Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

 

 

 

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

       I was involved in an incident of microagression this week when I pulled into a gas station to get gas.  I walked up to the booth and gave the attendant my credit card to obtain gas and a heated conversation pursued. I told the attendant who was of an African culture (my guess Ethiopian) for $15.00 dollars worth of gas.  He responded “(wan – fi)” and I said “no, $15.00 dollars worth of gas”.  His voice became louder and he shouted “Wan- fi” and I then raise my voice and said “$15.00 dollars, I can’t understand you!”  So finally he wrote down the number 15 on a piece of paper and then I replied “Yes”.   During this heated exchange I was thinking negative thoughts like why didn’t this man speak English?  There was definitely a communication disconnect and I realized that I got caught up with emotion and disregarded everything I had learned this week in my Perspective Diversity class. 

            This was clearly a case of racial microagression because I probably humiliated the gas attendant and made him feel like a stranger in his own land (Laureate Education, Inc, 2011).  I was shocked about my behavior because I have always viewed myself to be a very caring and sensitive person who cared about the feelings of others.  But emotion can make us do ugly things and exhibit behaviors out of the norm.   I am now feeling very guilty because I committed a microassault against this guy because I was challenging his intellectual ability (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  As I now self-reflect I grapple with the reality that I too possess some deep seated biases that I need to get rid of so I can truly show an understanding and respect to all cultures.

 

 

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved

            from https://class.waldenu.edu



Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

                    I interviewed three family members to inquire about their thoughts on culture and diversity and the thoughts were rather similar.  I think that most people associate culture with the way a particular group of people live their lives as part of society.   The people I interviewed defined culture and diversity in the following ways:

Nia (age 31 / African-American/Environmental Scientist): “Culture is a lifestyle that one group of people identify with backgrounds, traditions, and morality “.  Diversity is a variety of cultures.  Ecosystems can also have diversity.

Linda (age 61/ African American/ Social Scientist):” Culture is the viewpoint, beliefs, customs, and traditions and how they exhibited amongst people in society”.  Diversity means different.

Terreta (age 43/ African American/ Director of Marketing & Communication (college): Culture is the norms and traditions that one is familiar with including family surroundings and upbringing.  Diversity is the variety of different cultures and traditions.

          Before I enrolled in this course I believed that culture was just customs, holidays, foods pertaining to a particular group of people.  I am learning so much more about deep culture which examines how people live and what things are meaningful to them.  We you learn more about different people, you gain an extra level of respect and understanding of others.  Diversity strengthens our ties to one another and makes life more interesting.  This world would be a boring place if we all looked and acted in the same manner.   I have also realized the richness of allowing students to be bi-cultural which means that they can be proud of holding on to their home culture in the classroom while also learning about a new culture.  I learned from my interviews that most people view culture from just on the surface because they are not aware that a deeper definition of culture exists. This course has changed me tremendously for the better and I am eager to find out what will come next.

 

 

My Family Culture

 

 

My Family Culture

 

          If I and my family would have to relocate to another country because of the occurrence of a major catastrophe in the US and we were allowed to take only three items, I would really have to deeply ponder about the items I would select.  The first item that I would select would be my bible because it would be a source of inspiration and the words would be written in English   I may be relocating to a non-English speaking country so it would be to my advantage to have a book written in my native language.  Secondly I would bring family pictures of my relatives that have since passed away in order to keep their memories close to my heart.  The last item that I would bring would be fruit in order to stay nourished.

            There may be a language barrier in the new country where I have to reside so I would let people know the value of these items that I brought over by drawing pictures to explain the items to others.  Upon arriving at this new place I am suddenly told that I have to narrow my choices down to one item, so I would select food because that is the key to my survival.

            Family is very important to me and I think the true gift is allowing my family to accompany me to a new land.  Some of the problems that we may encounter would be adapting to the climate, language, economic and housing system, and obtaining adequate health care.  This exercise helped me to get in touch with my feelings and belief systems.  I now realize that having a loving family is the best commodity that anyone could have.  No obstacle is too large to achieve when you have the love and company of your family



When I Think of Research...

 

 

 

Early Childhood Research

 

 

 

When I Think of Research...

            This Building Research Competency course has heightened my sense of awareness about why we do research and the various research designs that can be utilized   in the process.  I have often heard the phrase “the research says…” and have taken the research for granted without considering what methods were used or if the research process followed the ethical guidelines? I have discovered that there are many components involved in the research design and some researchers have taken advantage of impoverished people by not respecting their cultural beliefs, economic station in life, and their health and welfare.  Ethics should be the driving force of all research and the researcher must make sure that the research displays fairness and justice.

            My ideas have changed regarding doing research because before I took this course, I was more focused on conducting research from my point of view including having the power over the research and the participants.  After being enrolled in this course my focus has changed because now I am more inclusive of all participants that are involved in the study which includes the sharing of power and I have a better understanding of the qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods forms of research design.  The qualitative method focuses on human behavior, beliefs, and emotions which involve selecting an open-ended question to be researched and using various sampling methods to answer information that has not been predetermined (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).  Quantitative research involves collecting empirical data to prove a hypothesis or explain social phenomena (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).  The quantitative method also explores the relationship between variables.  Sometimes researchers have the desire to combine research data (quantitative and qualitative) which results in a mixed methods research design (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

            I now realize how important research is to improving learning opportunities in the early childhood field and aiding to formulate effective curriculum because of the validation involving the research process.  Teachers need to be informed about what works in the classroom and research can provide the solutions to questions involving how children learn best.  The most challenging aspect for me regarding the research process is getting started and selecting a research topic and question.  I really had to ponder what research topic that I was passionate about because I believe that people perform best when they are passionate about a certain platform.  I have enjoyed the camaraderie and support of my colleagues doing this course and the insightful comments.  Some of my views have changed for the better because I opened up to others opinions which help me grow professionally and philosophically and I am grateful.

 

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

Early Childhood in Australia

 

     Early Childhood Australia (ECA) is an organization that was founded in 1938 at first as the “The Australian Association of Pre-School Child Development’.   The ECA advocates for young children, families, and professionals in the early childhood field.  There is a Code of Ethics posted on the website (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org) which establishes a framework for ethical responsibilities for early childhood professionals.  The Ethical Code also gives children the power to participate in their own learning and social experiences. The Code of Ethics contains great values which are:

• Respect
• Democracy
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Justice
• Courage
• Inclusivity
• Social and cultural responsiveness
• Education

The Australasian Journal of Early Childhood (AJEC) that is found on this website is Australasia's foremost scholarly journal and the world's longest-running major journal within the early childhood field. There is a Research in Practice Series (RIPS) listed on this site that offers “hands-on” practical information for people who work in the early childhood field and for families.  These articles can be purchased from the website from an online catalogue.  I wanted to view the article “Respecting Diversity: Articulating early childhood practice” but there was a charge for all the articles in this particular series.  There are also various free articles pertaining to best practices and other early childhood research information.

I did not know that the ECA helped to establish numerous early childhood groups internationally.  ECA initiated and early childhood mental health initiative called KidsMatter.  The ECA created the first national early childhood conference back in 1939 and this organizations vision is very similar as our own NAYCE (National Association for the Education of Young children) that was founded in 1926.



Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

            My ideal research would be to conduct research on improving the school experience for African American boys.  It would be action research provided in a culturally responsive classroom that would address different learning styles, the home environment, and teaching teachers to be culturally sensitive to the needs of African American boys.  This is essential because African American males are being lost at alarming rates because of high suspension rates beginning at the preschool age and being subjected to negative stereotypes by school personnel and society.

            By conducting this much needed research I would be able to demonstrate the best practices for successfully educating young African American boys.  Hopefully I would create a paradigm shift that would change the way that educators treat African American boys and this would stop the preschool to prison pipeline.  I envision one day that more of these boys would be academically equipped to attend college and be successful contributors to society.  When children are surrounded in a culturally responsive environment where they see positive images of themselves and have teachers that care and hold high expectations, then failure is not an option!

The Research Process

My experience so far with the research process has been a bit challenging because there are many steps to creating a research plan.  The planning chart has been helpful in dissecting the different components of the research process and understanding what each step entails.  There is very little difference between African American children and Caucasian children at birth, but something happens in early childhood that causes African American children to fall behind academically between the ages of two and five.  It is my goal in life to increase the academic achievement of minority children using effective strategies.  So I must first construct a list of questions to research on this matter for instance:

1.     How do young children learn?

2.     How does poverty affect learning?

3.     How to increase literacy skills in minority children?

4.     How does culturally responsive teaching affect minority children?

This topic is of interest to me because I have experience in teaching in urban school settings and I am very concerned about the academic learning gap.  I have also witnessed very young African American boys being putting out of classrooms at the early age of three because of behavior.  These boys are feeling isolated at such a young age and this does not help them to like school or want to achieve, so I feel that the curriculum needs to be changed to be culturally responsive.  I am still trying to formulate a research question that will capture my concerns.