Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

This week I talked to some people about culture and diversity. Although all their answers were similar. I must admit one of their answers was funny to me about what is culture, I was told it’s when your family cook greens together for the Holidays every single year.  I spoke to a friend, a family member and an old co-worker. One of the answers for the definition of culture by an old co-worker was culture is how we live, things we do and have done for years within our family and communities. He explained that for generations families pass down many cultures including, religion, work ethic, food we eat or grow, our race and things that matter within our family. His answer to diversity was to be different, people are different shades, look and speak different and that’s what being diverse says in the world. The aspects of culture and diversity I have studied since being in this course are pretty much the same as the answers I received from the people I spoke with. An example a friend gave me about culture was clothing people wear and how some black people wear the head wraps with all the colors on them that is tied in a huge knot in the front. She said women wore those wraps back in slavery and it seems to be a trend now. She also said if we traveled to certain places that would be all we saw like in African villages, or even way down south because it’s a cultural thing. All the information I talked about with the three people came together. It made me think more about it and although their answers were pretty much the same they each added something about their own family culture. None of their responses influenced my way of thinking because what I know and believe was just like the things they shared with me.

My Family Culture

           The three items I would choose to take with me would be my grandmother’s mother wedding ring, a family bible and a picture of my parents in front of the old church we all attended before they built a new church in the early 1980’s.

My grandmother’s wedding ring was passed down generations and my grandmother, mother and myself wore the ring as something old on our wedding day. The ring was a simple dainty ring that had small diamonds on the band of it that was over 80 years old.

The bible is a family bible that has a family tree inside that dates back to the late 1800’s and because it has the family tree inside I would keep it as a reminder of who I am, where I came from and where my ancestors came from as well.

The last item is a picture of the church I attend with my parents standing in front of it, the church is a historical landmark now and can’t be torn down. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in the church when he came to town for the civil rights movement. This picture also reminds me of my upbringing and how church played an important role in my life and my families life.

If I was told that I had to give up two items and keep one I would be devastated and heart- broken because of what all three items means to me and my family. The items have so much history behind them all it would be crushing to have to let any of them go. The ring was over 80 years old that my mother knew of but it could be much older than that. The family bible was in my family for generations and it has the family tree on the inside with all the names of my family members and their children, and children’s children names. The picture is filled with so many warm memories of my family and my childhood when I attended church every Sunday with my family. The picture shows me how it was apart of the civil rights movement. The church picture is a historical landmark that I will pass down to my children. If I was told I had to give up two things and could only take one that decision would be the hardest I would have to make in my life. I’m sure I would be jailed for being disobedient because I would pretend like I’m getting rid of two items but I would hide them in order to take them all. All three items is my culture and they are important because they represent my family culture. It includes the language we speak, the religion or spirituality we practice (or do not), and the clothing, housing, food, and rituals/holidays with which we feel most comfortable (Derman-Sparks, & Edwards, 2010).  Culture is how my family live and things we do like our ritual we went to church together on Sunday’s every week.  Most of the time, people do not even notice their culture, just as we do not notice that we live in a sea of air (Derman-Sparks, & Edwards, 2010).

  

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).

 

When I Think of Research.......

During this 8 week course I have gained some knowledge that I will take with me on my future endeavors in Early Childhood education. I have gained more insight on what research is all about and how research helps. As the books states when you do anything for the first time it’s a challenge. My ideas have changed about research because of this class, at first I didn’t know much about research and now I understand better and why it’s done. Research is about uncovering and enabling the emergence of new understandings, insights and knowledge (MacNaughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

Lessons I’ve learned about planning, designing and conducting research is that before preparing to do a study you have to plan to see who the participants will be. Researchers have to consider confidentiality, privacy, cultural issues before the study begins. The best research will always involve close, ongoing collaboration between those who plan the research, those who carry it out, those who participate in it, and those for whom the results have an impact (MacNaughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010). Researchers have to understand ethical issues that can arise while doing research. The participants have to be protected by researchers, and they must know what responsibilities they have as a researcher.

I encountered many challenges because I was very unfamiliar with terms used and didn’t know what to expect or where to begin. Once I started reading about research weekly and started doing charts I begin to develop a better understanding of research and the steps needed to take for a successful study. I also learned that in order to have quality research it requires knowledge, skills and experience. As a result of this class and gaining more insight on research my perceptions has changed because so much goes into research, having accurate research and what can be gained from good research if all areas are covered before starting a study.

I wish everyone the best on your journey of the Graduate program at Walden University. This class has been challenging because I wasn’t familiar with most of research terms. I want to say thank you to everyone for sharing so much knowledge in this class. I have read discussions and blog post and I have gained more knowledge about research.

 

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.

 

Rsearch Around The World

I chose the Early Childhood Australia website, some of the current research topics on the website are health and nutrition, practice and learning series for early childhood education in Australia.

Some surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood that I gained form exploring the international website about Australia: Early childhood in Australia has been around since 1938, it advocates to ensure quality, social justice, and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children between the ages of birth to eight years. Every young child is thriving and learning is the ECA’s vision. Australia future prosperity is linked to the collective investments that we make in all of our children’s development and the reason is when programs are improved; services that help children to be healthy and to receive a good education benefit everyone in the long run. The website has helpful information for parents like health and wellbeing info that consist of recipes, posters and safety tips.

I also found other information I found was interesting and that was the learning hub. I clicked on there to see what it was about and I saw it had educator’s resources some were free online courses while some have to be paid in order to take courses. The start early course tells how everyday behavior and attitudes shape a child’s relationship over their lifetime. ECA has a blog that is helpful as well and newsletters that have various information inside.

 

Research that Benefits Children and Families

                                                          Positive Parent-Child Relationships

When a child has a positive relationship with their parents it provides the basic foundation for children's learning. It also has a great effect on the child's overall development and well-being. Children will do better in school when they have positive relationships with parents because if they have a positive relationship the parents are involved more in their child's education. When parents have a warm, trusting, and reliable relationship with peers, family, community members, and service providers, they are more likely t have positive relationships with their children (2013). Having a positive parent-child relationship benefits not only the child but the parents and family members as well. I can remember a child I had in my class whose mother as a single mother and had no clue on what she needed to do for her child to be successful in school and life. She told me that it was the same way with her mother it was a cycle and she had to break it soon. After I gave her some avenues to help her and I spoke with her throughout the process she formed a better positive relationship with all her children. She told me that she was taking parenting classes, read to her children nightly, attended church weekly and did family movie nights. Her child improved tremendously after this happened. Last year I was told by her friend that she is in her second year of a radiology program in college. A story like this really is proof that the effects of research on children and families will lead to positive outcomes along with happy endings.

                                                                    Reference

Understanding Family Engagement Outcomes: Research to Practice Series. Positive Parent-Child Relationships. (2013). Retrieved from http://eclks.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/ha-system/family

Personal Research Journey

The topic I chose was Social Emotional Development and the reason I chose it is because since starting my career as a teacher I have come in contact with so many children with social-emotional problems. I find ways to help a child social emotional problems, I seek out help if needed for feedback on the issue. I also have partnered other children with children who is lacking in this area. I can recall a child I had before who didn't talk, play or interact with the other children. After speaking to parents I decided to partner the child with another child and soon the child who is lacking in the area began to interact with other children and talking more in class. We never know what children are dealing with at home and they bring those issues to school with them. I strive to find ways to improve children's thinking skills and social emotional skills. Over the next 6 weeks I will be researching this topic more to get a better understanding of it and finding ways to improve a child's social emotional skills so they can lead successful productive lives.

Final Blog Assignment

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" --Nelson Mandela--


It's very unfortunate that I never received a response back from an international early childhood professional. After weeks of exploring websites I must say I have gained more important useful information that I can use throughout my career as a teacher. The various websites I searched have enriched my professional development because of information on the sites, global information, newsletters, signing up for newsletters, and current issues and trends. Throughout this 8 week course my colleagues have supported me by posting weekly discussions, blogs that relates to current issues/trends that I've read and gained more knowledge from different perspectives and from people all over the globe. I have supported them by doing the same thing.

I would have to say some consequences about learning about international early childhood field for my professional and personal development is that some international professionals don't send a response to your questions you asked therefore you can't receive answers needed to compare international early childhood programs and the early childhood program in my home state. Luckily I was able to read post from colleagues about issues and trends that's happening internationally. After reading post by colleagues and exploring websites about early childhood education I felt as though I did make contact with a international early childhood professionals. Colleagues provided a lot of helpful information about international professionals.

One goal for the field of international awareness for me is to one day be able to volunteer my time to a international early childhood program and it really doesn't matter where I go to volunteer. With so much going on in Haiti right now I would love to help them put their lives back together and volunteer at a early childhood school there.

I wish everyone the best of luck in their future endeavors.