Goodbye and Farewell

This has been an amazing journey. I am so grateful for the feedback of my colleagues and professor Parrish. I learned a lot about myself during this course when it comes to communication, and I have gained a lot of great skills that I can take with me in both my personal and professional life. It is great to share this experience with others because our experiences help shape who we are, and others can learn from what we have experienced and gained over time. I wish all of you the best in your academic journeys, and hope to keep in contact with you throughout our academic journey. I thank Professor Parrish for all of her great feedback as well and encouragement. Good luck everyone!

Adjourning Phase

I have been in several groups in the past, and the adjourning phase has always been simple. The group of individuals where the adjourning phase was the hardest is in situations where the adjourning phase is abrupt. When you work with people, you are a team; you have a common goal, and you form bonds that last outside of the work day and group you are in. even though I have not had a job where I had a specific project and team members, I count my jobs with team members as my teammates as well as groups I have worked with in the past while working on academics.

 One of the jobs I had when I lived in Georgia, I was an early preschool teacher for this company for over two years. This was a big accomplishment for me because I had never been at a company that long, and I loved the children, families, and colleagues I worked with; well, the teachers at least. There were new owners that took over, and soon started to ‘clean house’. I remember coming in on a Monday and working that day, and that day seem to be off for me. At the end of the day, the owners told me to come into the office, and they fired me for reasons that were made up and false, and I had to leave without saying goodbye to my coworkers, children, and families. I was so distraught and hurt by this action because I had been with these ladies for over two years, and we had formed a wonderful bond, and we worked on being the best educators we could be, and to have it ripped away from you, and not be able to say good-bye or have what you have done celebrated makes the adjourning phase more difficult.

I wish that I could have left on terms that were my own, and have been able to talk to my families and children and coworkers so that it wouldn’t have been such a shock. My families in my classroom were so hurt and disappointed in the management team. I even some parents pull their children from the program because of my abrupt departure. I did work for a school that celebrated me leaving by throwing me a surprise going away party. That brought tears to my eyes, and it is something I will never forget because it was special and made me feel appreciated and special; it made me feel part of a team.

I think I will take a lot away from the individuals I have worked with and met via my online program, but I imagine the adjourning phase to be simple and sweet because there has been no face to face meetings. I think that adjourning is an important phase because it is completing and ending properly. You can sit back and discuss things on terms that puts what you have done into perspective, as well as any last or final thoughts so that you can truly learn from your peers.

Conflict Resolution

I started a new job about a month ago, and I had a classroom that had absolutely no structure. I was told by the director to follow the schedule that is set for my age group, which is 2 1/2 - 3. The children are set to go outside at 11 am, and there must be no more than two classrooms out at a time, and in particular, my class can not be out with the younger class, which is understandable. Before I came, the children did not get a lot of curriculum, and now they do, which means I take them out at the scheduled time at 11 for 45 mins. The younger classroom of toddlers used to go out at that time, but that is not their true schedule, just something the teacher does. The toddler teacher wants me to not follow my schedule to allow for things to stay the same, and I disagree, and follow my schedule set by the owners and directors. The teacher and I do not see eye to eye. What I could possibly do is compromise and maybe go out at 1130-1200, allowing for her to take her children out at 11, or I could use the 3 R;s by respecting the teacher by empathizing, yet explaining the need to stick to the schedule set by the director, reciprocate by compromising or alternating the play schedule, and be responsive to the needs of not just the teacher, but the needs of my students.  As of now, it remains that I follow the schedule, but possible, once we can communicate more effectively, we can compromise and make a decision we are both happy with. What do you all think I should do?

Communication Style Revelations

                                                 

This week was very interesting. I learned a lot through the communication testing that we did. What I learned is that I viewed myself a little more harshly than other people do. For example, my co worker and brother rated my anxiety communication moderate, and even though I graded myself moderately as well, mine was closer to being elevated. Also, on my verbal aggression scale, my co worker and brother graded my moderately, but I also graded myself moderately, but on a higher scale. What was similar from me graded myself, my brother's response and my co-worker's response was that my listening style was in Group 1 which was people oriented. I do know this to be true because I'm very empathetic and very emotional and can put myself in other people's shoes frequently. On the same note however, I can get caught up in my emotions that can sometimes impair my judgement.

I think it's great that I scored in Group 1 for the Listening Styles Profile because my profession is geared towards building relationships and trust with people. I hope to gain more insight about my communications styles in more than one way. I also like the fact that I do have a balance of respect and consideration when listening to other people's viewpoints. I just hope to continue to always be mindful of other's feelings and points of views when I am listening and conversing with them.

Communicating Differently with Different Groups

I do find myself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures. I tend to speak a little slower and upbeat. I try not to use a lot of non-verbal gestures and try to listen and ask as much questions as I can to make sure there is not miscommunication in our conversation. When speaking to people who have disabilities, I try to give them eye contact and not look at their disability. I do this because I do not want them to feel I am being disrespectful. I am most confident when I am in a conversation and the subject at hand is something I know very well. If I do not know the subject well, I tend to let others take the lead and chime in as needed. I do always try to be respectful when talking to all groups of people, and more conscious of what I do and say. It can be hard sometimes to communicate with different groups and cultures because you are not sure what is correct or too much, or not enough. I feel as long as I am being respectful, empathetic, and an active listener, then I am doing my part as an effective communicator.

Effective Communication

The person I felt spoke very well and was an effective, competent communicator was my Mother. She was an active listener, who always made sure she fully listened to what the other had to say before responding. She also had great eye contact, as well as had respectful body language. My Mother always made it easy to talk to her. She always made sure that you were comfortable, and gave the best advice for the situation addressed. She would always be accountable for her actions and.or mistakes. She was very honorable in that way, and communicating with her was always reassuring. My Mother was very kind, and you could feel that when speaking to her. She was not judgmental, made you feel like important and human.

I would want to take her kindness and accountability into my communication style; which I have, but I want to continue to do so because this helps put people at ease when communicating. This is so important in the early childhood field, and I want to be able to effectively communicate to my children and families, and vice versa. It starts with me, and I want to exude competent communication with all I come into contact with.

Professional Hopes and Goals

This class has been amazing, and I have learned so much about others, as well as myself. The one hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is too always make my environment welcoming and as non-bias as I can. I want the children and families I work with to feel that their diverse backgrounds add to my life and to the educational process both personally and in the classroom.

 One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field as it relates to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that children and families can embrace differences in the same ways they embraces similarities. I want learning about culture and diversity to be a rich experience that I can showcase in the lessons I plan for the children, and that my efforts are noticed by others. If I can give at least one person/family/colleague inspiration to not pass judgment or to help others to be anti-bias learners and/or educators, then I feel that my job is going to be a little bit easier.

I thank my colleagues for all of their powerful insights, advice, and experiences. We learn best from one another, and I learned so much about each and every one of you. We have all been through some sort of bias in our lives, but learning how to teach children and families to be anti-bias learners, and for us to be anti-bias educators, we are going to make a world of difference. I thank you all for pushing me to look deep inside myself to make and inspire change, and I hope that I have helped someone along my academic journey.

Welcoming families from around the world

The country I chose for my family to have immigrated from is Chile. The five ways I will try to prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this new family I have in my classroom is to:

·         Make sure that I am not using in personalized biases towards the family.

·         I would also want to be aware of the language barriers that may be present, and to understand the use of “safe words” to make the child feel more comfortable in school and the family to feel at ease when their child is in my classroom.

·         I would want the post a family photo and put some facts about the family and the family culture in the classroom for others to see to bring awareness.

·         I would do research on how individuals from Chile interact with others and learn more about what is important to them about education.

·         I would also treat them respectfully at all times, and treat them individually and not as a group.

I would hope that the family would appreciate my efforts to understand their culture and what factors are important to them when it comes to education, family, and life in general.  I want my Chilean family to feel comfortable and welcomed in my classroom. They need to know that this is an environment free of bias, prejudice and discrimination. The classroom is a place of peace and acceptance of diversity and culture, and the more we know, the more we can grow.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I have a fairly recent memory that I experienced of bias and prejudice. I recently started a new job as an early preschool teacher about a month ago, and I really loved it. We had four children transition from the toddler room to our class, and all of the children did well except for one little girl. I always made sure to keep the parent informed of her daughter’s day and that she always had great normal days, just a little bit of a rough time during morning drop offs. The parent complained to the office about me and said I was not nurturing enough, which is false, but what hurt is that my job I loved so much let me go because the parent did not accept me for me. Come to find out, the parent did not like me because of my size, and that made me feel oppressed, sadness, and unfairness.

The school had no real grounds to let me go but that of a parent who did accept me. The director said I left on great terms, which was crazy to me because I felt that the director did not stand up for me, and did not tell the parent the truth about how great her daughter was doing in our class. The parent even pulled the child and insisted that she stay in the classroom she just transitioned from. The parent felt I wasn’t capable of being a good teacher because of my size. The diminished equity because this was not fair and equal treatment, and this incident was questionable with ethical and moral concerns, and no one took the time to way them out before making the decision to let me go. I felt so bad when this happened. It made me feel as if I am not a human being because of my size, and that I cannot be extraordinary in any form if I am bigger than what society feels is normal.

The director of the school needs to change, as well as the viewpoints of the parent because this incident is going to fester into my psyche, and I will be a victim of internalized oppression. Also, this incident is not allowing for an educational environment where differences are accepted and being taught to the children. It is allowing them to not get the anti-biased learning environment that they are entitled to. Greater equity would be established with making sure that all facts are presented; truth of character and actions brought forth, as well as moral and ethical concerns when making a decision to let employees go, as well as allowing a parent to make accusations on another teacher or person.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This was a very interesting week for me. I learned a new term, called microaggression. I felt this term, but did not know it had a specific name until listing and watching Dr. Sue. An example of a microaggression I experienced in the past happened when I was working as a teacher in a school in a part of town where there were mostly Caucasian people. I worked as a teacher, and I was in school for my undergraduate degree. Other teachers who were Caucasian were in school as well, but when in a conversation with parents, and they would say or reference school, parents automatically asked them what’s their major, and expected graduation date, and tell them how great it was for them to be going to school, and how brave they were for going to school and working. I knew a particular parent in my classroom had a child in another classroom, and I witnessed a conversation as I described where the parent took a great interest in the teacher’s attempt to better themselves. One day, I received a racial microagression two different ways within the same conversation. The parent and I were conversing, and I mentioned school, the parent looked shocked, and said, “you’re in school?!” as if I was not supposed to be in school. I said “yes, I am”. The parent proceeded to say “I didn’t know you were in school; it never crossed my mind”. I replied, that most of the ladies there were in college, and she replied, “yes, but I would have never guessed you were in school”. It made me feel invisible, and made me feel like since I am black, that I shouldn’t even think or want to go to college; I am not good enough to attend college. It hurt my feelings. To top it off, the parent went on talking, not asking me about school as I witnessed her as other teachers, she said “you do speak well; you are a very articulate girl!” she said it in a way that was complimentary, but also shocking to her that I was able to speak well, and not as like the stereotypes that are portrayed for black people. I was younger, and felt like the parent was being racist/prejudice. She was a nice woman, very sweet, but did not see how bad she made me feel. I had to brush it off, and not make it seem as if I was being too sensitive, or over thinking the situation, but I know what I felt and what the under tone of the conversation was.

The effects of discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes on people is very damaging. Dr. Sue talks about the long term affects these behaviors have on the targeted individuals. People are made to feel inferior, and try not to succeed due to this intended/non-intended microagressions. This is something that will continue, unless everyone takes responsibility on how they interact with other groups, and try not to portray and feed into the stereotypes given by society. This also made me aware of my own biases that I have, and to really take a look at how I understand stereotypes, and how not to allow those misrepresentations to keep me and others feeling oppressed.

Perspectives on Culture and Diversity

Culture and diversity is one of those terms that have different meaning to different people. This was such a great way to gain other perspectives from other people. I ask my best female friend who is African American, My Co-Teacher, who is Cuban, and my brother what culture and diversity means to them. My brothers stated that culture relates to some form of identity; this could be race, class, and political views. My best friend stated that culture is different ethnicities that come together and shape the community. Music, food, traditions, how people communicate with one another are all apart of culture. Diversity is how people deal with differences in sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and opinions on varies subjects, like politics, and how people deal with differences in general. My Co-Teacher stated that culture and diversity are the same because they show how groups of people come together and share and celebrate what makes them different. This can be food, ideals, family traditions, race relations, language, and theories of life.

The people I asked about culture and diversity hit a lot of the material that we have covered thus far. All of the people I asked said that culture involve differences in people, their views, status, race, and how they overall identify themselves through traditions. The aspects that have been omitted by my brother and best friend were stating that language is a huge part of culture. My brother and co-worker did not elaborate as much on the differences in communication styles, music, sexual orientation, and ethnicity and religion like my best friend did. I think my best friend had very accurate definitions about culture and diversity that we learned about this week. With that being said, they all hit what we have discussed over the last few weeks about diversity; it is a unique identifier of who and what we are. Listening to other’s definitions about culture and diversity makes me more aware of how this means almost the same thing to most, but still has a different definition from different people, and we have to understand and respect that. I know that culture and diversity is a big part of everyone, but it is always interesting to hear other people describe what they feel and their ideals and perspectives on culture and diversity.

When I Think of Research....

This has been such an amazing course. I have gained so much insight about how to conduct proper research. I learned that it takes time to create a research question, as well as to create a design that will truly capture your research studies’ essence. My ideas about the nature of doing research has changed for the better because I now can fully appreciate and understand what researchers go through when they are conducting research, and what they are trying to convey in the outcomes in order to shed light on a particular issue or trend in early childhood education that others can benefit from.

The lessons I learned about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood education is that you have to take your time in creating a sound research question, and that may take some trial and error. I have also learned that it is good to look at other case studies of previous research so that you can correlate your findings with the findings of other researchers in the field. This helps with the authenticity and validity of the research study/design. I also learned different ways to conduct research with different types of design approaches, like qualitative and quantitative, quasi-experimental designs and non-experimental designs. I never knew that there were this many, and that depending on what you are trying to research; there is one or a mixed method approach that can be used to gain better perspectives and outcomes.

 Learning about equity and ethics also is something I will take with me because it helped me to be more aware of how and with whom I am conducting research on. It also made me more aware of cultural differences, and how to approach different subjects with different cultures and to be sensitive to their cultural beliefs. The main challenge that I encountered was creating my research question. I struggled with this for weeks, and finally, I was able to craft a decent research question. I was able to overcome this obstacle by trial and error, researching other case studies, and gaining feedback from my fellow colleagues, as well as Dr. Ferrari.

My perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course by allowing me to see that I am a researcher. I never thought of myself as a researcher until this course. Early childhood educators are always researching ways to better understand the issues and trends in the field, as well as gain a better understanding of education and ways to teach not only children, but families as well. I have more respect for my self and fellow educators. I was very grateful of Dr. Ferrari for pushing me to strive to be better, and to create a better research questions. I thank all of my colleagues for sharing their wisdom and insights, and I wish everyone luck on their continued academic journeys!

Research Around the World

The website I chose to dig deeper into was the Early Childhood Australia at http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au. While looking through the website, some of the international research topics were that of the national quality standard for professional learning program. This helps educators all around the world to connect on issues that deal with physical environment, and ways to connect to other educators about issues and concerns to help them with professional development. There are case studies, an e-newsletter, observational studies, sample chapters, and workshop materials, just to name a few of the resources to help educators with professional development globally. Another topic of interest is the multiple article that are available that range from e-bullying, tax deductible to help with childcare costs, children and family break-up; to funding for early childhood programs, and professional developmental programs for the early childhood sector. The issues are extremely current, and are some of the same issue we have in the United States. What was surprising to me is that the media and press releases of all of the different topics pertaining to children are extensive. Normally, press releases are quarterly or only go back so much, and the rest may be taken down from the site and archived, but what I like about the Australian website is that you can look as far back as 2002 to present; that is 12 years of issues and concerns that are of importance to this organization, in their country, and globally. I also like their mission statement, which 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. This includes:              . The rights of children Leadership Excellence Respect Courage Honesty             Openness             Collaboration             Diversity             Justice             Social inclusion of children The website is exuding advocacy for the voice of all young children, and that is refreshing and very important. Children sometimes have no voice. It is good to know that there are so many organizations that are advocates and speak for children

Early