Professional Hopes and Goals

When working with children and families with diverse backgrounds, I hope that I make each individual feel comfortable with me and program in which they are enrolled in.  By creating a safe environment with these families, I hope the family and I create a relationship where they are able to come to me with questions or concerns.  Working with each family gives professionals the opportunity to eliminate gaps that occur because of different cultures. 

My goal for the early childhood field would be to create equity and social justice by educating all professionals in the field about multicultural issues in order to eliminate bias.

Thank you to all my colleagues for supporting me in this class.  Your thoughts and responses were beneficial to my learning and understanding of this course. 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

When a new child enrolls into a school or program, it is important to have a good understanding of where that child is from and what makes this child who he/she is.  I will be getting a new family in my preschool program.  The family's country of orgin is Algeria.  There are numerous things that need to be done to better my understanding of this child and where they are from.  The first thing I would do is basic research about Algeria.  This would include everything from population, household sizes, education, and health care.  I would next make contact with another individual from Algeria.  Speaking to someone from this country would give me a new perspective on life in Algeria that I would not be able to get by doing basic research.  I would connect with one or more professionals from other preschool or school programs.  By speaking to other school professionals, I would understand the make up of their schools and their expectations in place for each child and family.  Researching various programs and services that are available in Algeria would give me a better understanding of what was available to this family and ways to transition them from what they know to what is available to them here.  Learning this families basic language is key to my relationship with this family and to help make this child successful.  I would also learn more about this families culture including their values and traditions. 

By doing these things I would be more prepared when this child enters my preschool program.  I would have a better understanding of this child and his/her to family to help make a smoother transition.  By having this background information I would be able to incorporate this families culture into my preschool program, which when then narrow the gap between his culture and the main culture.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

An incident that comes to mind is a past experience while working at a family fun center.  A group of Amish families came to ride go-karts and bumper boats.  I could hear many customers making rude comments about their beliefs that were offensive to the Amish families.  These comments consisted of being able to drive go-karts but unwilling to drive cars.  There were also comments made regarding their personal appearance and hygiene.  Due to the comments being made by several customers, these families were unable to enjoy their time at this family fun center.  Due to their background and beliefs they did not have the same experience as other families did in this given situation.  At the time I was employed at this job I was a recent high school graduate.  Even for being young I still recognized the comments to be offensive and rude.  I felt so bad for these families and spoke to a manager about the situation.  The manager was then able to remove the rude customers so these families could enjoy their time there.  In order for this to be a more equitable situation, the customers who were being rude would need to have a better understanding of the culture and beliefs of the Amish families.