EDUC 6164 - week 8

When I think of working with children who come from diverse backgrounds, my hope is that they always feel welcome and safe under our care. I hope that they are able to flourish with confidence, discover each other, learn to embrace the differences amongst them and spread the value of diversity.

A goal for the early childhood field would be to study the various ways children see differences, and to research the methods that make diversity more natural and acceptable to very young children. I think that teaching the teachers has a huge impact on what translates to the children, but we also need to figure out what is in their minds and how they see the world. It may be that we have lots to learn from them.

I am very grateful for the colleagues in this course, and all the comments, discussions and valuable lessons we have taught each other. We are a diverse group, working together in great harmony, with the same goals and aspirations. I wish you luck and many wonderful experiences to come. Thank you Dr. Parrish for leading us in this important subject, and for your creative teaching methods.

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
— Maya Angelou

EDUC 6164 - week 7

Chad in Africa

The new family in my class would be from Chad, which is a landlocked country in central Africa. In Chad the two most common languages are French and Arabic, although there are over 100 other languages or dialects spoken. In preparation for my new student, it would be good to know how to greet him/her in French and Arabic, and then ask the parents to teach me a few key words in their spoken language. Those would include words like: toilet, water, hungry, thirsty, mom is coming, I am hurt, and so on.

The most prevalent religion is Islam, then Christianity and then animism and other religions. So in preparation for meeting the family, I need to be aware of some of the religious beliefs accordingly. If they are Muslim: do they eat pork, does the father shake hands with a female, etc.

I found out that girls are still married at a very young age and so the average age for mothers is 18 years old. Literacy rates are quite low, particularly for females and usually the man marries more than one wife and lives with the extended family. This is quite important because I need to anticipate a young mother, who could be illiterate and possibly living with extended family. Communication with the family will be very different from the typical America family, and we cannot rely on written communication alone or that the information reaches the mother each time.

On child raising practices, I found very little but this gives me some idea of what to expect: "The rearing of young children is done by the mother and by relatives; at a later stage there is more involvement by the father. Of greatest importance for all Chadians is the socializing role of the family and the ethnocultural group later in life through, for example, initiation, the taking on of religious and ritual duties, mutual help, and social support. Children necessarily remain dependent on their families until their early twenties.

About 60 percent of Chadian children attend primary school, but the literacy rate in Chad is estimated at only 20 percent, a comparatively low rate within Africa. Further formal education is pursued by a minority, and most children are educated by their families, taking on domestic and economic tasks in their early teens…" (everyculture, 2015)

I also found out that there is a huge variety in their food and clothing, so it would be difficult to anticipate the child's needs in that regards.

In preparation for my student, I would have the flag of Chad up on our international wall of facts. I would learn a few words in French and Arabic, and anticipate some of the religious practices. The basics have to be established when the family arrives, such as the child's name and how to pronounce it correctly. As well as how the parents like to be addressed.

In addition, I would prepare an interview list of questions like whom to contact for concerns, preferred means of communication, eating habits, sleeping habits, family members in the household in USA, family members in their household in Chad. To go further in helping the family in their new community, I would ask them if they knew any other Chadians or if they needed to make contacts. I would ask them if they have established a pediatrician and guide them accordingly.

After the interview, I would take the family for a tour of our facility and explain how we run our program, and what our policies are. During such a tour, many questions arise such as previous child care, eating habits (floor, table, fed, independent) and much more.

By observing the family and prompting them, we can find out if their culture praises or encourages children through hugs, high fives, kind words or any other gestures that can be used in our setting.

A family that feels that the school recognizes their differences and prepares and embraces them, are going to feel more welcomed and less intimidated. A teacher who is prepared for a family's differences, will also feel less intimidated when approaching them, and better equipped to care for their child.

Opening up communication through an introductory interview and tour of the setting, will prepare for the differences to be discussed and addressed.

http://www.our-africa.org/chad/people-culture

http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Chad.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cd.html

EDUC 6164 - week 6

As I read through the assignment, I knew exactly which incident I would write about. My last job as a pharmacist was a very unique one: I was hired by an American company that was set up overseas in order to bring a healthcare service to American standards. We were to work closely with the existing management in order to make the changes necessary.

The overt prejudice that was directed at me was by the existing director of pharmacy, who refused to accept me as an American pharmacist with the education and expertise like the rest of the American team. Because I was of another nationality by birth, and spoke another language (same as hers), I was rejected as not American enough for the job.

The result was an oppression because I could not do the job that I was hired to do, by my American employer. Equity was diminished instantly because my employer was forced to hire a male American pharmacist who had no other ethnicity to do the job, and I had to take on different responsibilities.

Of course I felt humiliated at the time, and although my American employer stood by me and rejected such bias, I was still marginalized. It left me feeling helpless and frustrated because I knew that I could get the job done, but only prejudice got in the way.

For that kind of prejudice to change, it would need a change in the mind set of people like that pharmacy director. My leaders were quite confident in my qualifications, experiences and approach; but it was not enough to eliminate her overt prejudice.

I did learn from that experience, that that’s the way life is, and that I had to make better choices of where to work in order to avoid such inequities. I also learnt that I am lucky because I could look elsewhere for work, but some people have little choices and have to live with such inequity.

EDUC 6164 - week 4

Where do I begin with examples of micro-aggression?

We live in a city that hosts all nationalities, and so stereotyping is inevitable and micro-aggression is a daily occurrence. Amongst friends it is accompanied with laughter, but surely there is some offense taken.

The example that I will share occurred on Thursday during our health and safety fair, at the nursery where I am director. The company promoting pool safety was staffed with three people. As I walked up to greet them, the two British men greeted me and shook my hand, but they did not introduce me to the third man who was Indian standing in the background. A behavioral microaggression that was so obvious and so offensive. I introduced myself to the Indian man and they quickly reacted with his name and an explanation that he is the one who does all the hard work for them. I found that even more offensive, especially that I witnessed him carrying all the equipment and blowing up all the balloons by himself. So in reality, he did do all the physical hard work, while they promoted their safety gates, but they did not respect his presence with even an introduction.

There are numerous examples of friends teasing each other based on their ethnic culture including habits, mannerisms and accents; but they are not offensive. It is important to point that out because banter is healthy in my opinion, within limits; and it is important to practice it on occasion so that it does not catch you off guard in an offensive situation.

I enjoyed learning about microaggression because it gave a name to something I witness all day, and it made me realize that sometimes when we have good intentions, we may actually offend someone without knowing.

EDUC 6164 week3

I interviewed three friends of mine and my son for this assignment, and found all the answers incredibly interesting. All of them were accurate, and all of them were different, all of them left out aspects of culture and diversity that we are learning about, but all of them also included most of what we have learnt.

It is important to remember that we live in a city where 90% of the population is not from the dominant culture and those 90% come from a huge range of cultures. So anyone interviewed already has a deeper awareness of culture and diversity compared to other cities in this world.

My friend X defined culture as living within your beliefs; and the beliefs of your religion. She defined diversity as living amongst cultures and being tolerant of everyone else's beliefs. When asked to describe herself, she said that she is a mother in her 40s, who has three children. She has been living in Dubai for 14 years, she is a Catholic of Jamaican Canadian upbringing with Chinese heritage and she is married to a Portuguese Canadian. To me, she is the definition of diversity.

My friend Y defined culture with a list of things: heritage, family beliefs, religion, character, moral values, food and dress. She defined diversity as all the above melted into one. She continued by explain that we don’t have to agree with others or understand them, but we have to respect others. When asked to describe herself she said she is an American who grew up in California, whose parents are divorced and remarried, she moved to Florida when she was 14 years old, is a Christian, married for 15 years and had moved to Dubai one year and a half ago.

My friend Z defined culture as a way of living, through religion, upbringing, language, social identity, education, food, clothing, dress, socializing, nationality and ethnicity. Her definition of diversity is the differences within cultures, within families, within upbringing, within school systems and within communities. She is a working mother of three, married for 19 years, born and raised in Denmark, lived in Australia for one year as a young adult, lived in Italy for 2 years and now living in Dubai for the last 9 years.

My 12 year old son saw me interview friends and volunteered, and his response was that culture is a way that a person or family choose to, or are raised to, run their life. He defined diversity as differences between people that make up an environment of a range of cultures. My son is American, with Lebanese heritage, is born and raised in Dubai, goes to a British school and has extended family members all over the world.

I am pleased that everyone has a relatively accurate and deep understanding of culture and diversity. I am curious to read about other interviews from classmates, to compare definitions around the world.

EDUC 6164 week2

It would be terrifying to have to evacuate and leave everything I love behind. Having evacuated from a war, I can almost imagine such a catastrophic situation. As I prepared mentally for this assignment, I looked around my home and work and decided that I would not miss much material things except art work and correspondence that have emotional attachments, but there were things that would be very important to me which included the people and memories of event in my life.

I would take with me photographs of my family and precious people in my life, as well as some music that lifts my mood and brings back memories, and probably my rosary inside my phone book.

The pictures will always remind me of the past with the people and places and events that shaped me. Music is a powerful way of bringing back memories and emotions and I feel that it connects me to experiences that shape me as well. My rosary connects me to my faith and gives me strength while I pray, and if it lays in my phone book then I can also take that so that I can attempt to stay in touch with precious people in my life.

I would be devastated if I had to choose one item only, and it would be a tough decision between the photographs and the phone book. They are both about the people in my life but do I keep pictures that remind me of them, or do I keep the address book to try to find them?

I have learnt that people, particularly family members, in my life are the most important to me. My family defines my culture and my past and my present. If I were forced out of my life, I would miss my family and friends the most, which includes all memories together.
This tells me that families that come to our nursery every day, possibly value their families and memories more than anything else, and so nurturing that is essential in our work.

EDUC 6163 - week 8

As we wrap up the eight weeks of Building Research Competency, I can not help but think of how much my understanding of research has improved, and that I will always be much more critical of any article I read or any quote of research results.

I want to begin by thanking Dr. Parrish for breaking down the course in a very effective and enjoyable way. It was always interesting and informative, but not overwhelming.

The insight that I feel I walk away with is primarily that there is good reliable valid research, and that there is not so good and doubtful research. So the walk away message is to be critical with every research study we encounter. From my previous career in healthcare, I had some idea of how to read research studies and how to analyze their quality, but with the early childhood field there is an added element of qualitative research which is critical for this field. I realize now that methods can be combined and that validity as well as equity are important. I also realize that consent is also applicable to the children in the studies and not just the authorized adult, and that the ethical issues with studying children is more vast and intense than other fields.

I found the chapters on observation and interviews very interesting and practical. In addition, having learnt terms for the different ways we observe or interview and collect data, made me feel more prepared and resourced for conducting research. The same applies to the concept of sampling and choosing participants.

Being a very practical person, with little affinity for the philosophical side of issues, I had a harder time with chapters that explored equity and ethics. I found them very interesting and important, but not high on my personal priority list. This was a good challenge for me, since they are an integral part of research.

Although I realize that early childhood professionals have a vast range of responsibilities and career paths, adding research to that profession has added a dimension to the field in my perspective. In addition, for those of us not conducting research, I realize now that we are obligated to remain informed of the current research findings that influence our daily work.

I want to thank all my classmates for their comments, remarks and questions to my posts; it is always very exciting to read how others interpret my work. I am thankful also for all your hard work and posts which have taught me so much.

Wishing you all luck in future courses and in our precious field of work.