Professional Hopes and Goals

When I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds, I hope what I have learned from my course study can really be helpful for me to build good relationships with them. I hope that when I become a positive role model for the children as well as work professionally with parents, students and colleagues towards cultural diversity. I hope that I am supported by my team and being understood by my parents in all time, and when there comes an issue we can solve out respectfully and cooperatively.

As for the goal related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice in early childhood field, I am keen in helping immigrant children and students who speak other languages than English from being culturally marginalized and/or psychological inferior in school.

I learned more than I thought in this 8-weeks journey and it is my pleasure to sharing my views and ideas with learning colleagues from all over the world. Every week when I read those posts from my colleagues, it was like sparkles that enlighten my small universe and showing me the path that, ‘that’s right, I can actually think in this way!’ Wish u all success in the future study in Walden and keep going with passion in becoming early childhood professionals!

Course Study: Perspective Diversity & Equity

Reference:

Derman-Sparks, L and Edwards, J. (2010) Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

• The name of “your” family’s country of origin

The family’s country of origin I chose is Cape Town, South Africa. To be honestly, I don’t know much about this country except for the name of the city and the country. And I start getting to know people from this country since I work with colleagues who are original from South Africa.

• At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family

The five ways I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family are:

(1) I will search for resources about South Africa’s culture. Nowadays, it is much easier for us to look for information in various ways, such as from the public library, internet, or personal social networking. My first idea is to go find the books introducing about South Africa in whole aspects, like <Lonely Planet>, or any tourism readings. Having some general impression of a country can help me to prepare some relaxing and interesting topics when I meet the family. And also I am able to be given some instructions about the highlight and taboo of the country’s culture.

(2) I will find information through internet and social network sites. I think there are more to know and watch online in various forms, such as video, photographs, news and movies. So I can understand the country’s culture from the context in people’s conversations or their social interactions. This helps me to know how to be respectful when I speak and interact with the family.

(3) I will find chances to speak to my colleagues who are from South Africa, and if possible I will try to learn some basic words and sentences in their language so that when I meet to the child and the family I could greet and communicate with them in their language which to make them to feel they are welcome.

(4) I will send the message or announce to the whole class parents about the new joining family, as well as ask the class representative(s) or any volunteer parents can connect to the new one. In this way, the new family will not feel being isolated, instead they are encouraged to connect to other families who might have the similar situation like them, so that they can share their experiences or information, and support each other.

(5) I will ask the new parents if they speak other languages or their other mother tongue other than English. If yes, then I will try to help find out or provide the translated school documents/ translation for the family.

• A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family

I think in the process of understanding and learning the aspects of the new family’s culture is also expending my knowledge of knowing the world outside my life circle. As for the preparation mentioned above, when I meet to new family I am confident and being able to give the impression of open-minded to the family, so that they can feel they are respected and connected. And this is the foundation of building cooperative partnership with the family that it will benefit both my teaching activities, the child’s learning development, and school-family rapport in the future.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

As a citizen live within mainland China, I have to say for a certain while of time, we are biased by people who are from Hong Kong. Even since I was in middle school, I learned that when Hongkongnese describe people who are from China, they would use a very particular word to describe us, it is call ‘Dai Lu’ people, ‘大陆’. It is a very oppressive meaning, indicated that mainland Chinese are inferior. Whenever I hear people use this word to call me, personally I am uncomfortable as I feel I am the target of classism. I would not poke it back or make it as an issue, but emotionally my mood could be slightly changed by what I am identified. There were many times when people from Hong Kong, even when I was in the UK meeting Hong Kong immigrants, hearing me speak perfect Cantonese but from mainland China, I was given the complement with a surprise tone. From the course study now I learned this is classism microaggression , and analyzing my personal experience I also understand that it is so hard to eliminate classism as it was fixed by a relative long term stereotype and cultural history.

Another incident is when I heard my boyfriend had once mentioned that his friend married an Asian woman and then the woman was succeed in receiving her Green Card within two years, and being sponsored by her American husband. It was sum up by ‘she knows what she wants’, and me and my boyfriend both agree that some woman they are relatively ambitious. However, I cannot help but think why the group of women in the conversation of inter-cultural marriage is more likely Asian? Or Chinese? The comment did upset me and I was somewhat got stereotyped even thought my boyfriend did not mean to me. Objectively, there are indeed some cases that made negative reputation of Asian/Chinese women in relationship with or marriage with men from developed countries. But more than that I feel, is being discriminated on my nationality. Psychologically, I feel that incident diminish the equity for being treated equally as people who are having relationship in the same race/ nationality. I had once heard my friend teased herself that ‘no matter how much effort I have made, people think the reason why I succeed is because I have a white husband.’ This is such a bias with great unfair judgment.

From the two incidents above, I think for both two parties have to change their mind of thinking and attitudes that hopefully to turn the incidents into an opportunity for greater equity. It is easily to blame the side of people that who give out the bias, prejudice or microagressions. However, if we look at the problem closely it is found that the side who are ‘targets’ also have a reason that make the incident happen. To change people’s mind of thinking or attitude is not only rely on individuals, but also we need to reconstruct or modified the stereotype of the whole society, sometimes we may also step into the cultural issues. It is not the task for changing those who have internalized privilege, but also for everyone in including people who are oppressed in the society.