Professional Hopes and Goals

Professional Hopes and Goals

Diversity is about how we differ. Diversity is about one another’s uniqueness~ Ola Joseph

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that children and families are respected for their diversity. Each child and family should feel comfortable and good about whom they are as a person.  Diversity and multicultural education must occur all the time in early childhood programs. A high quality early childhood programs plays a critical role in supporting children and families. As a professional in early childhood it is important to study the nature of our social identities and their link with diversity because our various identities are important aspects of ourselves that shape our attitudes, behaviors, worldviews and experiences.

My goal I would like to set for the early childhood field in relations to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to create an anti-bias learning community. If people create a society that doesn’t see difference and diversity as problems, but as valuable social growth, many causes of conflict disappear. Ensuring that every family feels welcome and comfortable creates a crucial foundation for mutually respectful relationships (Derman-Sparks & Edwards).

I would like to thank my colleagues for sharing their great insights in this course. Studying diversity has helped me learn about my own social identities and background. I wish everyone much success in their future classes and on this early childhood journey.

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

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The name of the family’s country of origin is “Russia.”

When working with diverse families and communities, it is important to become knowledgeable of their traditions, worldviews, and strengths of the cultural groups while remaining open to the nature of their culture. Gay (2000) states that “cultural responsiveness is the ability to learn from and relate respectfully with people of your own culture as well as those from other cultures.”  Five ways I will prepare to be culturally responsive towards this family is by stressing respect for diversity of all learners and their families and build a relationship with students and their families, create a safe, inclusive, caring and respectful learning environment by organizing the physical design of the classroom through cultural diversity, integrate culturally responsive teaching practices into all disciplines, and ensure that the curriculum promotes social justice and equity.

Today’s classrooms require teachers to educate students varying in culture, language, abilities, and many other characteristics. Gay, (2000) defines culturally responsive teaching as “using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant and effective for them.” Culture responsiveness is about issues of knowledge, pedagogy, gender, race, religion, and family. It is important to learn about the lives and experiences of other groups in order to understand how different experiences have shaped attitudes and perspectives of various groups. Fostering children’s development of a positive cultural identity and their comfortable, respectful interaction with the cultures of others is the foundation of all anti-bias education (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). 

I hope that these preparations will benefit me and the family by bridging cultural differences through effective communication and help establish a learning environment that promotes success for all students.  

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).

Gay, G. (2000). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education,

53(2), 106-116. Retrieved from http://nccrest.org/Briefs/Diversity-Brief.pdf