The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

So I have been thinking about this blog all week because I didn’t want to write about things that I have already talked about in class discussions and in my application papers or reflective journal.  And then this happened…

I was having a conversation with a parent from my children’s school.  Keep in mind we attend a small, Catholic school that has a very diverse culture of children from the suburbs as well as the inner city.  The conversation was in regards to the NYS testing that will be going on over the next few weeks.  Many families at our school are choosing to opt out and she asked me my opinion on why I was opting my children out and so many others were. Long story short, in NYS there is a lot of political nonsense going on with the testing because the company, Pearson, a very large text book and test creating company is the largest financial backer of our current governor.  Our schools in NYS are very pressured to teach to the tests all year, they are used to evaluate our teacher’s performance, and are really not a good thing in NY.  Our governor has threatened to take funding away (including Title I) from schools who either do not do well or schools who do not have enough participation.  So, when I explained all of this to the mom, her comment to me was “Well, good then we all need to opt out at our school so maybe we will lose funding and get all these kids out of here that don’t belong here”  When I heard her say that I just could not believe my ears.  I asked her what she meant by that.  She clarified by saying that “Well our school is within city limits, so we probably getting funding from the state to allow all these city kids to come here”  Number one, I was offended because my kids are “city” kids.  We live in a nicer part of our city (Rochester, NY has the 5^th highest poverty rate in the country) but we still live in the city.  Number two, I was offended because we had a lot of choices when it came to choosing a Catholic school for our children and we chose the one we are at because it was diverse.  I don’t want my children growing up in an all-white school with no diversity! The world is a diverse place, they need to learn to embrace it and respect all cultures.

By her making these statements she absolutely diminished equality for these children that she was referring to.  Their parents clearly care enough about them to send them to a school where they can get a great education and not have to deal with the crime, the bullying, and the lack of support.  Our city school district in Rochester is very low performing, is full of poverty, high classroom numbers and there is not a lot of support from the administration.  There is also a very low graduation rate and crime rate in and around the schools.  So these parents, although many of them still living in bad neighborhoods and in poverty, are doing the one thing they can do to get their children out of the cycle of poverty and that is to provide them with a better education.  She clearly did not feel that they deserve that equality! I was sickened.

It is very clear that my feelings about this were anger, disappointment, and uncertainty.  I was wondering how many other parents feel this way and did she think that my kids didn’t belong at this school because we live in the city also? I felt sad for her child because what is she teaching him by her having these feelings? He clearly is not learning about the amazing world of diversity and culture.  He is going to grow up and have the same feelings and beliefs.

In order to turn this incident into an opportunity of greater equality, she would have to change the way she sees the school and see’s these families.  She would need to look at her own biases, personal beliefs, feelings and prejudices and then be willing to better educate herself on the importance of children being in a diverse situation.  Our school is not a dangerous school and far from being unsafe.  Yes, maybe the incidents of unacceptable behaviors may be performed by children other than white children.  However, those children still have some personal issues at home that they are dealing with such as poverty and single parent homes.  That does not mean their parents don’t care about them.  This parent expects all the children to be perfect and just because it is a Catholic school, that all is going to be perfect.  So far from the truth!  I wonder if she realizes that my white, 7 year old daughter has sever anxiety that she is treated for and one time she through a pair of scissors at a teacher? I bet she would have different thoughts about my “city” kids if she knew that.

Microaggressions

Microaggression is a new term to me.  It is not something that I had ever heard of before yet once learning what it was, I knew what it was- if that makes sense.  A microagression are racial, gender, sexual, or disability related inferiors that people partake in yet often in an unconscious manner (Laureate Education, 2011).  At the time that this occurred, I did not know that it was a microaggression although I knew that it was an act of discrimination.  I wrote about this example in my reflective journal this week.

When I was a childcare center director, I had a few make teachers that worked for me.  One was a preschool teacher, one was a school age teacher and one would float and work in all classrooms.  There were a few different occasions in which families would come in for a tour of the center and when they saw the male teachers, their demeanor would immediately change.  I remember one time I had a mom say to me “Does he actually work here?” When I told her yes that he was actually one of my best teachers she said to me, “Why would a guy want to work with preschoolers? That does not set well with me, we will have to look elsewhere”  This made me so angry and I told her that she was entitled to her opinion and that her family would probably not be a good fit for our program because we do not discriminate against who we hire, we look at experience and qualifications.  Needless to say, I did not hear back from her.

With this type of microaggression, she clearly was using her inferiority to verbalize her opinion on something although she  never came out and said why she would not want her children around a male teacher.  She did not consciously offend the teacher by saying he was some time of child predator, but by not wanting her children in a program with a male teacher, certainly makes the assumption that she is concerned of his true intentions of being a preschool teacher.

Perspectives on Culture and Diversity

I reached out to about 6 people to respond to this assignment.  I have included three responses that I received to the questions-

1. What is your definition of culture?
2. What is your definition of diversity?
3. Do you think they are the same? (I added this question because I use to think they were the same thing)

Response 1: “Culture to me is the collective system of beliefs and morals of a group of people.  Diversity can mean different things, however, in a culture, diversity is a collection of sub-cultures that form together to define a larger culture. I don’t think they are the same but they definitely go together and relate to one another”

Response 2: “My definition of culture… it’s the way of life. It is how nationalities celebrate their heritage and the things they believe in. My definition of diversity… it means being different and understanding that individuals are unique in their styles of race, gender, sexuality, etc. I think they go hand in hand for example cultural diversity”

Response 3: “I think culture is the values and traditions a person is raised with. It comes from your family, country of origin, or local traditions. You can be ethnically one thing and culturally another, like me for example.  I am part black, so people identify me as such. However, my mother was Italian. I was raised in an Italian American family, and culturally I identify with Italians. I really don’t know much about black culture, at all.  I think diversity is the differences among us that come from those various cultures, what makes us different.  I do believe that culture and diversity are similar in that one’s cultural upbringing makes them diverse from others.  There is nothing wrong with diversity; it is who we are as a nation and world”

I think that every response that I received relates to what I have learned in this course so far, as well as what I have learned throughout this entire program.  Especially response #3.  She really makes a great point about what we have learned about surface culture and the point that culture is much deeper and more complex than just what is on the surface (Derman-Sparks & Olsen, 2010).  Response #1 to me feels like a textbook response so I am not sure if that is really what she came up with based on her past experiences and learning but it is definitely related to what I have learned from this course and others.  Response #2 is pretty general and does not go very deep.  It is probably how I would have defined culture a year ago, before starting this program.  I have now grown into a deeper and complex definition (such as response #3).

I do not believe anything is missing from these responses.  They all touch base on some different points and ideas in regards to what I have learned about culture and diversity.  One new concept that I learned about is dominant culture, and no one really talked about that.

One way looking at these responses has influenced my own thinking is that they have verified how much I have learned in this program (and this course).  I found myself relating to the responses that were not as deep and being excited about the responses that were exactly what I was “looking” for when they responded.  I am influenced to learn more and to be able to eventually use my gained knowledge to teach others in the future.

My Family Culture

Wow- this is quite the question and I had to really think long and deeply about what I would bring with me.  The three small items that I would bring with me are my cell phone, my children’s photos albums and a bible.

I would explain to others that in America, cell phones are a major form of communication for us and to stay in touch with our friends and family.  Cell phones allow us to talk to each other, send messages and use social media; which we have become so accustomed to.  I would absolutely want this with me so that I could continue to stay in touch with my loved ones.  I would explain to others that my children’s photo albums are all of our memories of our children and the milestones in their lives.  In America, we love to take pictures and share them with everyone.  We are proud of our children and families.  I would explain that pictures are a very important part of our culture and a memory for us if anything ever happened to our loved ones.  The last thing that I would take is a bible.  I would explain to others that religion is a big part of our family culture and my children even attend catholic school in America.  My family needs our bible so that we can continue to educate our children based on our religious beliefs.

If I was to arrive in the country that I was in and was told that I could now only keep one of my items, I would be visibly upset.  I would need a very valid explanation of why I was not allowed to keep the other two items.  I would feel a little better if I was given a choice of which one item I could keep.  Honestly, I would have to keep my phone.  I would choose this because I would still be able to access pictures that I have of my children, via social media as well I would be able to use the internet ( I am assuming I would maybe have access to this) to gain resources to teach my children about our religion.  If I had no access to the internet, I don’t know what I would do!

One insight I have gained about my family culture, my personal culture and American culture is that we are very dependent on social media, phones, and the internet to communicate and get what we need.  I really do not know what I would do if I did not have my phone.  It is the way I stay in touch with people, send pictures, share memories, etc.  I am assuming that there are many countries that are not like this and of course, as I do not know where I am going yet, my phone may not really be a good choice.  I guess I could always get a new one?  This was a very tough decision to have to make.

When I think of research…

I have so many great, new insights about the field of research from this course because frankly, I had none before.  I never really learned anything about early childhood research or any research for that matter when I first did my undergrad studies back in the late 1990’s.  I have learned that research in the field of early childhood education is absolutely essential in order for us to continue to make strides to learning.  Not only do we need to continue to conduct research that has never been done before, but I think it is very essential that we look at past research and revise and re-do where we see fit.  Children change, learning changes, teachers change, research needs to change.

I was absolutely terrified when I saw the title of this course. Because I have never been introduced to authentic research before I thought for sure I was doomed.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  I loved conducting my research simulation and I honestly would love the opportunity to implement it someday.  Prior to this class, to me the nature of research was sitting in a room taking a few notes, finding some articles to back up my beliefs or topic, etc and call it a day.  I couldn’t have been more wrong about that either.  Research is about passion, knowledge, working hard, gaining new insights, making predictions, gathering evidence and data, and sharing your new learning with the world.

I would have to say, even though I did not actually conduct my research in reality, the biggest lesson that I learned about planning, designing, and conducting research in the early childhood field is that you absolutely have to be flexible.  You have to be flexible because plans are going to change or fall through, children are going to be uncooperative when you need them the most, your design may not work out in real life as well as it looked on paper, and conducting it is really going to be hard work.  Any time you are going to be working with children or teachers, flexibility is a MUST!!!

The biggest challenge that I had during this course and writing my research simulation was myself! I kept questioning my own opinions, my own knowledge and learning, and not giving myself enough credit that I was capable of doing this.  As I mentioned above, I was terrified when I started this class but when all is said and done, it absolutely has been my favorite class by far.  This is my 5^th of the program.  I met the challenge of myself by using all of the feedback and constructive criticism that was provided to me and used it to my advantage.  Thank you to Dr Parrish and all of my classmates who provided me with feedback each week and whom I learned so much from!!! It was a great course.  I hope that I actually will get an opportunity to conduct my research someday!

Early Childhood International Research Topics

• What are some of the current international research topics?

• What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

• What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

I chose the earlychildhoodaustralia.org website after looking at all of them.  I chose this one because of the access to the Australian Journal of Early Childhood Education.  This publication seemed very comparable to many ECE publications that we have in the United States.  It is full of many great studies and research topics that we can relate to as well as learn from.  Some of the current research topics that looked interesting and familiar, I listed below:

• Exploring educators’ perspectives: How does learning through ‘happiness’ promote quality early childhood education?

• Exploring how adults who work with young children conceptualize sustainability and describe their practice initiatives

• Professional conversations: A collaborative approach to support policy implementation, professional learning and practice change in ECEC

• Teacher–parent relations and professional strategies: A case study on documentation and talk about documentation in a Swedish preschool

• The ‘state of play’ in Australia: Early childhood educators and play-based learning (full free text available)

• When early childhood and school meet: Exploring potential within early childhood–school relationships

I don’t think I found anything too surprising on the website that I explored.  It seems as though much of the research topics that I found are very comparable to what we are studying in the United States in the field if Early Childhood Education.  The website is full of useful information and resources for teachers and parents just as we would find from many organizations and websites in the Unites States.  There are webinars, parent resources on health and safety, teachers training resources and many publications to be read.

What I have learned so much throughout my entire program, and now from this assignment, is that ECE is such a global trend and we are all working towards the same common goals and that is to make sure we are focused on the children when it comes to the structure of the field. 

One thing I found that I liked was that they have a Publications Committee which does the following-

• Ensures that the Early Childhood Australia publications program meets its advocacy mandate: to publish resources that support those who are responsible for the growth and development of young children

• Ensures that books published by Early Childhood Australia are relevant and of the highest quality

• Oversees the Quality Assurance guarantee that underwrites Early Childhood Australia’s publications program

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Research that Would Benefit Children and Families

I  do not have any stories to share as I have never done any real research before and I have also never been part of any real research before.   I wish I have been because I would love to be part of such a great experience.  I look forward to any of my colleagues sharing any great research stories this week.  So I have went with option two and I am writing about another topic that I would love to research but did not choose as my topic.

If I was able to do any type of research, on any topic in the field of early childhood education without causing risk to children and that would make a huge impact it would be on whether or not lack of passion on a teachers end or lack of involvement on a parents end has more of a negative impact on a child’s learning.  This is not something that I have ever done research on nor really read up on.  I think that a lot of people are consistently blaming parents for the lack of learning and education that their children get.  Just from a quick search on google scholar I can see that there are lots of literature reviews and studies that have been completed on parental influence but has anyone ever looked at the difference between the two? Who really has more of an effect on a child’s learning? The teachers or the parents?

If a child has a natural love for learning and they have teachers who are passionate about what they do, will a parents lack of involvement really make a difference? It may, it may not.  This is something that I have always been curious about.  It is not what I chose to do have my simulation research in this course because the path I want to go down is professional development and training.  Therefore I chose to research that.

Research shows us that many factors can influence a parent’s role in their child’s education such as work stressors, poverty, lack of education themselves, and other factors (Usher, 2012).  I am not disagreeing that parents and family background plays a large factor in children’s learning.  I just really would like to know if parents have a greater effect than teachers do.  I would want to study a larger group of both and directly correlate the results to see the differences and/or similarities.

I do not believe that a study like this would cause any risk to a child.  I believe that there would be some unintended deception involved because I would want to make sure that behaviors of parents and children were authentic.

Usher, A (2012).  What Roles Do Parent Involvement, Family Background, and    Culture Play in Student Motivation?  Center on Education Policy, George Washington  University, retrieved from www.googlescholar.com, January 23, 2015

Barriers to Obtaining High Quality Professional Development in the ECE field

I have always had a passion for early childhood education and with that passion I have been obsessed with professional development and training.  Up until November of 2013, I worked most of my career (20 years) in the field of child care and early learning.  Most of that time, I was a center director.  NYS does not have a great plan or requirement for professional development and training for childcare or early learning programs.  he NYS requirement for child care teachers is 15 hours a year which I would say is super low.  However, it is a matter of how you are required to get those hours.  There is no real accountability of who is doing the training and what resources are being used to train the teachers.  At the organization I worked at, I was responsible for training my teachers.  Now, as much as I love training and professional development, I did not have access to many resources nor all the correct knowledge that I needed to train the teachers on some of the required training’s.  I felt as though I was often doing them such a disservice.  Long story short, this is why I am here and in this program at Walden.  I left my career to finish my Masters Degree and pursue my passion.  I want to learn more in depth about the field of early childhood education, about issues and trends, theories, training and professional development.  I enrolled in the “teaching adults” program because I want to become a certified trainer for NYS and I want to make professional development my career path.  I want teachers to want to continue to learn and to be as passionate about it as I am.

So far in this research process, choosing my topic was easy. I narrowed it down to barriers in professional development because I always hear so many excuses of why teachers can not train or develop themselves (money, lack of resources, lack of time, etc)  I want to show them how much those barriers actually do not exist.  I have found some literature on my topic but not an abundance.  I have a feeling that if I was to complete a full research study, I would be doing a lot of hands on research in schools, day care centers involving lots of interviews and data collection to see what teachers feel and to compare/contrast the programs who have solid training and those whom do not.

As you are all early childhood professionals from all different parts of the field, I would love hear different opinions and professional perspectives on what my research thoughts entail.  What are your feelings on professional development and training? How does your state compare? If you are a director or administrator to you feel you should be the one doing all the training?

I look forward to hearing from some of you!

Consequences and Goals of Early Childhood International Awareness- Week 8 post

Spending time these past 8 weeks learning about the international early childhood world has been so enlightening for me.  I really feel that I have grown as a professional in the field because of it because it has open my eyes and mind to a new way of looking at things, a new perspective.  The consequences of learning about international issues and trends have been nothing short of positive consequences.

1. The international world, outside of the United States, is working towards many of the same goals as we are in the United States.  Goals such as cultural awareness, finding more time for children to be children by focusing on play based learning, accountability and better training for teachers, as well as better financial support and accountability from the government.  This has helped me to understand that we are not in this struggle alone.  We need to look towards each other for support and for help so that we can all do what is right for these children.

2. The international world of early childhood education has struggles that are similar and that is lack of resources and qualified teachers.  Learning this has encouraged me to develop myself that much more because I want to help teachers and train them better so that we have more qualified teachers.

3.  Having International awareness allows me to be more culturally aware because many students in our schools, in the United States, are from many of these countries.  By learning about the world of education in other countries will help me to be a better teacher and professional to our students in the United States.

One goal that I have for the field related to international awareness is that we can all put our differences aside and work together for the positive well-being of all children!  As we have learned, we all have similar goals and struggles.  It makes no sense to compete for which country has the highest test scores, whose young children are better advanced and whom can read better.  Let us just all share our resources, share our knowledge with each other and be one community of learners! Our children will be better persons for it and we will all be better teachers for it as well!

International Contacts

I am following UNESCO’s website as I have not any luck with the other options although I have continued to try and reach out to international contacts.

One thing that I came across on the UNESCO website was something known as the Muscat Agreement.  The Muscat Agreement is based on the notion that education must claim an explicit, stand-alone goal in the new development framework after 2015, as well being a cross-cutting theme across the broader development agenda (UNESCO, 2009-2014).  This is a global initiative to make sure that all children are successful in obtaining the education that they deserve.  There are many goals and targets that have been set forth-Goals and Targets of Muscrat Agreement-

Early childhood care and education   Basic education    Youth and adult literacy  Skills for work  Skills for citizenship and sustainable development Qualified Teachers Appropriate Financing

The link goes into details on these goals and targets

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/single-view/news/key_milestones_reached_for_new_education_goals/

An insight that I have gained from reading this site and exploring is that early childhood education has many of the same issues around the globe as we have here in the United States.  Other countries are also finding that the need for more focus on the poor needs to be a priority so that the investment later in life is less.  Other countries also have issues with training and resources and this is also a global problem.  Early childhood education is something that needs more attention and focus in all countries.

“The 1990 Jomtien Declaration on Education for All (EFA), stated that countries should view early childhood as part of basic education” (UNESCO, 2009-2014).  Early childhood education should absolutely be treated equally to elementary/primary education. I was glad to see that this is also a global issue that is being looked at and it is not just the United States.  Early childhood education is crucial and there is so much research to back up the importance that children receive an early foundation in life.