Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

            The topic of microaggressive awareness this week has opened my eyes to the everyday accounts of bias which present itself in unconscious ways. By learning about microaggressions this week and learning more about how to identify them within society, I was shocked at how quickly I witnessed a racial microaggressive behavior within my workplace. At my charter school, we have a black male who has recently decided to leave his current position as our after-school program facilitator. Many families were upset to see him go and to venture out to a new career opportunity. When asked where he would be going for his new job by a female parent, he stated he was going to go on vacation to Africa for a week, then begin his new career out of state. After stating he was going to Africa, the woman instantly began telling him how happy she thought he would be to return back to African to visit relatives and to go back to his ‘roots.’ She continued on with the conversation telling him she bet he went back often and enjoys reuniting with some authentic African foods which he cannot get in America since they “clearly would not be as good as what you receive back in Africa. Perhaps your family will cook you a home-cooked meal.” The whole time my former coworker just stared at the woman as she was talking with him, unable to get a word in on the conversation. When she was finally done he stated, “Actually, I am just going on vacation. I am from the Twin Cities originally, and so is my family. I do not know anyone in Africa. My friends and I decided to go there for a spring break trip.” The parent who initiated the conversation turned beat red and apologized for assuming he was going to see his family and ‘return home.’ While the woman did not intend to insult my fellow coworker, her unconscious perception about all black individuals being from Africa caused her to display a racial microaggressive behavior. In her mind she clearly had not considered the possibility of America being a country diverse enough to have native-born individuals whom did not have the same race as her, leading to my former coworker being the target of this racial, microaggressive behavior (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).

            As a friend and former colleague, observing this situation was heartbreaking to me. As soon as the woman had left I walked up to my former coworker and he knew I was coming up to him due to the conversation I had just overheard. Without me even having time to comment, my coworker promptly stated, “Yep, I know what you are going to say. Some people are naïve. It isn’t the first time I have heard that, nor will it probably be the last.” After speaking with him a bit more I knew his words had a lot of pain behind them. My coworker takes pride in who he is, yet for someone to be so quick to judge him made me feel very sympathetic for him, yet angry at the amount of growth our society has yet to do when it comes to diversity education. My perception has greatly been sparked by how quickly I identified an instance of stereotyping within the first several hours of my observations. Now that I am more attentive to my everyday interactions with individuals, I have seen much more prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping then what I assumed our society had. While I feel like as a whole our society has come so far in terms of acceptance, we still have so far to go in order to become a more understanding and inclusive society where all individuals feel as if they can truly embrace who they are without hesitation.

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). EDUC 6164 Course Media.

Microaggressions in Everyday Life.  Baltimore, MD. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4732505_1%26url%3D.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Each person in our society is a unique individual. Throughout the past week I have had the opportunity to explore the differences between people and their perspectives on what culture and diversity mean to them, in order to further my own understanding of these two terms.

            The first person I interviewed this week was a person who differed from me in religion, class and gender. While this person had different identities than my own, I felt we shared many similar ideas in our definitions of culture and diversity. According to C. Krmpotich (personal communication, March 17, 2014), culture is people’s backgrounds, their traditions and their physical appearance, whereas diversity is the differences between people within a culture. I believe it was unique how in his definition of culture, physical appearance was identified as a characteristic (C. Krmpotich, personal communication, March 17, 2014). Before this week, I had not considered how much of an impact physical appearance, specifically hair styles, can affect the diversity amongst individuals in a culture.

            Another person I interviewed this week was a person who is a fellow coworker of mine whom holds many similar identifying characteristics to myself, yet differs in that she is a mother of two children. This young lady defined culture as encompassing an individual's lifestyle, religion, beliefs, & values, while diversity is the variety of cultures within a particular group (J. Feigum, personal communication, March 17, 2014). I appreciated how J. Feigum (personal communication, March 17, 2014) identified that within each identifying group people may associate with, individual personalities still remain a factor in the make-up of the group.

             The final person I interviewed has the same educational background as me and is in the same profession, yet she is part of a blended family and is ten years older than me. V. Weyer (personal communication, March 17, 2014) defined culture as how someone lives based on how they are raised and their heritage (i.e. a Swedish culture), with their foods and music being a part of their culture. Diversity was described as the people of many different cultures in residing in the same area (V. Weyer, personal communication, March 17, 2014). While I thought V. Weyer (personal communication, March 17, 2014) did a wonderful job identifying characteristics of culture, I was surprised at her definition of diversity as it seemed very vague and she struggled with defining differences between culture and diversity.

            Within the three individuals I selected to interview, they included aspects of family background, parenting styles, traditions, appearance, religion, values and beliefs, which according to Laureate Education, Inc., (2011), all are characteristics of culture. However, when it came to defining diversity, I noticed each person struggling at first to explain aspects which are included in the term ‘diversity’. For example, while my interviewees identified how individuality within cultures is what helps to define diversity, no one explained how people’s identity is influenced by diversity, or consequences which people face daily due their lives as a diverse individual within a larger society. As Ngo (2008) explained, identity is constructed through the powers of society, causing many individuals, more specifically immigrant students and families to begin losing their sense of identity as they begin acquiring characteristics of the dominant society and abandon their family’s culture in order to ‘fit-in.’

            Reflecting upon other people’s definitions of culture and diversity has influenced my own thinking of these topics in that I am thankful for the amount of knowledge I am receiving through my current course as I feel many of my interviewees did not have a clear grasp on the differences between culture and diversity, and the impact culture and diversity have on people’s daily lives. While I was proud to each of my interviewees were able to state at least some characteristics of culture, I do believe culture and diversity is something all people, including myself need continuous education on in order to become more understanding and accepting of all individuals within our society.

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). EDUC 6164 Course Media. Culture and

diversity. Baltimore, MD. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4732505_1%26url%3D

Ngo, B. (2008). Beyond "culture clash": Understanding of immigrant experiences. Theory into

Practice, 47(1), 4–11. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201440_04/MS_MECS/EDUC_6164/Week%203/Resources/Resources/embedded/Ngo2008.pdf.

My Family Culture

            Culture gives people a sense of comfort and helps them to build self-confidence and self-esteem (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). Without the comforts of my culture if I were to ever be left in a catastrophic situation, I would be thankful to be able to bring three items which represent my family’s culture and values.

            The first item I would bring is my wedding collage album. This album is a 50 page album which has numerous pictures on each page. Every important friendships, pet (yes, I took pictures with my fur babies) and family member are depicted in this album, including lost loved ones. This album represents my family’s culture because it shows our connectedness and support for each other, especially throughout special events in our lives. I would explain to other individuals how this alum is meaningful to me because it shows the individuals who helped raised me and guide me throughout my life, as well as pictures which show my childhood home. Without the people in this album, I would not be the person I am today.

            Another item I would bring with me is a ceramic angel which was painted by my great-grandmother prior to her passing. My great-grandma was an administrator and educator for over 30 years and lived life with enthusiasm for over 100 years.  I would explain this piece to others as a piece which holds sentimental meaning because my great-grandma was the person who inspired me to go into education and would always call me her ‘little angel.’ She painted this angel for me and every time I see it, it reminds me of the special person she was and the guardian angel I have in my life.

            The final item I would bring would be a replica of my baby blanket which my mom had made for me when I was in my teens. This blanket is identical to the one my great-grandmother had bought for me that I could not live without as a baby and I had it hanging on my wall in my childhood home up until the time I moved out. I would explain to others how this blanket represents the comfort and security I felt growing up because I knew my great-grandma and mom put a lot of thought into this gift. It is a gift I hope to use as my first child’s baby blanket so it holds a lot of sentimental value to me.

            If I were told I could only keep one personal item, I would keep my wedding album. This album represents a lifetime of memories as I reflect upon each special person, pet and item within it, along with memories of the most significant day in my life. While I would be saddened to let the angel and blanket go, in my heart I would know these are only ‘items’ and that the memories of my great-grandma are forever locked in my heart and she would help me through this new journey.

            An insight I gained about myself as a result of this exercise was how important the memories I have are over the materialistic items I have. It was hard at first for me to choose specific items beyond the wedding album because it is the people and relationships I have in my life which hold the most meaning over anything else for me. I found this interesting because I tend to keep many items representing people, yet it is simple pictures and memories which hold more significance for me in my life.

  Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). EDUC 6162 Course Media. Family

cultures: Dynamic interactions Baltimore, MD. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4732505_1%26url%3D.

Welcome EDUC 6164-6 Classmates!

Greetings EDUC 6164-6 Classmates,

I am very excited to begin yet another course on my journey to receiving my M.A. in Early Childhood-Teaching Adults in the Early Childhood Field. I look forward to working with each and every one of you as we learn more about perspectives and diversity within the early childhood field. One of my favorite parts of each course is visiting everyone's blogs and applying our learning in a more personalized manor. :) I am very excited to work with you and send warm wishes your way as we begin a new course together!

*Becca Rauch

When I Think of Research....

              I would like to begin by thanking each and everyone one of my fellow classmates for your time and dedication to this course. It is because of your hard work and feedback that I was able to feel more confident and expand my knowledge about conducting research within the early childhood field.

            As a result of our collaboration, I have gained insight into how the preplanning stages of research should be the area researchers focus on the most in order to avoid complications and increase validity our research studies. Due to the use of children within research, I have also learned the importance of allowing them to assent to the study, in order for them to feel as if they have a voice in whether or not they would like to take part in early childhood research (Mac Naughton, Rolfe & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

            My ideas about the nature of doing research has changed as I have learned how I too can conduct research if I take my time and ensure I consider each ethical and validity criterion which were presented within our resources in order to develop a credible research study. Also, I learned the important lesson of no matter how well you plan, design and conduct research, there is no perfect way to accommodate for extraneous variables (Mac Naughton, Rolfe & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010). Through taking time to design the study and consider as many extraneous variables as possible and adapt your design around these variables in the beginning will help, but there will always to a chance an extraneous variable will happen within your study. As long as you explain it within your results section, then you have increased the replicability of your study for fellow researchers (Mac Naughton, Rolfe & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

            A challenge I encountered within our course was learning each of the new terms and being able to apply them to the field of each childhood education. Through my fellow classmate’s discussion postings and conducting further research independently, I was able to feel more confident in the challenge of learning and applying the new vocabulary throughout this course.

            My perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as I now understand the importance of early childhood professionals to stay current on early childhood research, as well as being able to identify whether or not the studies are valid and the research was conducted with ethical considerations for young children accounted for. Early childhood professionals must be strong advocates for young children and families by sharing research in order to help children meet their full developmental potentials through the application of published research studies. The increased accountability for professionals to stay current on research is an area I have come to appreciate due to the time and flexibility within the curriculum early childhood professionals must tackle.

            Again, thank you to each and every one of you for your support through the course. You have provided me with so much new knowledge about the early childhood field, that I now feel much more confident with early childhood research. I wish you all the best of luck in your future careers and hopefully we will continue to learn from each other in future courses!

Reference

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.