Professional Hopes and Goals

It is my hope that I can provide a setting where all children, no matter where they come from, feel safe and a part of my class. I want to promote a successful learning environment and understand that this may take a little more effort on my part, but am willing to do whatever it takes to help them all succeed.

One goal I would like to see for the early childhood field would be to incorporate cultural awareness into my classroom more so that when we do acquire children form diverse backgrounds, it provides for a smoother transition for the children and their families.

I appreciate all the comments and posts that you each shared throughout this course and wish you the best of luck as you continue on this journey. It has been a great class full of information that will help us as educators in the early childhood field. Hopefully we will meet again in future courses!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The family that I will be working with is from Guatemala, which is located in Central America.
As a child care center worker, I have the opportunity of integrating and acclimating this family into our community. Some of the things that I would do to help be culturally responsive to this family are:
1. Share common vocabulary words in both our language and their language.
2. Invite the family to come and share things with our group that pertains to their culture - games, items, foods.
3. Research information about how education system is in Guatemala.
4. Research information about special holidays and have the children share about holidays as a group activity.
5. Share books in my classroom library that pertains to their culture.
I hope that by gaining a more indepth study of their country and through sharing about where they came from in the classroom, I can help them see that I am excited that they are here and that I am interested in their family both personally and culturally.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

In considering bias, prejudice, and oppression and how these have affected me personally, I would recall an incident that was reflective of my identity as a pastor’s wife. Speaking from experience, being a pastor’s wife is not an easy job. Unfortunately, or fortunately, whichever way you choose to look at it, we are often defined by what our husbands do. I remember being asked questions and thought, “I am not the one that you are seeking for the pastoral position, I am a school teacher.” Another incident directly related to being a pastor’s wife that I would share involved a group of people that I worked with. I was not invited to participate in an outing with this group because I was a “pastor’s wife.” This incident initially belittled me. It was terribly hurtful and to think that these people were supposed to be my friends. It took me some time to realize that these people that chose to not include me in their evening activities, were probably more ashamed of what they were going to be doing than the fact that I was a pastor’s wife. They were embarrassed and not inviting me to participate with them kept them from feeling bad for doing whatever it was they were going to be doing. After a while, and a few hurt feelings, I realized just how fortunate I was to have been called to be the wife of a pastor. I love my husband and my church and would not change this part of my life for anything. If others wanted to shun me for who I am, then so be it. After praying about this situation, I knew that I had to change the way that I felt about this situation or I was going to be the one who was miserable and I did not want that.