  Surprisingly about two weeks after I made this complaint the teacher was fired for showing a movie that was rated “R” in the classroom.  The complaint came from a white mother who had adopted two asian children.  It was ironic to me that my complaint as a black mother got pushed aside and when the white mother complained the teacher was fired and the story made national news.  The feelings that the incident brought up for me was anger.  I can’t understand why a person would treat children in this manner regardless of their race. 

We have learned through our studies that  prejudices are learned behaviors

and as children this behavior is not passed on to us or inherited.  In today’s society although we live our lives and profess to not be bias and display prejudice tendencies I believe that everyone has these traits within them.  I think that the only way to change this is for the people involved from the teacher to the administrators to change their world views.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

The term “microaggression” is defined as a “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color”(Negate 2013).

This week the microaggression I was faced with was being asked “What are you”?  I was at a childcare conference and I went to the restroom during a break.  One of the other participants said to me “your hair is so long and pretty. What are you?”  It took everything in me not to ask what she was.  I calmly smiled and stated “I am black”.  She then stared asking all sorts of questions about my parents and grandparents race.  She stated that “there is no way you’re all black with hair like that”.  Although people ask me this question all of the time, I had no idea that this was a of microagrression which is a form of racism.  

My experience this week affects my perception of the effect of discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes mostly from a standpoint of thinking about what I say before I say it.  So often we make comments to people without thinking them through.  Once its said it’s left up to the recipient of the message to determine whether there was an underlined message or not.

References

Heben Negate., 2013. 21 Racial Microaggressions You Hear On A Daily Basis

Retrieved from:  http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/racial-microagressions-you-hear-on-a-daily-basis July 23, 2014.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Husband

Culture:is those qualities with-in a person that has been influenced from their entire up-bringing, its the influences around you that effect decisions and your interactions with society.

Diversity: all those components that makes us different such as: race, ethnicity, sex, age, social status, education, and other economical and career differences.

Co-Worker

Culture: Culture can be defined as our everyday aspect of life. It has many characteristics that define us as humans such as our race, gender, religion, language and more. Culture can teach us many things about a person and also provide us with patterns of a person’s  behavior.

Diversity: Diversity can be defined as a social identity, which defines who a person is. Each person is made uniquely different. My social identities would include me being a Christian, a mother, a wife, an educator, and a small business owner.

Sister

Culture: the aspects of life that are determined based on our family beliefs, childhood  and social status.

Diversity:  The differences people have as it relates to things such as age, gender, and race.

     I really enjoyed this weeks assignment and getting to hear how my friends, family and co workers defined culture and diversity.  Prior to beginning this course my definition of culture and diversity had just changed.  I like many people only looked at culture from the aspect of surface culture.  I now now that there is so much more to an individuals culture. 

     The people I spoke with primarily associated diversity to the differences in people with regards to gender, ethnicity, race, and religious beliefs. In today’s society these individual differences create diversity throughout our world. As my coworker stated “Each person is made uniquely different”.  This course has helped me gain a better understanding about the children and families I currently work with by reminding me that we all have different cultures and are very diverse. I have also learned that our social identities plays a huge role in diversity.

My Family Culture

If my family and I were forced to move to another county and only have the choice of taking along three small things I believe they would be our Bible, my son’s basketball, and my daughters poetry journal.  These three things mean the world to me and my family. First our Bible because without our Faith in God we have nothing anyway.  Second, my sons basket ball because this is something that he loves.  I watch him give his all everyday to make straight A’s in school and although he may not be a super star he gives his all on the court.  Lastly, my daughters poetry journal.  This journal always my daughter to express herself through her writings.  She is very quiet and to herself so it helps her to be able to tell how she’s feeling.  If upon, arrival we were told we could only keep one thing it would definitely be our Bible.  Our Faith is strong enough that we know and understand that God can do all things and he will provide us with the things we need.  

After I completed the first part of this assignment I decided to ask my family what three things they would take and they choose the exact three things.  I then asked them which one would they choose to keep and they all said the Bible.  This assignment made me realize how alike my family and I really are and it made me feel even better to know that we all choose the same items.  It tells me that we all know each other very well.