Farewell to My Master's Community

As I say farewell to my Master's community of learners I want to mention some of the things I am taking away from this community as I venture out into the world- yet again- armed with new knowledge.

Three deeply felt learnings that have changed my thinking:
-that I can be an agent of social change just by cultivating awareness and influencing my immediate community
-the realization that I am a part of many communities of practice in my daily life. Starting one with a group of individuals who believe strongly with me on a topic challenges me to work on my collaboration skills
-the importance of knowing what I'm talking about- meaning knowing the historical and current context of my topic- to validate my professionalism

Long-term goals:
-To begin teaching EC courses at the community college level
-Open up a Preschool Village outside of the military post in my community

I want to say thank you to my instructor for creating a classroom atmosphere that fostered open communication and was a safe place to express thoughts and ideas. I wish you the best in all of your future endeavors and hope to meet up with you again in the future.
To my classmates, I thank you for being driven to make change in the EC field and in the lives of children all over the world. You have inspired me to dream bigger than I have before. I believe that each of you will be successful in everything you do because of your love for children and your determination to make a better world for them. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future. Many blessings to you all!

EC possibilities on the International Level

1. ACEI- Association for Childhood Education International    http://acei.org
-global community of practice of "educators and advocates who unite knowledge, experience, and perspectives in order to exchange information, explore innovation and advocate for children"
-Mission: "To promote and support in the global community the optimal education, development, and well-being of children, from birth through early adolescence, and to influence the professional growth of educators and the efforts of others who are committed to the needs of children in a changing society".
-They envision that every child in every nation will have access to quality education.
-Jobs: serving on the ACEI Board of Directors
This person must demonstrate a commitment to furthering the education and well-being of children worldwide, be dedicated to promoting excellence in non-profit governance, and make critical decisions about goals and the allocation of resources.
This person must possess commitment to the mission and vision of the organization, commitment to education and well-being of children worldwide, a broad knowledge of EC field with understanding of global movements that impact the lives of children, strong leadership skills, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion.

2. Child Trends  http://www.childtrends.org
-a "non-profit, nonpartisan research center that provides valuable information and insights on the well-being of children and youth". They provide information for policymakers, funders, educators, and service providers around the world. This community of practice provides cutting-edge research on issues affecting children from birth to early adulthood.
-Mission: "improve the lives and prospects of children and youth by conducting high-quality research and sharing the resulting knowledge with practitioners and policymakers"
-Jobs: research experts needed in the following areas
Management & administration-strategic leadership and operational management skills
Child Welfare- conduct, analyze data, evaluate programs in Child Welfare field
Child Well Being
EC Development- knowledge of development work with federal government, states, and foundation partners to evaluate state policy initiatives, kindergarten readiness assessments, professional development initiatives for EC workforce, strategies to promote access and affordability of high quality early care and education

3. buildOn  http://www.buildon.org
-Mission: "to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations through service and education"
-Provides afterschool service programs in some of the nations toughest high schools and building schools in some of the worlds poorest countries through their Global School Construction Program
-Jobs: Development Director
Create and implement an ambitious fundraising program strategy for a new market, be an excellent communicator with listening skills, ability to create pitches verbal and written
Possess a Bachelor's degree, Master's preferred, 3-5 yrs fundraising experience, ability to multi-task, extensive knowledge of and relationships within the prospective community

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/ Federal Level

Three organizations I chose to highlight all involve or are related to my challenge of parent involvement in children's education.

Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE): A research area of the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP)
-founded in 2000
-a national network of people who are interested in promoting strong partnerships between children's educators, their families, and their communities. They are dedicated to strengthening family-school-community partnerships by researching information on effective ways to encourage and support the involvement of the family in a child's learning and development.
-As a subgroup of the organization they have Parent University which is a nationwide group of universities that help families develop knowledge and skills that allow them to be active in their child's learning.
-There are opportunities to join the network, participate in discussions on web chat and in web conferences, and submit articles for the newsletter publication.
-Possible jobs: Family Involvement staff member consists of consultants, research analysts and research specialists, director, and assistant director. Skills needed to fulfill any of these roles would include knowledge of child development and policy, research skills, leadership and management skills, customer service skills, and an overall enjoyment of working with families and other education professionals.

National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE)
-founded in 1980
-Mission: "to advocate the involvement of parents and families in their children's education, and to foster relationships between home, school, and community to enhance the education of all our nation's young people." (www.ncpie.org)
-This organization has instituted in each state at least one Parent Training and Information Center or Community Parent Resource Center. These centers service families of children with and without disabilities from birth to age 22. They provide parents and schools with training, info, and technical assistance to know and understand how children develop and how to succeed in school.
-Possible Jobs: Look within your prospective states' Parent Training Center. Must posses the knowledge base of child development, policies (national and local) regarding education and families, local community resources

National Center for Fathering (http://fathers.com)
-non-profit educational organization that provides extensively-researched based training and resources to men who are fathers, grandfathers, and father figures so they are equipped to address the needs of their children.
-formed in response to the trend of fatherlessness in America
-provide annual seminars, small group trainings, daily radio programming, weekly newsletters, and a featured program called WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) which encourages and supports the active involvement in children's education
- Possible Jobs: no jobs except for those charged to the community to spread the word and advocate for dads everywhere to be proactive in their children's education
                                                                                                                                

Exploring Roles in The ECE Community: Local and State Levels

As I perused the web for local and state organizations, agencies, and communities of practice, I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of theme were right under my nose, well more like down the street from my house! The three I have listed below are wonderful organizations/ agencies/ communities of practice that I am excited to become a part of because they pertain to my favorite part of the EC field and that is child development and parent training. Thing is they have always been there, I just never looked....


-First Connections: Hardin County
This early childhood program offers enrichment lessons and activities for children and parents together. It is for infants and children to age 4 and is at no cost and without academic stipulations! The three main programs they offer are Cradle School, PAT (Parents as teachers), and TAP (Teens as Parents). They recognize the importance of brain development within the first 3 years of life and that having proper care and stimulation during those years is critical to the child's ability to succeed in life. They have a mission to empower parents to be their child's first and best teacher. The main job opportunity for this program is a Parent Educator. This person must have a working knowledge of child development and keep abreast of the newest and latest research. this person must also be personable and be able to establish a good rapport and relationship with each parent involved.

-United Way of Central Kentucky

This accredited charity funds communities of practice within the state. With a logo of "Live United", they encourage people to invest in their communities by giving, advocating, and volunteering to make a difference. When communities of practice get together for a cause United Way offers financial support to go towards the cause. Some of the current impact they are having include in after school programs for different county districts, family care centers, Feeding America program, Head Start, early childhood parent trainings. Their mission is to connect the community for the common good. The job opportunities here are all volunteer based. There is an extensive list on the website of volunteer opportunities from a teacher's assistant in a Head Start classroom to a van driver to transport disabled American Veterans. http://unitedwayck.org

-Lincoln Trail District Health Department
Provide early childhood services such as First Steps, Communicare, parenting classes, counseling services, and HANDS (Health Access Nurturing Development Service). This particular EC program promotes positive pregnancy outcome, optimal child growth and development, and family support. Their mission is to provide families with the assurance of the public's health and safety through assessment, intervention, education, and preparedness. Job opportunities include Family Support Workers. These individuals visit homes on a regular basis, build trusting relationships with families, assists first-time parents, and assists families with information on child development and parenting skills. They must also collaborate with other service providers and be knowledgeable about the program. http://ltdhd.ky.gov

My EC field Wordle

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It has been a long but wonderful journey through these graduate courses of early childhood education. I would have to say the best part, aside from the great things I learned, was the connections I made with my colleagues. I learned more from their experiences and insights than any book or article could teach me. I think it is because it is real. They speak from their hearts and they truly do care about the well-being of young children and families. I wish them all well and much success in their future endeavors as they impact the world, giving each child a chance…

The adjourning stage

This week I learned that there were five stages to developing a team: forming the team, storming through differences, norming with each other and accepting everyone for who they are and for what they can contribute, performing the actual task, and then adjourning. The adjourning stage is when the project concludes and everyone goes their separate ways. I find that the hardest groups to leave are the ones in which relationships were built between group members off of trust.

One group I participated in that was the hardest to end was when I worked as a summer camp counselor for the boys and girls club during college. The other counselors on this team were phenomenal people and we had gotten together and decided to make that summer one of the best the kids had ever had (because the majority of us would not be returning due to graduation), one they would talk about for a long while. There were tears and parties thrown at the end of the summer. We kept in touch for a few years beyond that and talked of getting back together.

One group that was easy to adjourn from was one in my former school. This team of teachers was combative and confrontational with each other, always trying to "one-up" the other, and never seemed to move beyond the storming stage.

Hopefully, at the adjourning of my Master's program, the colleagues I have connected with will be career long colleagues, no matter where we are in the world. It is nice and very beneficial to have colleagues as resources and sounding boards and partners throughout your career.

The adjourning stage is essential to teamwork for the simple fact that it makes members of the team feel successful. Chances are if one has a good experience working on a team, they will be more apt to work on a team again in the future- hoping and working toward a similar end as the previous experience they have had.

Applying Conflict Resolution Skills

Applying Conflict Resolution Skills

 In my previous year as a kindergarten teacher, a conflict existed with a parent of a student of mine. The parent refused to agree to allow for their child to receive extra assistance in the classroom. A meeting resulted in the degradation of my character. The child struggled and although I gave the help needed, it  resulted in other students not getting what they needed. With what I learned this week about conflict resolution, there are some things I would have done differently. Two strategies I would have used are using the creative response method where in conversation I try to turn the problem into possibilities by seeing what can be done about it instead of continuing on how bad the problem is. The second strategy would be the honing of my negotiation skills. I would be hard on the problem and not on the parent, focus on the need and not my position, emphasize the common ground between parties involved, get inventive about options, and make sound and clear agreements about what plan of action to take (Conflict Resolution Network, n.d.). Using these strategies may have helped to diffuse the argument before it began and definitely would have steered the parent away from attacking me. As a professional can you offer any other sound advice for how this situation could be handled?

Reference: Conflict Resolution Network. (n.d.). CR kit. Retrieved on November 29, 2013 from http://www.crnhq.org/pages.php?pID=12#skill_3   

How am I as a Commuicator?

Taking the three communication style assessments on Communication Anxiety, Verbal Aggressiveness, and Listening Styles, made me nervous initially. Then I became confident as I took them that I could be considered a good communicator. One thing that surprised me the most was how one of the people who evaluated me according to the same scale scored me high in verbal aggression. I scored myself at a moderate level. I argue fairly by making sure to only question the facts and not the character of the person giving the facts. I guess that my confrontation of the issue is perceived as an attack by other people. I cannot help if some people have a hard time separating themselves from the information they present. Knowing this, though, I will be sure to scale down my tone when questioning and watch my facial expressions and other non-verbal communication when doing so. I have learned that non verbal communication can have just as much of an effect on the delivery of a message as verbal communication can, if not more. This is an important thing for me to keep in mind while I am working with children and their families. I would not want them to get the wrong message due to my non verbal signs or feel like they are being attacked by the professional that is supposed to be taking care of their children.

How communication changes

After close examination I have found that I do communicate differently with people from different groups and cultures. I do not think, however, it is intentional. For example, with children I talk in a very simple way using examples they understand and I am very animated. With people from my culture, like my family, I am very lax in my wording and use a lot of common language known among my family. I noticed that when I visited Honduras on a mission trip, I spoke with a Spanish-like accent (quite embarrassing to admit), and I do the same when speaking with parents with a Hispanic or Latin origin. I lived in South Korea for three years and learned enough of the language to get around and converse with people. Now, whenever I am conversing  with or encounter someone from Korea, I tend to speak English like they do. My shoe repair man, Mr. Lee, appreciates this however. He says it shows I know his culture.
Some strategies to employ when communicating with others would be for me to be mindful of who I am talking to and how I am talking to them, without being disrespectful to them or their language. Another strategy to employ would be to keep stereotypes out of the background of my mind so I can form my own opinion of the person with whom I am speaking based on their personality  and not what others have said they should act like. Being competent in intercultural communication will help me to adapt my behavior toward another in ways that are appropriate to their culture.

In an attempt to see how well I could read people in their non verbal communication- I watched a show I have never seen on mute. The show was called "The Middle" and it was full of non verbal communication in the form of vivid facial expressions, over exaggerated hand and arm gestures. It was easy to figure out that it was about a family. The girl was excited about something and the brothers were not as enthusiastic and were clearly put out with her by rolling their eyes and yawning. They continued to yell at each other throughout the show. The family was obviously put out with each other in one way or another. Arms flailed, hands on hips, arms crossed rolled eyes, grimaces, and smirks, smiles, and tears filled this episode. In the same way there was just as much verbal communication that took place in the form of yelling, and very excited and fast paced talking. Turns out that the daughter was trying to plan a surprise anniversary party for her parents and her brothers could have cared less. Even though it was a huge flop the parents were happy she tried.
 It was interesting watching the show muted because it seemed so long, but when I watched it with sound, it went so fast paced and was over so quickly. I learned that more often than not the non verbal communication that you give off says way more than what you actually say.

The Communicators I know

When I think of effective communication, one person that comes to mind is my Dad. He has always made the person with whom he is speaking feel important and never less than. He makes eye contact and smiles and speaks with confidence and in a welcoming tone. He is a motivational speaker and has taught me wonderful skills in communicating with others to include actively listening, body posturing, and eye contact. I would love to model some of my own communication behaviors after him because he is effective when communicating with others. Listening takes a lot of practice, especially when you have so much to say (which is usually my case). I use the skills he has taught me in my everyday dealings with children and families, but there are some areas I need to work on, such as my facial expressions. It has been told to me that I do not have a poker face, so I need to hone up on my expressional skills. Thanks Dad for teaching me how to communicate, verbally and non-verbally!

Ending the course but beginning with the fight...

As this course on diversity and anti-bias education comes to a close I realize that my role as an EC professional fighting for anti-bias education has just begun. I hope that one day diverse children and families will be welcomed and celebrated in the classroom by professionals who genuinely care about their well-being and education. I hope that my anti-bias work will influence and even change the societal stigma that diverse families and children face on a regular basis.
One goal I suggest for the early childhood field as it relates to diversity, equity, and social justice, is to train up professionals who are challenged to look past their personal bias and move forward with anti-bias education, before they begin in the classroom.
To all my colleagues I want to say thank you. Thank you for sharing your experiences, stories, and opinions openly. I have learned so much from the different perspectives you all have shared and it has made me a better professional and colleague. May you prosper in your efforts against bias in education.

Welcoming Families from Around the World

 

 

I chose Russia to be my new family's country of origin. I do not know anything about this culture and would love to learn more about it. Working in an early childhood center, some things I would do to prepare myself for the arrival of this child and family would be:

 

-Read up on the country history and government and learn about the traditions, culture, education systems, food, pop culture, and music.

-Include Russian children's stories and books in my class library and put out the food and dress  representative of the country in the Dramatic Play area. 

-Learn some basic phrases and words in the language like sit down, paper, crayons, scissors, bathroom, hello, etc.

-Print out labels in the written language to post around the room to accompany the labels in English and Spanish.

-Purchase popular Russian children's songs and include them into the curriculum.

 

I hope that by researching this country and setting up the classroom to include some of the things the child possibly saw in previous classrooms would be welcoming to the child and family. That they would see I was open and willing to help with the transition and with the education of their child. I hope they would see that me and the class were happy to have them be a part of our class community. I do not want to appear to be trying too hard and fake, so I would not bombard them with too much enthusiasm. Moving to another country is hard enough, so I would hope they could find some peace knowing their child was in an environment that celebrated her and not ignored her.



The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression?

My memory happened about five months ago when I arrived home from work, I had noticed my lawn had been cut. I had asked the young man who cut it for me not to cut it when I was not home (for safety reasons) and this happened to be the third time he had done so. I decided that I would pay him but no longer require his services. I drove around the corner to his house where his step father was sitting out on the porch. He called for the boy to come out and I gave him his money and told him I would no longer need his services. I also told him why and he said he forgot. As I was leaving his step father asked me where I got my truck (I had just purchased it the month before). I told him and he said it must have been a nice treat from my husband. I told him I was not married and to that he scoffed and said “you bought that all on your own? And you own that house up there on the hill? I thought for sure you had a man living there with you. I never heard of a woman doing that all by herself. My God! Well that’s a nice truck and if you ever need anything (creepy emphasis here) at all, you know there’s a man right here.”

This specific incident displayed sexism at its best. I thought it odd for him to think I, a hard working woman, could not buy a house and a car without the help of a man. He thought it odd for me to have done it. He acted like I was a freak of nature. This diminishes equity because he didn’t take into account my individual ability as a woman without a man. This incident , number one made me laugh at his ignorance, number two made me gag at his offer of manhood to assist me, and number three made me proud of my accomplishments. Did I feel a twinge of apprehension because I do want a husband one day? Nope. J

In order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity that man’s thinking about the capacity of women needs to change. And perhaps meeting me has started that process for him...

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Microaggressions are defined as brief everyday indignities that are verbal, behavioral, or environmental. They may be intentional or unintentionally communicated to women, to people of color, or to those of differing sexual orientation, and have an insulting message behind them that often causes severe psychological distress and harm ( Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).

One microaggression that I have witnessed, among many in my workplace, was toward my best friend. She is bicultural with a Hispanic father and a German mother. She has a last name that is rather easy to pronounce but teachers in our school seem to have a difficult time pronouncing it. Her last name is Chavez. Many teachers pronounce it with a fake French-sounding accent (Shhhha-vez). She politely corrects them all the time and even provides a word to help them remember how to say it (rhymes with Travis). The other teachers responses range from apologetic to annoyance. One teacher in particular addressed her incorrectly (Hey Shhhha-vez or however you say it, I don't know. Well, all your names end in a 'z' anyway.)

I was furious upon hearing it, not to mention my friend's reaction- she walked away. This just happened in an elementary school by a teacher. When my friend addressed it the next day, the teacher got defensive and apologized saying she just gets confused.

I was aware of the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes on people previous to this observation because I have been on the receiving end of them too often.

References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Microaggressions in Everyday Life. [Multimedia Presentation]. Retrieved from Walden University course notes.

Perspectives on Diversity & Culture

 

I interviewed different people that I know about their thoughts on culture and diversity. When I asked them they all acknowledged that both were hard to define.

Person #1 (Jessica, 3rd grade teacher, Hispanic and German, best friend)

Diversity: Different Individuals Valuing Each other Regardless of Size, Intelligence, Talent, or Years

Culture: a group of people that celebrate the same values and traditions, see things in the same perspective, respect one another regardless of their differences, value one another

 

Person #2 (Nevia, PreK teacher, African American, mentor)

Diversity: Differences between any given group.

Culture: The background of an individuals upbringing.

 

Person #3 (John, insurance adjuster, African American, older brother)

Diversity: Diversity is about all-inclusiveness, the antithesis of homogeneity. Unfortunately it is defined by its absence in our country. Diversity would not be an issue in a true melting pot situation. we don't have diversity, we have homogeneity in our workplaces and in the lunchrooms at schools. We gravitate to people that look like us. Diversity is the opposing force to homogeneity. The concept of diversity has been developed because of our natural inclination to be with people like ourselves. It is our effort to change our natural instinct.

Culture: Culture is the set of beliefs, traditions, activities, and art of a group of people (utensils they eat with, the way they dress, their music, religion, what they watch). All of the semi-tangible things that make up a people.

 

Person #4 (Justin, Optical Dept., African American, younger brother)

Diversity: a melting pot, adds flavor, keeps things from being bland, individuality brought together as a whole.

Culture: heritage, roots, origin, the individuality of a specific group, different lifestyles that go through time.

 

So far this course has covered a few different aspects of culture and diversity, a few of which are mentioned in some of the above answers from the interviews- diversity as a representation of people who are different valuing other people who are different, and diversity being what makes us special as a people. Culture is represented in the very essence of a people. What they do and how they do it and how it gets passed on through generations.

Some aspects of culture and diversity were omitted like the importance of children and families being celebrated in their differences and what we as people can do about changing the way we view each other.

Learning what other people think about culture and diversity has helped me to realize that everyone does not necessarily think about culture and diversity on a regular basis or what they actually mean. As an educator I am to think about it all the time and how I can foster a healthy environment that encourages and supports family cultures and student diversity in my classroom. I need to not only think of it how I see it but also how other people (families I serve) may see it and consider their view when teaching their children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





My Family Culture
Three items I would take with me in the event a catastrophe were to devastate my home country would be my Bible, my glasses, and a photo album.
The Bible is probably my most prized possession. My encouragement and sustenance is derived from the Word of God. It means that much to me. My glasses are also important because I cannot see adequately without them. Depending on what host country I am in- I may not be able to get another pair of glasses. I would also take a photo album with my family and home in it.
If, upon arrival to my host country I was told I could only keep one item, I would keep my Bible.
Through this exercise I have learned that my family is important to me, but my faith is more important than them. In the end that is all I will have. My family culture is one that encourages rich relationship with Christ and to be real representations of His love to others.

When I Think of Research....

This course has helped me to realize that research is exactly what I thought it was- a lot of work. However my attitude toward it previous to taking this course and becoming knowledgeable about it was a negative one. I was not willing to do the work before because I was not sure if it was all necessary. Now I know that every part of the research design is necessary and deliberate in producing a quality project and I willfully take on the challenge of doing the work.

Speaking of being deliberate in the research process includes the planning, designing, and conducting of it- which are all equally tedious and potentially difficult. One has to plan for as many outcomes as possible and design a study in such a way that it respects the field, the children, the educators, and the researcher while proving, uncovering, supporting, or informing others of the topic.

Some of the challenges I encountered were designing a way to conduct my research. I had trouble gaining permission to use some methods such as interviewing, and had to change up my method of data collection a few times. I also foresee problems in analyzing the data because I do not want it to be tainted with my views. Having other researchers look into analyzing my data will be a great solution to this problem.

I have grown to respect EC professionals, including myself, as researchers. As mentioned before I did not think there was much to it before this class. Knowing now that I hold the tools and the power to be a legitimate researcher, I feel like I have more to contribute to the field of EC.

International Research

 I explored the Early Childhood Development Virtual University- Sub-Sahara Africa websites and found great information. One thing that impressed me was the incredible process outlined by the University to become a EC professional. First, a degree, then a nomination based on the personal commitment to children and EC development from a respected EC professional team. This process suggests that being a EC professional is a respected and highly revered position in the country- something that is lost or just hasn’t quite caught on here in the states. Also here in the U.S., anyone who wants to be in the EC field can, there is no competitive process and no requirement to show and prove your commitment to children.

Some of the research that is currently going on by EC professional students at the University includes projects of:

·         measuring the quality of child services

·         “Integrating Indigenous Knowledge in EC Training and Services”

·         using cultural stories to promote EC programs

·         training parents to improve childcare quality

·         including fathers in EC and development of their children

As I read more about the university program I thought it was very beneficial for the students in it that as a part of their educational program they are required to develop an EC curriculum. Also looking over the research, I think it is very interesting and smart to integrate the country’s culture into the curriculum. Using stories and ancient proverbs to shape their people has been used for centuries and bringing that into the EC curriculum and care shows they want to instill a good character and moral decision making in their children- not to mention an overwhelming pride to be who they are.