Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

There are many organizations I would like to belong to and or work for them and a few of them are as follows:

1. Audubon Area Community Services, http://www.aacshs.org/
2. Tri-State Food Bank, http://www.tristatefoodbank.org/index.php/agency-roster/kentucky-roster/livingston-county
3. Paducah Homeless Shelters & Services for the Needy http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/cgi-bin/id/city.cgi?city=Paducah&state=KY

The Audubon Area Community Services, offers a variety of services to lower income families, they must meet a certain criteria. The Audubon Area Community Services offers a variety of help ranging from helping families find work to counseling services.

The Tri-State Food Bank distributes food to local food pantries to feed the hungry of all ages. The Tri-State Food Bank feeds the hungry by distributing marketable surplus food to serve the needy in a 33-county area.

Paducah Homeless Shelters & Services for the Needy is a local organization provides homeless shelters and resources such as a clinic a treatment center, alcohol and drug rehabilitation and much more. 

All three of these services are always looking for volunteers and have limited paying positions. If you are able to get an opening at the Tri-State Food Bank al that is required is a high school diploma. To work for Paducah Homeless Shelters & Services many of their positions require a college education in various fields from social worker to drug and rehabilitation counseling. The Audubon Area Community Services also has positions open from time to time, anywhere from a preschool teacher to a cook to work in the kitchen. Some of these positions require a candidate to possess a college degree or a CDA (Child Development Associates).

I would like to work or even volunteer for some organizations because I want to help the cause and not just pretend poverty does not exist. I do understand and empathize with the citizens living in poverty because there are certain citations beyond human control that can render anyone of us to become jobless and or homeless. The most important thing now is to help educate the public and create an awareness of the people in our community living in poverty and let them know they do matter.

Reflecting on learning

As teachers and advocates we need to be more than just nice. We need to be able to recognize issues that are already affecting the lives of the children and families we will work with. We need to adapt and change when necessary to teach our young learners. Classroom practices that move rhetoric and substance should be:

1. Grounded in the lives of our students. Instruction should start with the needs of the child and connections between students and their lives and can be a starting point for the understanding of social justice.
2. Critical. Children should be taught it is alright to critique information, and literature and these critiques must move beyond the classroom and be linked to real-world challenges. We need to teach them how to think.
3. Multicultural, antiracist, and pro-justice. Our curriculum should be changing, presenting ongoing that addresses multiple perspectives.
4. Participatory and experimental. Use a variety of mental and physical, engaging activities. We need to help children to learn how to make real decisions and how to solve problems.
5. Hopeful, joyful, kind and visionary. Classrooms need to be designed in ways that teach children to trust and care for each other and provide ways to show the good in people and empower them to overcome their inequities.
6. Activist. We should teach children to be human and humane and show examples of people struggling for justice.
7. Academically rigorous. A social justice curriculum should be academically rigorous and should prepare students for the real world.
8. Culturally sensitive. Critical teaching requires teachers to admit they don’t know everything and we need to listen, and learn from our students (Boutte, 2008).

This will not be an easy task, however it is necessary if we want to help our children grow up and become productive members of our society.

Erich Fromm: Why should society feel responsible only for the education of children, and not for the education of all adults of every age?

To My Colleagues

Don't ever be afraid to seek help when you truly need it. We don't enter college as geniuses, and we don't leave college as geniuses. We leave as learners, who are determined to succeed. “Keep on teaching”.

Reference

Boutte, G. (2008). Beyond the illusion of diversity: How early childhood teachers can       promote social justice. Social Studies, 99(4), 165--173.
   Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Academic Search Complete database.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

   I have to admit, the UNISEF website was full of overwhelming information and the one thing that was apparent in many of the topics I read was the number of children living in poverty and this definitely affects the emotional development of children. This lead to further my investigation on children and poverty as it has in the past courses I have taken through Walden University as well. After reading The Crisis of Childhood Poverty it validated the truth about how poverty can lead to lifelong learning disabilities, can be passed on from generation to generation, and can lead to lifelong emotional and physical health issues, http://www.childhoodpoverty.org. I wanted to learn more about how poverty can lead to these issues and one resource I came across was Theories of Poverty and Anti-Poverty Programs in Community Development http://www.rupri.org/Forms/WP06-05.pdf. This article has some very interesting theories about all of the above consequences of poverty. This paper states that most rural community development efforts is to relieve causes or symptoms of poverty, it makes a difference to which theory of poverty is believed to be responsible for the problem being addressed. This paper explore five competing theories,

1. Individual deficiencies-
2. Cultural belief systems that support subcultures in poverty
3. Political-economical distortions
4. Geographical disparities
5. Cumulative and circumstantial origins

This paper helps to understand the theories and shows how they shape different community development practices that address sources of poverty more effectively than comparing to one single theory. This resource also explores the relationship between individuals and their community in placing people in poverty, keeping them there, and potentially getting them out. This resource seems to support that idea that individuals are shaped by their community, and communities are a consequence shaped by their individual members.

Resources

Bradshaw, T. Rural Poverty Research Center. Theories of Poverty and Anti-Poverty Programs in Community Development, retrieved from, http://www.rupri.org/Forms/WP06-05.pdf, August 15, 2013.

CHIP-Knowledge of Tackeling Childhood Poverty. The Crisis of Childhood Poverty, Retrived from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/, August 15, 2013.

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

Our young children are being exposed to sexual stereo types, sexual images and much more early on in their young lives. Children learn at a very young age that their value is determined by beauty, looks, weight, sexy behavior, macho behavior and much more (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). All of this is leading to a misconception and disturbing impact on children’s’ understanding of gender, sexuality and relationships (2009).

In Harro’s “Cycle of Socialization” the diagram shows the “First Socialization” as being the part of our lives where the trust and love is built, we are taught to play our roles and follow rules, we shape our self concepts, perceptions of us and others, values, expectations of future roles, and we get mixed messages and feelings and become guilty for not understanding because we are confused about these messages. The messages the media sends to our children add to this confusion for our young children.

For an example of media’s messaging would be “Shrek” by Disney, which I watched with my five year old grandson and the characters in this movie are as follows:

Shrek-the green monster, which is really a giant teddy bear

Fiona-the beautiful princess

Puss n Boots- Shrek’s side kick, a cat

Donkey-Shrek’s side kick, a donkey

The message is the same in this movie as many others, the hero is Shrek and he is trying to earn the love of the princess. The side kicks are along for the ride to help this happen. The princess and Shrek spoke English, Donkey spoke English and Puss n Boots spoke English too. This story portrayed the beautiful young princess who was for the most part off limits, so they thought, to Shrek because he was an “ugly” sort of character. All of these characters were made up of fantasy and make believe. However, it did send a message of beauty for young girls. The princess lived in her beautiful castle and was surrounded by all the finer things in life. Shrek was from a humble working class, had low self-esteem, and was trying to win the princess love throughout the movie. This is just one of many movies our young children will encounter.

The “Platinum Rule” means “Do unto others as they want done unto them” (Beebe, Beebe & Redmond, 2011). This is very similar to the “Golden Rule” which is “Do unto others the way you’d have them do unto”. The “Platinum Rule” is all about the other person and a good lesson to teach. I still like the Golden Rule” because it is more of a two-way street, it involves all parties. But the “Platinum Rule” is just as important if not more important when it comes to communication. We are not all the same and we do not all want the same things. This would be a good lesson to teach our children of all ages. When we communicate with children we need to think about them, and adapt accordingly. We need to take ourselves out of the equation, and empathize with what they might be going through, and adjust accordingly. Good communication with children takes special skills in kindness, respect, language, empathy and understanding the dynamics of all involved.

Reference

Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication:    Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

        Chapter 4, "Interpersonal Communication and Diversity: Adapting to Others" (pp. 85–        114)

Harro, B. (2010). The cycle of socialization. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, C. Castaneda,    H. W. Hackman, M. L. Peters, & X. Zuniga (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social    justice (Figure 6.1 on p. 46, 2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized    childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York:    Ballantine Books. Retrieved from:    http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

From classism to racism all of the isms are wrong. The differences in the values and behaviors among poor people are just the same as wealthy people (Gorski, 2008). Every appearance of disability is an image and is made in the social act of appearance (Titchkosky, 2009). What I have learned this week is I do have a challenge understanding certain homeless people and this fall under “classism”. I have realized I do tend to judge a book by cover and I need to take the time to open the book to see what is inside. I never thought I did this in the past. I have always had the attitude of we are all the same. Some people really do chose to be homeless and it is a life choice and I should not judge. Classism is instilled in my history and my values and this can keep me from seeing each person as a unique, whole person that deserves my respect, regardless of how they live (Derman-Sparks, & Edwards, 2010). This was not taught to me it was a learned behavior.

   My brothers living the way they do have contributed to my attitude toward the homeless. They are both on drugs and everyday they “pan handle” to buy their drugs and their alcohol. I did not realize I discriminated towards the homeless until I started my early childhood development courses through Walden University. No all people that are homeless chose to be this way, however some do. In my brothers case I feel it is a choice, however there are many other underlying addictions that contribute to their feelings of wanting to be homeless. This makes it hard for me to help the homeless like my brothers. When people ask me for money, I would rather buy them food instead, this way I feel I am not contributing to whatever addiction they might have. I need to change my attitude towards this because not all homeless people are addicts, they are asking for money to feed their families or many other various reasons.

   I need to learn how to accept the fact that there are people hurting on the streets that just need our help and after all they are human beings. I know the economic recession has forced many people out of their homes, and they just need a hand in finding a job, shelter, and a place to live. We are currently in an economic crisis and there are many people who take advantage of the system from the big businesses taking enormous bail outs to the other end of the spectrum where citizens fell a sense of entitlement. Those with alcohol and drug challenges should receive treatment, so that they can find jobs and a place to live, but they have to want it first. I cannot forget the numerous homeless people who are mentally challenged and the war veterans. Homelessness is definitely a problem in this country. However, I feel that drug use is the major cause of being homeless.

   I know first hand how difficult it can be to be homeless and I need to become more empathetic on their situations no matter what the cause is. Needless to mention helping people out of their unfortunate situations will not only help the individuals, but it will help the community lower crime rates. If we can help the homeless by empowering them with the necessary tools needed to overcome homelessness we will in turn be able to use more of the governments money towards education and making our communities better. If people can work, they can pay taxes. They can also make the community better by keeping up their homes and apartments. By helping the homeless the crime rate will go down because people won’t have to rob, steal, and sell drugs to support themselves and their habits. By learning how to help the homeless I can help create a positive environment for all people to live in. Instead of have a negative opinion towards the homeless, I can work on making a difference in someone’s life.  

  

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children    and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

   Garris Christian, L. (2006). Understanding families: Applying family systems theory to    early childhood practice. Young Children, 61(1), 12–20.
Gorski, P. (2008). The myth of the "culture of poverty." Educational Leadership, 65(7),    32--36. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Academic Search Complete    database:

Titchkosky, T. (2009). Disability images and the art of theorizing normality.    International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), 22(1), 75--84.    doi:10.1080/09518390802581893.

Observation of a Playground

   It was play time when I arrived at my grandson’s preschool. It was a nice day so all the children played outside. My grandson played like a madman. He first started out climbing on the jungle gym; he climbed all the way to the top. My grandson is four years old and thinks he is the leader of the pack. After the jungle gym he and a couple other boys jumped around and they tried to balance on one foot while holding the other one with their hand. They swung their arms around like a windmill trying to keep their balance. They only succeeded at this for a couple seconds at a time. They soon got bored and my grandson moved on the swing. The swing is a seat swing and holds about three kids at a time. He patiently waited his turn and joined two other kids on the swing.  After the swing he joined a group of kids playing “super hero”. They acted out Spiderman and Superman and they definitely had very active imaginations. While playing the “super hero game”, he started to run down the sidewalk, and running is not allowed on the side walk, but it was too late to remind him, he fell and skinned his knee. He got hurt, and ran to me because he started to cry. I consoled him and the teacher and I took him inside the classroom to doctor him up. After his attachment to me wore off, he started playing with his “girlfriend”. He grabbed her hand compassionately and helped her climb on the jungle gym. It was very sweet to see him treat the girl differently from the boys. He was more delicate with her. Soon after, it was time to go inside the classroom. He noticed he got his new outfit dirty and was a little upset and concerned. He is very particular about his clothes, especially new ones.

   The children were communicating with each other through play. In my observation this week I watched as the kids patiently (some more than others) stood in line, waiting to swing on the swing. It was a swing that held three children, one got on and one got on. I watched as the children made up games to play and pretend they were “Spiderman and Superman”. They definitely do not lack in the imagination category. They all acted out characters in their little play group. Also, a couple of children became distracted by something else going on in another part of the playground and decided to leave the “super hero” group. The children also communicated not only verbally, but with their bodies and body language.

Observing Communication

   When creating an anti-bias environment in your classroom, it should not just be culturally consistent for children, but for all who walk into your classroom (Derman-Sparks, & Edwards, 2010). When designing the classroom it is a good idea to represent every child in the room. This means a teacher needs to be able to change their classroom accordingly throughout the year when children change.

   In the video segment "Welcome to an Anti-Bias Learning Community", Adriana Castillo has numerous ideas to an anti-bias classroom setting. She has pictures of the children’s families that she has posted on the wall for all of the children to see. Another good idea Adriana has is “Sharing time”, which I too, plan to incorporate into my curriculum. This time could become an open forum for all of the children to share anything they want. I would encourage topics such as food, dress, language and family. Another thing I would like to do is have guest speakers from the children’s families and they could share many cultural stories of their own. I am in the process of writing short, children’s stories which will address all of the ism’s, culture, diversity and many other things children might have confusion with.

   I want to create a classroom environment that will give every child the sense of self worth. If we always keep in mind the four goals of anti-bias education which is to provide a safe, supportive learning community for all children (Derman-Sparks, & Edwards, 2010). We all must be willing to value and celebrate diversity in developing curriculum and classroom practices.

   In my virtual classroom I want there to be an open line of communication at all time. Good communication takes special skills in listening, kindness, respect, language, empathy and understanding the dynamics of all involved. Good communication skills are behavioral routines based on social understandings such as maintaining a relationship and being a team member (O'Hair, & Wiemann, 2012). When communicating we need to send messages, receive messages and break down any obstacles that rise during communication. The messages we send can be verbal, nonverbal, and make sure what you are saying is important enough for the receiver to listen. When receiving a message it’s a good idea to listen, with your ears and eyes, and pay attention to the speaker’s feelings and words. By using these communication skills for not only children, but all who enter the classroom, it will create an open environment where all can speak and communicate without reservation.

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2012). Anti-bias education for young children and    ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC Books.

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York:    Bedford/St. Martin's. Chapter 1, "Communication: Essential Human Behavior" (pp. 3-   27)

"Welcome to an Anti-Bias Learning Community" (approximate length: 24minutes)
   Adriana Castillo gives you a guided tour of her warm and caring family child care    home, which exemplifies an intentional approach to anti-bias learning and community    building. Offers insights on how to create a physical environment that cultivates an anti-   bias.

“Reach and Teach”

   As I worked my way through my courses taken through Walden University I have found my goals remain consistent. I found myself wanting the same things now as I did when I started my first course. My main goal is still the driving force to help young children to avoid the negative obstacles in their lives and not become at risk youth.

   In the readings of week two in my first course taken through Walden University there was an article, “Does Having Passion for your Work even Matter?” In this article the author, Rosengren, wrote about having a fire for what you do energizes you, and you can turn around and put that energy into your work. My hope is to keep this fire burning because if the fire burns out, so do I. This article is a constant reminder how important it is to take the passion you have for something and turn around and put it back into your work. Far too often I have worked with many teachers that have burn out. It shows in the way they teach, and in the way they handle the children. When this happens to a teacher it is time for them to seek a new career. They are no good to themselves and especially not to their students. This can make a child not even want to go to school, ever. This would be a good example of a negative in their lives. I think this is where I have the advantage, I have worked with many age groups throughout my career and this led me to the decision to want to pursue a career in early childhood development. The main driving force was working with the at risk youth for many years. It’s never too late or too early to help mold a student and be a positive role model in their lives. I have my own motto and that is, “You need to reach a student before you can teach a student”. I call this “Reach and Teach”.

   Preschool children are at critical age in their young developing lives. It is very valuable for us all the learn everything we can about child development, and to gain the knowledge to provide a warm, nurturing environment and teach age appropriate curriculum. I applaud all of the students in the Walden University Child Development program for taking the first step in gaining the knowledge needed for helping all young children to develop. Never lose the passion and yearning to be a child advocate. “Keep on teaching”.

References

Rosengren, C. (2010, February 4). Does having passion for your work even matter? U.S.    News & World Report. Retrieved January 14, 2012, from    http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2010/02/04/does-   passion-for-work-even-matter

A Rainbow

Look at me, I’m black and beautiful.

Open your eyes you can see.

I also have a lot of brown pride.

It’s not hard to figure this out, it’s me.

Over and over again people say, “I’m white, that’s right.

Can’t you see all these things are true?

My eyes are shaped like an almond, and sometimes my skin is yellow.

And maybe just today, I’m a shade of blue.

I’ve been told, “Go home, we don’t want you here”!

But this is my home, can’t you see?

We can all live together.

We are all the same, under our skin, I won’t leave!

We are all born naked, with a brain.

Can’t you see, if we use our brain, it’s by choice?

We can live in ignorance or tolerance.

Just remember we all have a voice.

We will all leave this world the same way we came in.

Can’t you see it’s how we run life’s race?

In the end, it’s how we treat others.

Ask yourself, did I leave making this world a better place?

Today I’m a bright, glowing sun.

Can’t you see we are all brothers and sisters?

We are a rainbow of colors, purple, green and even red.

After all, we are human; we have no time for resisters.

Mixed Messages

   My husband has always called me “Big Mamma”. Well this created a very embarrassing moment at the grocery store when my daughter was very young. We were in the produce section minding our own business; my daughter was in the child seat part of the shopping cart when a large woman passed us by. My daughter said, “Hey”, “Look at that Big Mamma”, I got real embarrassed and I gave the lady a big smile hoping she did not hear what my daughter said. I quickly said to my daughter, in a tone of voice where the lady could hear me, just in case she heard what my daughter said, “Honey”, “I am the Big Mama and you should not call other people that because it is my nick name”.

   The mother in me and the educator in me found myself giving my daughter a lesson on what is appropriate to say and what is not. My daughter did not think there was anything wrong with saying this because she hears it everyday in our household as a term of endearment to me from my husband. I guess you could call it a “Pet name”. This was not an easy concept to teach my daughter because in our household it was a good name, but she could not call anyone else “Big Mamma”, and this confused her. This was definitely a “double-standard” moment.

   I know now that in Harro’s “Cycle of Socialization” the diagram shows the “First Socialization” as being the part of our lives where the trust and love is built, we are taught to play our roles and follow rules, we shape our self concepts, perceptions of us and others, values, expectations of future roles, and we get mixed messages and feelings and become guilty for not understanding because we are confused about these messages

Children's TV Shows and Gender

   I sat and watched a few different channels on the TV with my four-year-old grandson. I just observed while he watched and took notes. The channels were Nickelodeon, Disney Junior, and Nickelodeon Junior. I observed the following commercials:

1. Furreal Friends-this ad was selling furry bunnies and puppies. Its emphasis was on friends and pets. It stated that if the child were to have one of these furry pets they would always have a friend. It showed multiple children playing with these pests. It was also gender specific in the way it showed the girls playing with the cute, furry little rabbits, and the boys were playing with the small, rigged puppies.
2. Hot Wheels-this commercial was definitely gender related. This Hot Wheels commercial showed only boys playing with this toy, racing and jumping down the race track. It was cool and colorful, loud and fast. The message in this commercial was strictly geared towards boys only and made my grandson instantly want it. Buy this toy and you will have instant gratification playing with it.
3. Vaseline-they threw this one in between child advertising. This one showed very soft hands, rubbing the lotion onto the skin. I wondered why they threw this one in on a kid’s channel. But, soon I realized why, my grandson looked at me and said, “Grandma you need to buy some of that stuff, it will make you whole body smooth and soft”, I had to laugh because the commercial served its purpose. The message was loud and clear, use this product (for women) and you too can have soft smooth skin.
4. To Move or Not to Move-this was a commercial about advertising hidden exercising. It showed young children deciding what kind of play they wanted to do next. It showed children running, jumping, swimming, riding bikes and much more. It shoed all young children both boys and girls getting up and exercising through play.
5. Fish with no Water-this commercial was a very sad one. It showed a bright orange gold fish laying on a white table, out of water and trying to breath. It stated that a child with asthma often feels this way. It played on the children’s emotions, and makes them think, the point was made, loud and clear. It was educational, because my grandson wanted to know what asthma was and I explained it to him, he said, “how sad”. I think a child with asthma would appreciate this commercial because it allows other children to become aware of their condition.

Commercials are designed to be persuasive communication that offers information about products, ideas, and services that serve as messages to young children, they wish to deliver. TV commercials can affect children by increasing their food and beverage intakes, change their attitude, and make parents feel like they have to buy unnecessary things. I think the biggest influence commercials have on our young children is how each gender should behave. They create their ads to send a message about gender by using the norms society has known and reinforced. Most of the commercials represent how boys and girls should act.

An Ending is Always a New Beginning

Preschool and childcare are at critical time and age in their young developing lives. It is very valuable for us all the learn everything we can about child development, and to gain the knowledge to provide a warm, nurturing environment and teach age appropriate curriculum. I applaud all of the students in the Walden University Child Development program for taking the first step in gaining the knowledge needed for helping all young children to develop. Never lose the passion and yearning to be a child advocate. “Keep on teaching”.

Adjourning Stage

   The final stage “adjourning”-means the project is coming to an end and the team members are starting to go their separate ways. They celebrate the teams efforts and learn from what they have accomplished (Abudi, 2010). The adjourning stage is a difficult, but important stage in the team process because it is the stage when everyone says their good-byes and move onto other projects. I have mixed feelings on this stage because it is quite a relief to accomplish what a group sets out to do and a relief when it is over. The group can go over things they have learned and what things they might do differently the next time. This is the celebrating stage. This is also the time when all involved will go their separate ways.

   In the past I have not had many opportunities to be part of a team that would demonstrate changes; the teams I have been a part of would be for arranging events, party’s’.  Nonetheless, we did go through the fives stages of team development, but I was not aware of the stages before this course.

1. The “forming” stage-this is when a team first meets each other and introductions are made. The members of the team share information about themselves and they are finding out information about others and how they feel they will work together (Abudi, 2010).
2. A the team works together they get into the “storming” stage-in this stage the team members compete for status and acceptance(Abudi, 2010). The team leader must guide the team so that conflict is solved together and introduce the win/win approach and try to change the conflict from adversarial attack and defense, to co-operation (www.crnhq.org).
3. In the third stage “norming”-the team begins to work together more efficiently as a team. They are focusing on goals together, not individual goals. This is where the trust takes place of the progress begins.
4. The “performing” stage-this is where the team focuses on the goal. The team knows each other, trusts each other, and they rely on each other. At this point the team works with no guidance, and the team works together as a group.
5. The final stage “adjourning”-means the project is coming to an end and the team members are starting to go their separate ways. They celebrate the teams efforts and learn from what they have accomplished (Abudi, 2010).

   When this course is over everyone will be missed. The bright sides of things are that we always run into familiar people in the next course and the course after that. When we are totally finished with the program, we will be so elated we are finished; this emotion will take over any other emotions.

  

References

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from    http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

Hand Washing, “To Do or Not To Do”

   About four weeks ago, when I was working in an early head start center we had a discussion about hand washing. We have a bathroom in the hall way and the director came from the bathroom in the hallway directly into the center. To get into the center you must open the door with your keys and enter the center. I was told on day one when you enter the center you are directly in the classroom and you must wash your hands again before you touch anything. This is what most of us did, and I actually thought everyone involved also did, but this was not the case. We are all trying to catch the director doing something out of protocol because it is fun when the tables have turned.

   This opened up a big discussion over “Do we wash our hands again, after we just did so in the bathroom. We all had our input and at times the discussion did get very serious because we all wanted to express our opinions.

   This discussion turned into a power struggle and what needed to be done is change the agenda to make it a win/win situation for everyone involved. The strategies of a win/win approach is to go back to the underlying needs, recognize the individual needs of the persons involved, remain open to adapt to the different positions, share information and attitudes, and attack the problem not the people involved (www.crnhq.org). We all wanted to be heard. The approach we should have taken was to come to a resolution by using the Third Side approach because it is a systematic approach to handling a conflict (www.thirdside.org). We should have listened all sides of the conflict, encourage the process of cooperative negotiation, and support a solution to fairly meet the needs of all sides involved. By taking the Third Side this will gives the opportunity to transform the conflict from being destructive into constructive change. When there is a situation such as this one, there is no need to take sides nor do you have to be neutral, what you want to do is seek to understand all sides and come to an amicable agreement that meets the needs of all sides involved. The goal in communication is transform a challenge or destructive conversation into a constructive or negotiable way to settle things peacefully.

  We all agreed, when in doubt, wash your hands. The director was going to look it up in the operations manual and get back to us in the next monthly meeting.

References

Conflict Resolution Network. (n.d.). CR kit. Retrieved from    http://www.crnhq.org/pages.php?pID=12#skill_3

The Third Side. (n.d.). The third side. Retrieved from http://www.thirdside.org/

Communication Evaluation

   I enjoyed learning about my self and what others think of me when it comes to communication. These assessments have made me very aware of the communication skills I need to work on and the areas I need to become more effective when communicating. I need to learn to be less aggressive in my verbal style of communication. I do not want to come across as being argumentative or attack anyone in the communication process. This is not good because I do not want nor intend to offend anyone and I need to improve on my verbal style of communication. I also need to improve on becoming comfortable when talking in meetings or conferences’. I have always had communication anxiety when having formal meetings with strangers. I become much more at ease when I get to know the people involved, so I need to learn how to get rid of this communication anxiety. Lastly, I need to improve on my listen style because I do not want people to take advantage of me because I have poor judgment. However, I do want to maintain relationships and be an empathetic listener because I do care. I do not want to come across as being intimidating and hurt the feelings of my sensitive listeners. Again, I am more comfortable in a classroom with children rather than a conference room with strangers so I do see the need to get to know the parents, stakeholders and all involved to become a good listener and verbal communicator and try and work on limiting the anxiety when it comes to all forms of communication.

Stop the Vicious Cycle

We as a family treat everyone the same. We have not taught our kids to discriminate against anyone. We focused on developing an awareness and commitment to stopping discrimination before they had a chance plague our family. We already know how important it is to foster values of diversity early on and create opportunities for children to interact in inclusive environments. It takes a village to raise a child, everyone in contact with a child leaves an impression on that child, and therefore, the whole is greater than the sum. Each child takes a little bit of the puzzle and puts it together for themselves. It’s our job as parents to furnish the pieces.

   The following is just an example of something we had to deal with at a family and friend gathering at our house:

We all get together on the weekends, everyone is welcome. We BBQ, shoot pool, swim and partake in many fun activities. One night one of our gay friends came over and one of the other guests let it be known that he did not want to associate with “gay people”. He said a few more choice words but I will not repeat them. I over heard him say, “I don’t want to get my glass mixed up with his because I might catch something”. I politely asked him to leave. Our house is a neutral zone and I intend to keep it as such. We all want to have fun and we have no time for ignorance and disrespect. Stop the vicious cycle.

An Effective Communicator

   In a past communication class I had taken to obtain my Bachelors Degree a certain woman stands out in my mind how entertaining she was when she told a story about a bug getting stuck in her ear. The assignment given was to write a personal story about you, and tell it out loud to the class. This girl stood in front of the class and from the start, she had everyone paying close attention the whole time she told the story. I remember she had us laughing from the start. It was the way she communicated to us verbally and her gestures along with her body movement is what kept us on the edge of our seats. I remember laughing from start to finish, as well as the rest of the class. This girl had the attention of the whole class.

   Laughter goes a long way and it could be the key to making people feel welcome. I don’t think this woman intentionally wrote her speech to be comical, but it is the way it turned out. What added to the enthusiasm of the class was they way she told the story, the contents and definitely her body gestures.

   I feel when laughter is involved it open the door to communication. Sometimes difficult issues are talked about during meetings or communication and all involved need to be open and comfortable so when you share positive humor it can become an effective means to achieve a common goal. A person that can show they have a good sense of humor can help establish an inviting atmosphere. With laughter you can turn a hostile situation into a positive situation. Humor can be a means of keeping tensions, frustration and upset from escalating if times just right.

To the Future

   My goals are simple and I would like to start by welcoming people from other countries, or even our own, especially if they do not know how to speak the local language of where they chose to live, they can become frustrated and do not even want to try. Students can suffer when their parents do not speak the language of the school. This sometimes intimidates the parent and they are not involved in their child’s school experience. Without the skills to communicate with each other, understanding diminishes between the parent and the teacher. We as educators must create a welcoming environment for parents, students and accommodate the entire family. We should want all to be involved in the education process.

   Teachers need to acquire the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed to educate our diverse learners. There is a lot of resistance coming from the educators addressing issues like race and racism in their courses and even throughout the school (Cochran-Smith, 2004). Our children with diverse, cultural backgrounds will continue to not be served until our schools knowledge the need for culturally educated teachers. We all must be willing to value and celebrate diversity in developing curriculum and classroom practices. I think ways we can help diverse learners is to take a constructivist view of learning and remember all students are capable of learning.

   I would also like to that Pamela for being and excellent communicating and understanding instructor and all my colleagues for their patience excepting all my late papers. Through the course of this class it has been a difficult time and challenging time and I thank everyone involved for helping me to think and learn. I wish everyone the best in the future and i hope all of your goals happen!

References

Cochran-Smith, M. (2004). Walking the road: Race, diversity, and social justice in       

   Teacher education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Welcoming a New Immigrant Family

   Our center has just been notified that we are going to get a new family in the community with a three year old little girl that will be attending our center. They are from Germany and they will arrive in a month. We like to create a welcoming environment so it’s time to do some research and homework to prepare for their arrival. We first start our research by reading learning key points about Germany. We do this buy reading books and research on the internet. What we would like to learn about is their belief system and culture. Also language and what type of foods are relevant in Germany. Sharing food is always a good way to get in touch with their interests. Language is also important and by learning key words in their language this will open the door for communication. We also will prepare the classroom to include many things on the wall and toys that represent Germany if we do not already have these items included in the classroom. We would also incorporate activities and lesson plans so we can all learn about Germany. All of these things would contribute awareness to the immigrant family that we do care about them and we want to make them feel welcome.

An Immigrant Family

My daughter attends high school with an immigrant girl from Russia. Her name is Tatiana and she and her family moved here, Western Kentucky, three years ago. The reason they moved her was because her father got a job with one of the local chemical companies. Tatiana’s family consists of a mother a father, and her. Tatiana and her father speak English, her mother does not. Tatiana states that her mother has a difficult time communicating in the community and stays home most of the time. Tatiana and her father speak English enough to communicate with others, but sometimes find it difficult when people use “slang” or certain phrases they are unaware of. They take everything literally, Tatiana said one of her friends said, “Let’s bounce”, and she thought why are we going to bounce? Her friend had to explain to her it meant something different, “let’s leave”. The two things mean totally different thins to Tatiana and this is hard for her to understand.

     Language can be a barrier and this is way I would like to learn how to communicate with people that do not speak the same language as I. I feel bad for Tatiana’s mother, who does not want to leave the house alone because she is not comfortable communicating in the community. I want to learn other ways to communicate, other than language to help everyone involved feel comfortable about the unknown. I don’t want anyone to feel like an outcast and become isolated.

     When people from other countries, or even our own, do not know how to speak the local language of where they chose to live, they can become frustrated and do not even want to try. Students can suffer when their parents do not speak the language of the school. This sometimes intimidates the parent and they are not involved in their child’s school experience. Without the skills to communicate with each other, understanding diminishes between the parent and the teacher. We as educators must create a welcoming environment for parents, students and accommodate the entire family. We should want all to be involved in the education process.

     The reality of Tatiana’s mother not being able to communicate with other people in the community has had many lasting effects on her. Tatiana stated that her mother does not like to leave the house because of the lack of understanding English and the communities’ lack of wanting to try and understand her. Sometimes we treat people different when they are not the same as us and we need to educate all families we come into contact with, not just the people who speak a language other than English, but teach everyone to embrace our differences. The community has let Tatiana’s mother down because of their lack of understanding culture, and differences. This can have lasting effects on Tatiana’s family because they cannot build a support group in the community. In Tatiana’s situation we have all failed her, the school and the community. This brings me to the reason why I need to learn ways to communicate with others that do not speak English. We do not necessarily need to learn the entire language, but find ways to communicate nonverbally too would be a start.

Practicing Awareness of Microagressions

     I have experienced microagressions on many occasions. One that stands out in my mind is when I was working for a paper company in California. I had fifteen years previous experience at another paper company so I knew what I was doing going into a new position for another paper company. I had been working at the new company for approximately two years and we just received a new district manager who was supposed to come in and “Clean house”. This man was the biggest male chauvinist I had ever encountered in my life and to this day, twenty-five years later, I have never met someone like him. He was very condescending when he talked down to me and one incident during a meeting, he patted the back of my hand as he told me everything would be okay. Not long after, I quit my job and it was an excellent career with excellent benefits. To this day I am mad at myself for letting him do that to me. I gave him the power over me because I did not stand up for myself. Life goes on and we all learn from situations and the experience has made me a better person.

    I let this man make me feel as if I were worth zero and had nothing to offer the company I was employee with at the time. Looking back at this situation I think he did this to me because I had more experience that he did. I really feel this man was threatened by experience and the only way he could deal with his emotions was to degrade me and make me feel bad. I look at all of these moments as a learning experience. I would never make a human feel bad because of what is lacking in my own life. This type of person who does this is called a bully, plain and simple.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I asked three people a couple of questions on culture. The people I asked to help me out with these questions were made up of a gay person, a religious person and a person from Pakistan. The following are the answers I received and not in order, see if you can chose who answered what?

What is your definition of culture?

Person #1-Culture is where you come from and how you live.

Person #2-Culture is heritage, beliefs and values.

Person#3-Culture starts in your immediate household; it is ethics, religion and your own perspective on the world.

What is diversity?

Person #1-Diversity is learning about different people other than you and embracing and celebrating the differences. A good place to start is sharing ones own culture with others and having them share back.

Person#2-Diversity I believe is someone that understands that people are different from us.

Person#3-Diversity is accepting everyone for who they are and not judging because they are different.

      We live in a diverse world and education is the key to open our young student’s minds. I found an article in a past course while attending Walden University, the article was, American early childhood education: preventing or perpetuating inequity, it is stated that the most important determinant for children is the quality of the faculty who work with the young children (Kagan, 2009). Qualified teachers are an essential component to all preschool programs. Children who are educated by teachers with higher educations in related fields of child development are more sociable, exhibit better language, and perform at a higher level on cognitive tasks than children who are not (Bowman, Donovan, & Burns, 2001). Quality education not only takes qualified teachers, it also takes much needed funds to support the programs. With all of these ingredients we can learn to share and embrace all cultures and teach them to our young learners.

   In the article American early childhood education: preventing or perpetuating inequity, it also sates six other inequities in early childhood education:

1. Inequity well before the starting gate-Children’s home environment can influence a child at conception. Family dynamics has a big influence on a child before they start school.
2. Inequity in who attends preschool-It is quit opposite for children in preschool and in public schools. Children’s access to preschool can depend on race, education, mother’s race, socioeconomic status of parents, English proficiency, and geographic location.
3. Inequity in state preschool investments-Early child education comes from a variety of funding state, federal, and parents’ contribution. There are many discrepancies in the amounts expended on early childhood education.
4. Inequity in quality-It does not matter what state a child lives in, studies have proven most preschool programs are either mediocre or poor in quality.
5. Inequity in the infrastructure that supports early childhood education-Policy makers are always looking for quick gains on investments and are more likely to support direct services for children which show visible constituents, than an amorphous infrastructure.
6. Inequity or merely differences-There are a number of inconsistent approaches to preschool from state to state and what we need to do is research if these inconsistencies are harmful or do they provide flexibility and flexibility for the parents and children (Kagan, 2009).

     Culture is a big part of our everyday lives and can have a strong influence on the way we think as human beings, however, I believe when there is a successful, effective and quality early childhood development program the ingredients include a quality staff, appropriate learning environment, culturally appropriate curriculum, consistent schedules and parent involvement. All of these components’ are important when trying to create an effective quality early childhood development program because this recipe includes the child, family, classroom, school and community.

References

Bowman, Barbara T.; Donovan, M. Suzanne; & Burns, M. Susan (Eds.). (2001). Eager to learn: Educating our preschoolers. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. ED 447 963

Kagan, S. L. (2009). American early childhood education: Preventing or perpetuating inequity? (Equity Matters: Research Review No. 3). Retrieved from Campaign for Educational Equity website: http://www.equitycampaign.org/i/a/document/9833_EquityMatters_Kagan_Final.pdf

Three Things I “Bug Out” With

If there was a major catastrophe and my family was forced to “bug out”, and I could only take three thing that would continue my families culture it would take a lot of thing ahead of time. I guess now would be a good time to start and figure out just what I would take. I have many items in my house I have collected over the years that has belonged to family members and friends that could represent many feelings, culture, emotions, memories and the list goes on. What I would take on my journey is the following:

1. Photo Album-This item would be the item I would not give up. Photo albums tell a whole family history, where it started and where it ended, and the journey along the way. I will refer to the old saying, “A picture tells a thousand words”.
2. Quilt-I have a quilt that my aunt’s mother has sewn for me, by hand, no machine involved. This lady was only related to me by marriage, but nonetheless a bug part of our family’s history. I came from a family that made many of our own items and all the ladies would sew. My Grandmother and Mother sewed most of my clothes growing up. They would send all the scraps to “Granny Great”. Granny great would make these hand sewn quilts out of the remnants and pass on the quilts to family members. I will never forget when I received my quilt, I was only eight, but I still have the quilt and I am fifty years of age. I proudly display the quilt on my wall. This quilt has many memories because most of the scraps used for the making were remnants of clothing I had worn as a child. The quilt represents many of my childhood memories and brings to mind many stories that go along with the memories.
3. Sketch Book-I would narrow my sketch books down to just one to take on my journey because my sketch books tell stories of how my family evolved into the family we are. There are many pictures that tell portray my family as well as poems and stories. I guess you could say my sketch book is a type of diary.

  

   Taking only three items would be a big decision, but a necessary one. It is a good time to start thinking about such a big decision because the time might come and it would be a good idea to have these items in a special place just in case something were to happen.