The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I hope to help families from diverse backgrounds feel welcome in my classroom. I want these families to feel like they can be themselves and that they are receiving the support they need in order to be successful. Coming from a different culture can be overwhelming and terrifying which is why I want these families to at least feel welcome in school.

The goal I would like to set for the early childhood field in relation to the issue of diversity, equity, and social justice is to be more aware of the diversity, equity issues, and social justice within the early childhood setting/ program. Issues relating to these topics are often overlooked and if they are addressed in early childhood then hopefully these children can grow up in a society with less discrimination and prejudice. Derman- Sparks and Edwards shared their vision that “all children are able to blossom, and each child’s particular abilities and gifts are able to flourish in this world” (P.2). This vision should be the goal of every early childcare program to allow children to feel comfortable and welcome who they truly are.

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to each discussion post and blog comments. I have enjoyed hearing everyone’s stories from their personal life and I appreciate the openness and acceptance expressed. Having the opportunity to learn from one another has allowed me to be successful within this class, but also within my professional setting. I look forward to working with many of you in future classes!

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).

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Family’s country of origin: Algeria

Five ways I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family include:

1.     Bring materials from this culture into my classroom, for example, different text, play items, and posters or pictures

2.     Inquire about receiving a translator to help communicate with the family and the child.

3.     Provide resources in home language and provide support in learning English

4.     Research the values of this culture and what is considered the “norm”

5.     Respect the culture of this family and welcome them with no judgments. Respect should come from the school, the child’s teacher as well as the children in the new child’s classroom.

6.     Build a positive and respectful relationship with the family

Preparing for a new student coming from a different country in which I have little knowledge about it is important to make that family feel as comfortable as possible. Providing materials in the classroom that emulate specific aspects of the child’s culture should help them feel more comfortable and at ease if they can recognize something in the classroom that means a lot to them. These items will also help prepare the other students for the new student and help them to understand the new students’ culture.

Having a translator will be very important in terms of communication to simply share information with the family. There will be a language barrier so it is important to respect that barrier and take the necessary measures to overcome that barrier.

Providing resources in both the home language and English allows the family to understand the information, but also shows that we are willing to work with them to help them build their English. Derman- Sparks and Edwards (2010) share “early childhood programs serve as a two-way bridge between the dominant culture and the child’s home culture. Teachers convey the important message that the child’s home language matters” (p.63).

Respecting the values and norms of their culture will help this family when it comes to cultural discontinuity. This family is coming into a dominant culture which is probably very different from their own and it is important that the family does not feel pressure to change their customs. Conducting research on what is considered the “norm” for this family will allow the educators who work with this family and have a better understanding of why they do what they do. This research will help ensure this family is not misinterpreted.

References

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).

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

A memory I have of a person who has experienced bias in relation to being a female and having a child. I have a friend who recently had a child and she took her time off for maternity leave. When it was time for her to return to work, they decided that her husband was going to stay home with the baby and the mother was going to return to work. I remember having a conversation with peers when someone said, why is your husband staying home, isn’t the Mom supposed to stay home with the baby. This is bias based of the stereotype that women stay home with the children and the men go to work.

            This experience diminishes equity because men and women should have the same opportunities and, in this situation, my peer was implying that a mother should not be going back to work after having a child. Stereotyping women saying that they should not attend work and should stay at home with the baby is taking away from a women’s ability to be independent and make a living for her family. This example shows that the image portrayed of women is a house wife while the man is the breadwinner- showing that men and women are not looked at as equal.

            As I was witnessing this conversation I was hurt by some of the comments being made. While it is a dream to be able to stay home with your new baby, women should have the opportunity to go back to work and be successful and not feel ashamed or be judged for doing so. It is frustrating to think that women are still experiencing discrimination towards gender roles and with the many changes in society. I hope the outlook on this topic begins to evolve.

            In order for this incident to be turned into an opportunity for greater equity, society needs to adapt their image of how women are portrayed. In many roles in society, women are not given the same opportunities as men strictly because they are a woman. As there are more and more women entering the field of science and business taking on more roles that men would often hold, there are still many cases where women are not given these chances and if they are, they had to fight hard for them.