Welcoming Families from Around the World

           As educators, our professional roles are evolving as our society is becoming a more global. In order to include all students into our classroom, including those whom have recently emigrated from a country we know nothing about, we need to prepare ourselves to welcome the child and their family in a way which offers support and is culturally responsive to the family’s country of origin.

            The country I have chosen to explore further for ideas in how to be the most culturally responsive I can within an early learning center, is the country of Bulgaria. I chose Bulgaria because I currently have a family friend who has emigrated to the United States and their child is in my program. According to Advameg, Inc. (2014), many Bulgarian families believe in herbal remedies over more Western-approaches to medicine, therefore they rely on Western medical approaches as a last resort. In order to be culturally responsive of my student, especially when obtaining medical records and addressing the issue of kindergarten immunizations, it is important for me to consider their cultural view of medicine and not push my philosophy of the importance of kindergarten immunizations on them, yet I can educate them about why we believe in them through a brochure which we have available for all families. One way I can help be culturally responsive to the family is to recommend holistic doctors within our community and to offer a waiver to the kindergarten immunizations as part of their welcome packet in case this is the route they wish to continue to take with their child.

            Another way in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive is to learn which language the family speaks, as well as the nonverbal gestures common within their country. According to Advameg, Inc. (2014), Bulgarians shake their head side-to-side to state a ‘yes’ response and up-and-down to state ‘no,’ the complete opposite of many European cultures. As Dr. Garcia stated in his own experiences about language barriers within the education field, having someone who can communicate, understand and appreciate your language shows respect for your cultures, allowing students to maintain their cultural identities (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).

            Other ways which will help me to be cultural responsive towards this family will be to understand the family’s child-rearing practices and cultural traditions in order to incorporate their culture into my classroom through books, manipulatives and toys, mini-lessons and an allowance for the children to practice their religious customs within our early learning program. As stated by Advameg, Inc. (2014), about half of Bulgarian residents are Christian, with the other half being Muslim. Knowing which celebrations such as Ramadan, Christmas, etc., the child practices will be important so I can enrich their culture within my classroom, allowing for the child to feel included and respected.

            At last, I will ensure I am culturally responsive towards this child and their family by offering them a list of resources within the community which will help with their transition to the United States. This list will include health care facilities, ethnic and traditional cuisine restaurants which they may enjoy trying, fun places which other children in my program enjoy in order to help the child meet friends and feel more welcomed within our society, as well as many other cultural events within our society which they may be interested in attending. According to Advameg, Inc. (2014), the Bulgarian culture enjoys learning about many diverse cultures while still maintaining their own traditions. They are a culture marked by inclusion of many cultures, therefore they find it important to continually experience different opportunities. By suggesting many activities to do within our society which both offers diverse experiences, as well as activities which reflect their Bulgarian culture, my hope will be the family and child will begin feeling welcomed into our diverse society.

            My hope in preparing these culturally responsive practices within my classroom for this family and myself would  be to allow for a smooth transition for the child and family into their child’s first educational experience within our country where open communication, respect and diverse curriculum are incorporated. Through continued communication with the family, child, and Bulgarian support groups within our community, I hope to continually learn about how to accommodate the Bulgarian culture into my classroom while helping the child to feel welcomed and free to be him/herself.   

Reference

Advameg, Inc. (2014). Culture of Bulgaria. Retrieved from http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-

Co/Bulgaria.html.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). EDUC 6162 Course Media. In his own

voice: Dr. Eugene Dr. Garcia. 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.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

            Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010) define prejudice as “an attitude, opinion, or feeling formed without adequate prior knowledge, thought, or reason. Prejudice can be prejudgment for or against any person, group, or gender” (p. xiii). One of the most prominent examples of prejudice within my own life happened when I received my first job in a local nursing home.

            After applying for numerous jobs and getting excited to become more independent by finding my first job, I was happy when I received an interview and call-back from a local nursing home working in their kitchens. After accepting the position and beginning my job, I noticed many of my coworkers having a ‘chip on their shoulder’ and an attitude towards me as if I was not adequate enough to work there. At first I had attributed their attitude towards my age (15), yet was still confused as to why this would matter as other 15 year old individuals also worked in my department. It was not until later on that one of my colleagues finally told me the other workers felt as if I was just ‘handed my position’ because my sister had worked for the same department for years. I was very frustrated to find out people’s thoughts about how I had received my position, which I was so proud to have. None of my coworkers knew my qualifications, knew me as a person, or knew how hard I had worked to prepare for the interview and develop my resume. Instead, I was met with attitude and microaggressive behaviors.

            In my specific example, I felt the prejudice I had received due to my sister being a former employee diminished equity as I was not treated fairly and was not welcomed into my new position. People did not care to train me in as thoroughly as I should have and when asking questions, I felt as if I was a burden to many of the coworkers. Thankfully after my boss talked with many of the workers, the attitudes began to diminish, yet I still felt as if I was not being accepted into my workplace the same way as the other new employees whom I was hired with.

            Determined to work hard, I set my frustrations aside and proved myself as a dedicated, hard worker through picking up any extra shifts I could and being ‘overly’ nice to my coworkers. Eventually my coworkers saw how I had a lot of skill set to offer to their team and although it was exhausting at times going above and beyond picking up extra shifts just to prove myself to my coworkers, I finally felt accepted after several weeks of working there.

            In order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity, I believe the staff need to have the opportunity to attend in-service trainings where they learn about diversity, interpersonal relationship skills, as well as how to work together as a team. From my point of view, I wish I would have said something sooner to my boss in order to eliminate the prejudice towards me sooner. By finding my voice and talking with my coworkers, as well as my boss, perhaps I could have avoided exhausting myself as I attempted to prove my worthiness within my position.

            Examples of prejudice are prevalent all around us in society. If we do not begin standing our ground and advocating against microaggressive behaviors, then we will not see a reduction in people’s behaviors. The first step is to begin within ourselves and allow ourselves to reflect on our own personal bias and prejudice through educating ourselves about where bias and prejudice are initiated, then we can begin to help other individuals to make the same changes within their own lives, eventually leading to a more understanding and accepting society.

Reference

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and

ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

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.