Professional Hopes and Goals

My hope for diverse families is that all families will receive equity and access to high quality early childhood programs.

My goal is to become an advocate for all children and to ensure that the learning environment is inclusive of all cultures. 

I would like to personally thank all of my fellow scholars for their contributions to my blogs.  I wish you all the best in your future goals and hopes.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Welcoming Families From Around the World

I would work with a family from South Africa.  The family consists of two children, the mother, and the father.  The oldest child is in my class.

To better serve the family, I would:
1. Research the country of origin.
2. Research the family's culture.
3. I would interview the family to learn more about religious views, values, and beliefs.
4. Work with the family to learn more about the child and the child's needs
5. Establish communication with the family to create an ongoing process of parental involvement in the class and in the child's education.

My overall goal is to ensure that the child benefits from the development of an inclusive environment.  My goal is to promote inclusion and diversity in the classroom.  As a result, researching the family's background will provide me with the information that I need to be more productive as a teacher and to ensure that the child's culture is represented in the classroom.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I grew up in Mississippi, and most of my life, I heard people talk about prejudice and racism.  My family is African American and they would talk about things that happended to them.  However, I did not directly experience racism or prejudice until I was 15 years old.  On this day, a white woman called me the N word.  She stated that "she was tired of you people" and asked me to leave her store.  I was shopping for a dress and did not have enough money.  When I asked the lady if I could put the dress up and come back later, she asked me to leave the store in a nasty manner.  On this day, I felt degraded and less than a person.

If I could go back to that day, I would have thanked the woman for her time and explained that I would return for the dress.  I would have overcome the mistreatment with courtesy and kindness.  I would also have held my head up and walked out instead of crying.  This incident has stuck with me all my life, and it was one of the first moments when I realized that prejudice people were still in the world.