Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

A microaggression is any verbal behavior or action that leaves an individual with feelings of inferiority. Sometimes people do this unconsciously and do not mean any harm as such was the way with one student I had.

While subbing, I was teaching in middle school a science class when a student told me it was okay to talk in Spanish. After I asked him why, he said "because I see you "struggling". He was referring to my accent when he mentioned "struggling". I acted defensive and told him that I was not struggling because I had been speaking English for the last 38 years. ALthough this student did not mean any harm, unintentionally he made me feel inferior.Yes, I do have an accent which I do not want to get rid of. My husband even finds it sexy. in this occassion I was the recipient of a microinsult.

My perception has been changed when it comes to cases like these now. After reading the required reasources, I understand the students behavior better. If I would of read the resources before this happenned, I would of reacted in a totally different way and not defensive.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

The person I interviewed for this assignment is a coworker who comes from Saudi Arabia. Her name is Mrs.Ansari. Her definition of culture is everything that encompasses her since the minute she was born up to the day I was standing in fron of her asking this question. The aspect of culture discontinuity was included in our conversation because although she did not mention this term, she stated that many of her customs had to be left behind when she came to the United States 20 years ago. One very important thing for females in her culture is to always have her hair hidden. She mentioned is extremely disrespectful for them to show their hair in public to someone else besides her husband, Other males should not see her hair, it wold be the equivalent of an American woman showing her breast in public as stated by her.  My thinking after talking to her is that everyone has their very valid reasons to do what they do. To some people that don't understand this, the custom might seem pointless; but it is in these situations that we must understand and respect everyone. I thought it was very sad that she mentioned her daughter being bullied at school because she was "different". Mrs.Ansari then explained that Saudi Arabia women are professionals just like American woman and they should not be perceived as submissive woman or sometimes even called "abused wives". To Mrs.Ansari, she describes herself as an independent very intelligent professional and not as a victim of abuse.

My Family Culture

 

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently.  You can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.....

If I was in this dire situation my choice of the 3 items would be my Bible, my guitar, and one of the hundreds of photo albums I have.

I would take my Bible because I understand that there are parts of the world where Christianity is not accepted, or is illegal.Therefore;I could probably end up in a country who does not know Jesus Christ. By not having a church to attend, my Bible would be very important to me to help me stay connected to the Word. If I were asked to describe this I would tell the person aking that I fervently believe in God's promises and I would have the Bible to refer to everyday.

I would take my guitar because it is a guitar made by the hands of my father specially personalized for me. I grew up listening to my father play the guitar and at some point in his life, the guitar was his instrument to earn a living. My father would walk to different restaurants and play songs and accept tips from the people dinning.Although this happened before I was born, everytime I see a guitar I remember him and I am very grateful God chose him as my father. Growing up,I can remember all the family reunions with my father singing with my uncles and playing the guitar and accordion. The guitar brings very sweet memories to me and I love my guitar because it was handmade and crafted with love specifically for me.

The third item I would take would be a photo album. In this photo album, I would place photos of relatives I would no longer see and of memories of happy times. This album would help me remember my very happy life in the United States I once had.

If upon arrival was told I could only keep 1 item.......

I would definetely keep my Bible. This one book would ensure me that I have something to look forward to and that I am not and never will be alone, no matter what part of the world I am in.

The insights I gained from this assignment is that material things are not important but what we hold in our minds is. I have my very special guitar but it is only an object. I have my father who I love dearly and whom I can count on for a shoulder to cry on if I need it or someone to put up with my laughter or silliness over dumb things....

When I think of research.........

I think that although  research is very complex and involves many steps, it is undeniably necessary for any society to improve their lifestyles and learn how to confront social issues.From now on when I read something that is backed up by evidence based research I will be more appreciative of all the work that entails.

My ideas of the nature of conducting research have changed because now I can see any topic can have many variables and although researchers try to make it specific, those extraneous variables will always be present in any situation.

The lessons I learned in the planning of Early Childhood is that the researcher must have very strong ethics, work collaboratively with other researchers, and always be open for unexpected outcomes.

The challenges I encountered were the terms used because before this course I was not very familiar with many of them. The way I faced these challenges was by doing further research on the terms and not just what the textbook offered. Sometimes the terms can be more understandable when they are simply worded differently.

My perceptions of an Early Childhood professional have not changed. I always knew that individuals who work in this profession are hard worker dedicated individuals who want to make a difference in tomorrow’s generation. And now, all of the students from this class are joining them in this worldwide effort, including me.

WEBSITE WEEK 5

 

The website I chose to analyze this week is http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Early Childhood Australia’s mission statement is:

Early Childhood Australia will advocate to ensure quality, social justice and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight years.

The website offers a link to a series of books for educators that range from partnerships in early childhood to the significance of adult-to-adult interactions in early childhood education and care settings. All the books in the series are evidence based and are backed up with years of research. These are topics that pertain to everyone internationally. What I did find disappointing in this website is that it does not offer much information if you are not willing to buy. I was able to see they have man valuable resources but all of them are for sale. In my opinion, this website was more of a business than an organization.  And although just when I was about to give up, I did find the link to the past newsletters which covered some good topics, the focal point of the website is selling and not informing professionals. The website even sells the membership. I was surprised this website was listed as a resource.

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health) is a Federal grant program administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to promote the wellness of young children ages birth to 8 years of age. Through an Intra-Agency Agreement with SAMHSA, oversight of the project is provided by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services

The information collected is of importance to the public health and behavioral health fields in advancing knowledge about comprehensive community-wide approaches to improving child health and development. Information will be provided   and lessons learned about how coordinated service strategies and system-building activities can be designed to improve the physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of health and well-being for children and families.

Reference:

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/resource/cross-site-evaluation-of-project-launch-evaluation-design

U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services/Administration for children and families - Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

I had the privilege of being a child wellness coordinator when this project was implemented in El Paso Texas and was able to see very good results. My job was to work with families and teach them parenting classes that would promote the social emotional health in children 0-8. I remember how regarding it was when week after week I would literally see the improvement in these children and the parent empowerment. One little girl in particular named “Maria” was always isolated at school because she was fearful of her peers. After visiting the family, I learned they had just migrated from Mexico and her parents had been teaching her not to talk to anybody. Needless to say, Maria was not doing well in school and she was being bullied by her peers as the “weird” one. After the 8 week parenting classes and assessing her through the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (A&SQ) I was able to see the transformation. Her grades improved, she was friendly with her peers, who in return stopped the bullying, and the teacher found out she was one of her honor students. I documented Marias progress with great joy and just like her, many other children’s lives were changed through Project L.A.U.N.C.H.

RESEARCH SIMULATION

The topic of my interest for research is how a child’s mental health is affected when they are victimized and abused during the early years

I chose this topic because I have personally seen how a child's emotional state can be affected due to abuse. Because the brain controls all of our actions and emotions, a child's mental health is very important.

A child who is not emotionally stable cannot concentrate in school and develop the skills necessary to succeed.

 I think this area in particular needs more research because it is often overlooked and from this area many important factors depend. One very important factor is citizenship skills, which in contrast affects the social skills. Social and emotional skills are what shape a child and as long as we do not understand how they are feeling emotionally, it is going to be very difficult to decipher their actions and help them. Teachers who create a caring relationship with students is because they have somewhat peeked into their inner emotional state and are able to understand them.

Citizenship skills are often overlooked because the educators are too busy trying to meet the academic requirements so the school will not suffer the consequences of cuts in funding. During this process, the children’s emotional state is stressed and this causes the child to perform poorly sometimes. I believe the base of all the problems the youth of today face derive from the lack of promoting good citizenship skills at an early age. This topic would be of ultimate importance and interest for me to research further. From such research, teachers as well as families would benefit. At school, teachers would be able to acquire improved academic results from students; and at home, parents would have a well behaved child. Overall, after transitioning to adulthood, these children would be productive law abiding citizens and the benefit would extend globally