Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

During this week I overheard a conversation that was taking place in the hallway within a group of children. There were two little white girls (1st grade) and a little Hispanic girl named Josenia. (also 1st grade). Josenia was coming back from speech therapy and the two little white girls noticed she had a pink toy in her hand. They walked over to her and began asking her questions about the toy and where she had gotten it. Josenia was very shy acting and as she lowered her head, I heard her mumble something. The speech therapist was just a couple steps ahead and she stopped and looked back at Josenia. I could tell the speech teacher was listening in on the conversation and then I heard one of the other little girls ask her why she went with that teacher. I truly believe that these little girls were unintentional and meant no harm in anything they said, but Josenia sure looked scared.

I felt scared and nervous for Josenia as I know that she speaks some English as I have some interaction with her in the bus room, but her English is somewhat limited. I think she really was not sure what to say to them.

I can see after reading and learning about microaggressions that this is something that happens very frequently, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes intentionally.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

After speaking with a family member, and asking about him to define the terms culture and diversity this is how he described them:

Culture can be described as an identifiable group of people with common values and customs.

Diversity can be described as variations within a culture of those values and customs which are not necessary common to the culture but not sufficient enough to break from the culture.

A colleague of mine defined these terms as follows:

Culture can be described as the way people think and live.

Diversity can be defined as the differences in people and places.

I asked a friend from Iceland to also define these two terms and these are his responses:

Culture can be defined as the norms and the conditions under which a society lives.

Diversity can be defined as recognition of different cultures and different norms between more than one group of people.

I believe that each of these responses are very similar and reflect what I think and believe as the definitions of both terms. I also believe that through my educational courses I have a better understanding of these terms. I do not believe that the terms offer any omission, but I do believe that these terms have been described somewhat superficially, which is how I would have described them before studying them more thoroughly in my classes.

My Family Culture

What three items would I take with me, in the event that my country was devastated by a major catastrophe, and the emergency government had decided that the surviving citizens would be best served if they were evacuated to outher countries that were willing to take refugees,and me and my immediate family are among the survivors? I would take - My Bible, my family photos, and my passport.

I would take my Bible because as a Christian, it is where I find my strength. It is something that I can rely on to help me through troubled times.

I would also take photos of my family. I love my family and pictures would offer me some sort of comfort if they could not physically be with me.

My third and final item would be my passport. I know that when I have been out of the country in the past, that my passport is golden. It is my way back to where I am from and if the opportunity ever came to return to my country, I would hope that it would get me there.

If I was told that I could only keep one item it would be my Bible. I would just have to rely on my Lord and Savior to help me through.

This exercise really got me to thinking about what was most important. My bible and my photos are relevant to my family culture and who I am.

When I Think of Research...

I have gained several insights about research after completing this course. I have an increased knowledge about how to conduct research and how to dissect what I am reading when considering research – weeding out the good and the bad. Research is not something that can be taken lightly, and although there is a lot of research out there, it should not all be considered valid.

I think that I have realized that there is a lot more to consider when doing research than I had previously thought before taking this class. I have learned many lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood. When planning research, it is important to take time to carefully design your research. Through carefully designed research, you can ensure that your research provides you with the data that allows you to achieve what you have set out to achieve (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

I think that a challenge for me is that I struggled with how to organize and implement all the different methods for my research simulation. I have realized that research offers us a lot of information and there is a lot of research already out there that we can use to our benefit. Again, not all research is reliable, but with what I have learned through this course, I feel that I am better able to distinguish what can be considered valuable and what cannot

I appreciate all the comments and posts that have been shared throughout this course and I look forward to continuing through this program with many of you!

References

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Research Around the World

I chose the Early Childhood Australia website.

There were several research topics listed on this website that dealt with early childhood. Some of them are: Learning and Teaching through Play, Children’s Resilience, Early Childhood Framework, and the one that I chose to look at more closely, Respecting Diversity.

These articles were, “practical, easy-to-read resources, offering effective new approaches for those challenging issues which arise in the care and education of young children. The Research in Practice Series focuses on the practical, 'hands-on' aspects of early childhood – making them ideally suited to early childhood workers. The wide range of topics covered throughout the series offers something to anyone interested in children's early years (Research in practice, 2011).”

I think it is interesting to see that research study topics from other countries are very similar to the topics that we are researching right here in our country. We can learn so much through reading about the same topics and we can gain a lot of insight from the research studies that have been conducted elsewhere. I specifically chose “Respecting Diversity: Articulating Early Childhood Practice” due to my research simulation on inclusion. It clearly suggests that all children, regardless of their abilities, the family constellation to which they belong, or the community in which that family resides, have a right to simply belong, be and become. It is therefore common practice to see philosophies emphasizing the need to create equitable and inclusive learning environments that acknowledge human diversity in all its many forms and that include children as capable of being engaged in and advocating for social justice (Richardson, 2011). This website offered a free e-newsletter that I felt was well worth subscribing too. There are links to the latest news and developments that could prove to be beneficial when conducting research as well.

References

Research in practice series. (2011). Early Childhood Australia: A Voice for Young Children. Retrieved from http://earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/. Richardson, Carmel. (2011). Respecting diversity: Articulating early childhood practice. Research in Practice Series. 18(1), 6.

Research that Benefits Children and Families - Uplifting Stories

I have had the opportunity to work with another teacher who spent some time researching an entire group of 4th graders in the school where he was working and the effects of free and reduced lunch and academic achievement vs paid Lunch and academic achievement. After completing a survey which measured a variety of issues concerning their homelife, he was able to take this information and use it to supplement specifically where needs existed. Some of the questions that were asked were: 1. Number of parents in the home. 2. What kind of help they received? (if any.) 3. What kinds of food they typically ate? (any nutritional value or not) 4. Was there technology in the home? 5. What their neighborhood community and housing was like? After conducting this research, he was able to take this information and share it with a support team where they were able to identify what their needs were. This information did show that the children that were identified as free and reduced lunch scored lower and struggled more academically, whereas the students that were full pay scored much higher and achieved greater success academically. I did ask him if the students and their families were informed about this research and if they understood that this information would be shared with a support group at his school, and he shared that he had sent a letter to all the families of his students and that they were required to sign and return the consent form which he has kept on file. There were no photographs taken and no names were shared through his research, only the number of students and their status of free and reduced vs paid lunches. I appreciate the research study that he did and know that there can be many other factors that can be related to academic issues. All children need to be given the opportunity to succeed, but through identifying where we can apply our focus and individualize these needs, hopefully we can work together and help bring these children through this time in their educational journey so that history does not continue to repeat itself.

Personal Research Journey

I selected the topic, Pros and Cons of Inclusion in the Classroom, to research for this assignment. I chose this assignment because this is becoming a real possibility in our school system and I interested in learning what I can about this topic and how effective it is. As an educator, I have had experience with mainstreaming students, and I believe it did not go well because of my lack of training for this type of setting. So, if our county does move to an inclusive setting in the elementary school, I want to be ready and I want to be able to discuss this topic as professionally as possible. I believe that through this research, and through the help of my colleagues and their experiences, I will be able to attain this goal. The articles that were shared that helped us identify quality and credible resources have helped me narrow my search as I have looked through several on this topic. I appreciate all the help that I can get on this topic and any links that have already been identified as quality resources. I know that we can learn through quality resources, but I am also interested in learning from past experiences as well! Please share any knowledge that you have regarding inclusion in the classroom.