Professional Hopes and Goals

When working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds, I will do the best I can to not make them feel out of place or culturally misunderstood. My hope is that by modeling acceptance of diversity, they also gain respect for different cultures and embrace diversity in a positive way. Just as adults, children vary widely in their modes of interacting and preferred learning styles. want to  respect and value diversity by doing the opposite. One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that I would want to hold workshops discuss these topics with families and at the college where I work. I want to also instill these values in students that are attending a higher education institution so that they also can go into their own centers. Instead of ignoring diversity, I By reading my colleagues blog posts and in class discussions for this course, I am glad to know that in communities aside from mine, educators will be instilling respect for diversity in children. I want to thank my colleagues for their constructive discussion and blog posts. I have copied and pasted them on my desktop every week to continue to self reflect on issues of equity and social justice. I am glad that the shared vision of a society of cultural acceptance is shared by many around the nation.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

In the event that I were to have a family join my center/ classroom from a country which I do not have any prior knowledge would make me want to learn no more than five things from their culture before they entered my classroom. I would do so as a sign of respect for their culture. The name of the family's country of origin that I know nothing about is Afghanistan.

I would hope that the family would be on an internet social network like facebook. This would give me the opportunity to view their pictures and get a visual idea of how they portray themselves.

I would like to go online and look for information on this country. I would want to learn things about the climate, geographic surroundings, and the societal structure (city or countryside or jungle,...) of that area.

I would go to the library or online to find information on the history of the country. This would include the type of government it has and the language or languages spoken.

I would then get written words in the language they spoke if from what I looked on line would be the main language used there. Translated words in English and their language like hello, restroom, friend and other words that would facilitate.

I would not want to investigate any further as I would be assuming they spoke, dressed, and acted a certain way. I would not want to insult them if I took a tourist approach to address them. I would want to learn as much as I could about the children and family once I meet them in person. I hope that my attempts in learning about this family will benefit both them and myself as I hope it would ease their welcome and make them feel respected.  

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

An incident I can think about that has made me a target for prejudice within my own ethnic group is my name. Before I continue to explain, I need to share a bit of my parents history. Both parents migrated to the United States and were the target of many racial profiling and where treated vary unjustly in the 70s and early 80s. They received  this at work and in their vary same neighborhood where they lived. When I was born, they wanted to name me Francisco, a name that is commonly used in many Mexican families. Francisco is the name of my grandfather and it is the middle name of my father. They wanted to continue the tradition but were thinking that it may cause me problems, mainly with acts of prejudice. My parents thought that if they named me frank, short for Francisco, that when people would  see my name like in a waiting list for school or a job position, I would have a better chance to be selected as they thought that if a racist person was in charge, they would not pick my name that is associated with a Mexican.  

Now to the prejudice part that I have received from other Mexicans and Mexican Americans. All I can say is, "dammed if I do and dammed if I don't". My parents good intent on trying to make me fit in with Americas was a good deed on their behalf but overlooked the reaction from other Mexicans and Latino populations. An example I can share is that some people think that I changed my name because I was ashamed of being called a name that is so commonly used in Mexico. They tell me to keep it real and to never deny my roots. Some people even tell me that I am a liar and should not misread my name on my birth certificate. Some of my close friends have called me a wannabe whitewashed Mexican. They do not believe that the name spelled on my birth certificate is Frank. All I know is that things like a person's name can be tied into a person's social identity and as a professional, I must be mindful in not to insult anyone by changing their name even if I cannot say it. The story that Dr. Euguene Garcia told in one of this week's videos made me remember this. I sometimes feel like his sister , Cipranita felt with the unintential microaggression that she experienced on her first day of school when the teacher, not being able to pronounce her name, changed it to Emily forever. It creates thoughts of insecure feeling of which name is better. This is not a good thing for children to experience as it can make them question their roots.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). "In His Own Voice: Dr. Eugene Garcia" [DVD] Baltimore, Learning MD. Author.