Professional hopes and goals

There is one hope I have when working with children an families from diverse backgrounds and that is to learn different styles of teaching so I can incorporate those into different learning styles for my children and families so that we all are on the same page of education for their children and for themselves.

One goal I would set for my families in this this field is to get them to understand that we are early educational advocates for one another and not just our self's and families.

I want to give a warm thanks to all my colleagues and professor that made comments on my post and questions. You guys have helped me learn many views of culture, diversity, and equity through your eyes and through personal experiences. Thanks so much and I will see most of you in the next class.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The country I have chosen is Zambia. It is a country in South Africa. In this scenario, I chose to be a family host. Five ways I would prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family:
1.      Learning what they eat- I’m curious because most of African food is very rich in natural and fresh ingredients.
2.       Learning their language- I would like to welcome them in hello in their language and say goodbye when they part their ways. This way they see I took time out to learn a little bit of their language and so they will feel comfortable.
3.       Learning their norms
4.       What they do for entertainment- Maybe some games, or outings, family nights that I could use within my family as well to incorporate other cultures in my family.
5.       Learning about their education

These preparations we help benefit my family because it will help us see our own culture from a new perspective. To be able to connect to a new culture through advocating, hosting, social media and conversations will show lots of fun and pleasure. There could be joy in also having them learn a little bit about my culture as well. A new world of connections and understanding will open up our eyes to many opportunities and connections.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I have witnessed a coworker being teased because of her accent. She is Spanish speaking and from Puerto Rico. My coworker has been in the states for 20 years but still has a very strong accent and can’t pronounce some things in English so she and another teacher speak Spanish a lot at work to help her speak English better. A lot of people assume she doesn’t know much, an air head because of her Spanish background but she’s very smart. My coworker has 3 children and is married, but they were born here so not a strong accent. My coworker also experienced an issue with getting back into school. She needed help feeling out her FASFA and she was given the run around as if no one wanted to help her. People would get frustrated because they could not understand her.

This situation was not presented as fair because no one tried to help my co worker. I think it is so much easier to help than to ridicule. We are all the same but different. Instead of giving her the run around with FASFA they someone could have sent her a guide on what to do or took ten minutes out of their time to help.

The feelings I got from this was heartbreaking. I felt in a way I knew where she was coming from because my race is considered a minority and we still experience prejudice, racism and discrimination because of our race.

Both parties involved could have turned the situation around because everyone should be treated with dignity and respect no matter their background. My coworker should not have to, but just had to work harder for people to understand her by educating herself so it will be easier for her and who ever she communicates with. In this world you have to work almost twice as hard to get what you want or deserve and that is in every category.