What I have learned.....

       when I think about working with Children and families from diverse backgrounds, my main focus is their well-being. Due to the fact that working with people with different cultures and backgrounds, it is sometimes rather challenging to meet their needs. My hope for working with children and families is that I am able to establish a relationship/partnerships with the individuals and give thrgive them a sense of safety and security by decorating my classroom that displays a welcoming climate that shows that their kind are accepted and appreciated as well. I believe that these first aspects are the key to teaching and reaching out to children and families.
     
        My goal in working with children and families is to see that needs are met for all, regardless of family income, living status, race and even poverty stricken families and much more. I would love to be an advocate and early childhood professional that steps up to make an attempt in reducing biases and inequities in the early childhood field.

       I must say that it has been a pleasure to work with each and everyone of you all. Thanks for your support in my blogs and discussions, and I wish you all well in your next course :)

Start Seeing Diversity Blog: Creating Art

 

“In our society, many issues divide people. These include age, gender, sexual orientation, family composition, economic class, physical abilities and characteristics, race and ethnicity, and many others.” (Laureate Education).

 

 

There was a time when I didn't quite understand myself,

and the misunderstandings and feelings of hurt I've caused on everyone else.

Being exposed to the negativity from those around me and from a different race,

I began to feel incomplete and lost control of myself.

With the passive aggressions from those, I held within,

I began to seek revenge and hold grudges on other races, and refused to let anyone else in.

Many struggles of racism came, but the fact remained,

that I must devise a plan, to keep this cycle from being the same.

After taking time to think and analyze all of the things that could possibly hurt me,

I also began to consider others as well, and this method was a start to set me free.

From the guilt and shame on backing away, judging those who actually meant no harm,

I faced these challenges on by one, and my emotional walls of protection were finally disarmed.

Thanks to my support team, we stuck together,

assisted each other and became better than ever.

To keep the world from being wrapped up in this circle of socialization,

we as a people must reach out to others to reduce anti-bias and form better organization

 



Start Seeing Diversity

 

 

 

Bias based on physical disabilities or characteristics, or ableism, is any attitude, action, or institutional practice that subordinates people because of a disability or other physical characteristic. (Laureate Education) I can recall a time where I was at a basketball game with my three nephews and sister-in-law. While sitting in the bleachers, we saw a young man that appeared to have down-syndrome, come sit beside us. The young boy began shouting, cheering and clapping along with his parents. My youngest nephew started to stare at the young man out of curiosity. The next thing that I can remember is him pointing at the young boy and asking his mother, “ma, what’s wrong with that boy right there?” My sister-in-law responded, “Who?” and my nephew responded, “RIGHT THERE!” pointing again, with a smirk on his face as if he wanted to laugh. By that time, the parents noticed that my nephew was pointing at him and so did the young boy as well. Although the parents looked slightly angry, the young boy actually smiled at us. My nephew got scolded by his mother and made him leave the game and took him home.

            Being that my nephew was only seven at the time this incident occurred and may have actually had a question that he needed clarity on, I honestly do not think that his mother handled the situation in a correct manner. My sister-in-law seemed as if she was more embarrassed on her end and did not want to be in the presence anymore, along with my nephew. After they left the game, I leaned over and apologized to the parents of the young boy and asked if they mind if he sat with us. After the parents accepted the apology, the young boy came and sat with us, I bought him popcorn, and he and my other two nephews enjoyed the rest of the game. By me taking action to attempt to resolve this issue, I felt better about myself and for the young boy because I knew at that time that we are all different in some way from one another.

            I believe that an anti-bias educator would have pulled my nephew to the side and explained the young boy’s uniqueness and inform him to not point out people’s differences from him in public, by fostering leadership of targets (Harro 2010). Understanding that children do not yet understand that there was practically nothing “Wrong” with the child, but just not the same as him, I think that the anti-bias educator could have made an impact out that situation that would have changed his perspective of diversity for the rest of his life.

 

References

Harro, B. (2010). The cycle of Liberation. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, C. Castaneda, H. W.

Figure 7.1 on p. 53

 Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Race/ethnicity [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

 

 

 



Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

          There are times where I do feel that I sometimes communicate differently with individuals of different cultures and groups. I oftentimes narrow down my natural form of communication of my own, as whereas, I am more of considerate of the others I am communicating with.

          In my response to those who feel that child care centers should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families,  I feel that it is very necessary for children to acknowledge of their awareness, and the school is one primary source of educating our children of the the many family cultures there are, other than traditional families. When we blindfold our children to these kinds of diverse cultures, not only are we practicing bias and prejudice, but we we are also setting the mind frame that there is a stereotypical mater as to where we are supposed to live by certain guideline, which limits the child to finding themselves and a sense of freedom. As bad we want our children to live in a society where they should feel that everyone is the same, we are only hindering them from what they will grow up to recognize the actual reality.  

          Another thought and concern regarding children, gender and sexual orientation points to becoming an early childhood professional and having a child in my classroom that transgendered and how to act accordingly for the respect of the child, their family and the children of their class as well. As we all know that early childcare services promise equity in our center, we work to meet the needs to the best of our ability. Reflecting on the media segment and het son wishing to wear skirts to school, (Laureate Education), and actuality making progress to make a change in this policy was a great success, but no one thought to consider the feelings of the students in class. In more serious cases where a child is transgender with the opposite sexual organ in which they portray to be, how can there be any kinds of methods and tactics on helping this child feel comfortable in the school setting, along with the embarrassment of having to be separated during bathroom breaks or even how to properly address them as male or female, or saying he or she. In order to keep confusion in a classroom, I would like to know how any of my colleagues feel that they would possibly handle this matter.

                               References

 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Ability and characteristics, race and ethnicity [DVD]. Diversity, development, and learning. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Stage of team development: Adjourning

 

 

 When planning for our homecoming event, my group and I started off in a rough patch in the organizing. Through the disagreements and disregard of the opinions of others, we finally learned to gain of sense of trust and respect for one another, which helped this planning run more smooth with more dedicated teamwork. This two-day event turned out to be a great success, with complements from our older sorors, whom we made accommodations for. After the fun-filled weekend, our team celebrated our success Friday and Saturday as well, being that we had completed our task. When Sunday came, our team found it quite difficult to part ways, being that some of us lived in different towns and even states. We had done such a great job and created such a great bond through this process. Realizing that it was time to part ways, we all gathered in a circle, said a prayer and wished each other well. I imagine that I will adjourn from my colleagues in having the chance to finally meet them in person at our graduation, as we walk the stage and receive our master's degree in Early Childhood "In the "adjourning" stage the project is coming to an end and the team members are moving off into different directions." (Abudi,2010).  I've learned that adjourning is essential because it gives closure to all team members who have worked so hard, and does not leave such dedication un-recognized. Although I found it hard saying goodbye to my line-sisters, whom I worked so hard with, but then I remembered, I get the chance to experience this process again next year, but with more organization. :)

References:

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

 



Conflict & Resolution

 

 

     I can recall a time where I faced conflict on my job with a particular person. Although several others and I had the same job title as this person, it was as if she had the idea that only her methods to get a particular job done were effective and not ours and expected to always follow her lead and disregarded our opinions and suggestions. Time went on and I began to get slightly bothered by the lack of support and teamwork, I decided to speak out on it as others sat back. Instead of negatively responding to this co-worker, I politely explained to her that there are more than one way to complete a task effectively and reap the same results and it would be appreciated if she could to take the time to listen to our ideas as well in making a decision. After finally getting our co-working to take a chance at going with some of my co-workers and I, she realized that we came out competing a task just as effective as her, but with a different method. From then on, our co-worker became more open and respectful to our opinions and suggestions as well, which created more teamwork and a better relationship/partnership between us all, which left me feeling more comfortable and at ease on the job



Who Am I as a Communicator?

 

 

 

This week’s application was a very interesting activity that offered me many new insights as well as the things that I have been unaware for quite some time. My evaluations with the communication anxiety and verbal aggressiveness were the most interesting, yet shocking results between what I saw of my myself, and what others saw.

In the communication anxiety assessment, I scored out as one that is able to communicate with others, but fears speaking in public to large groups of people and I am not well with influencing others. On the other hand, I was judged quite differently, as to where I was labeled as comfortable and confident in speaking in large groups and able to influence others. I do not agree with those two responses and I am clueless as to how those answers came about, considering that they were done by a co-worker and a relative that knows me quite well.

Verbal aggressions scale read that I am respectful of the viewpoints of others, as well as respectful of their opinions. I am not quick to engage in attacks towards others, but considerate. On the other hand as well, it was also said that I may cross the line of argumentativeness, which attacks a person’s position and often resort to character attacks and ridicule when talking to others that do not share my viewpoints. This particular feedback surprised me the most, because I never thought I could have been perceived as such in that particular area.

I have learned that sometimes, we don’t view ourselves as others do. This could possibly be due to the things we are in denial about and admitting to, as well as our body language, eye contact and body language that makes a major impact on the way others view us.  Yet, it could be the personal feelings of others who may perceive us as such can majorly contribute to these perceptions. We all have personal opinions of others and the way they may “seem to be”, but it is not always accurate. I say this to say this to say that this evaluation is even-handed in some areas. We must learn to correct the negative areas of all aspects to avoid being judged with characteristics we don’t actually possess, and the others evaluating must be sure to have a clearer understanding of someone before evaluating them and not basing opinions on personal feelings. Both insights can inform my personal and professional life, in terms of learning how to get to know a person better, before judging and making assumptions on one’s character, practicing this kind of behavior can lead to more effective communication amongst both parties.



 

How Diversity Dictates My Communication

 

 

As individuals, we all have our own original way of communicating, and it is normal that we may communicate differently with the particular crowds we accompany. I myself have the tendency to speak in different manners while in the presence of those with different groups and cultures, such as: race, religion, sexual orientation and varying abilities.

          When speaking with those that are of a different race than I, (Preferably Caucasian), I tend to speak in a more generous tone that helps my listener feel more at ease in the conversation. Keeping eye- contact and an occasional smile here and there is required to me as well. This particular form of communication is important to me due to the fact that there has been quite controversy on the relationship between African Americans and Caucasians since my older generations, and because I hardly get the chance to actually affiliate with Caucasians, I always try to make the best impression as possible when that opportunity does present itself.

When communication with those of a different religion than mine, I am more of a listener than speaker. My reason for this manner is the intentions I have to perceive others than myself and considering the cultures they obtain, in order to enhance my ways of understanding ones differences, than judging.

Communication with those of diverse sexual orientation, I usually carry the conversation with the reduction of labeling. “The labels we choose for our beliefs affect how we communicate them to others.” (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2015, p. 76). Avoiding biases and prejudice when speaking of individuals of LGBT is very important to me, therefore I speak neutrally to avoid any signs nicroaggressions.

“You let others know about yourself through self-presentation-intentional communication designed to show elements of the self for strategic purposes.” (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2015, p. 55). How we communicate with others, especially those different from our culture can say a lot about our character. No two people communicate the same, but it is vital that we learn to respectfully communicate with others through listening, as well as responding. I personally have a method for communicating with certain individuals for specific reasons.

References:
 O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J.  (2015). Real communication (3rd. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

 

Communication Skills Observation through Television Show

            The Television show that I chose to record and observe is the television show, “Orange is The New Black”, which is a Netflix premiere. I chose this particular show because I had been persuaded multiple times to watch this show, but never took into it. Therefore, I chose to use this show for my assignment.

            After the credits for the episode finished rolling, I muted my volume and began to watch. In this particular episode, I noticed a man and a woman sitting in a car together talking. Both parents looked sad as they were talking to one another. I assumed that the individuals were in a relationship. Next, the partners got out of the vehicle and walked up to a prison. The man continues to look sad as the woman begins to look around and over her shoulders with a nervous look on her face. Once they walk instead the prison, the man and woman were then stopped by a lady in a uniform, who looks very serious and stern, beckons for the lady to come forward and takes her to a room in the back. From the looks in this part of the scene, I believe that the lady is going to be searched by the officer. The lady turns around and looks at the guy, who I assume is her boyfriend, turns and looks and him while walking to the back.

            After rewinding and watching this part of the show over, I learned that the man and the woman were in a relationship, In fact, engaged to get married. The woman had gotten into some trouble years ago, which caused her to be forced to serve time in prison. The man and women were sitting in the car speaking with depressed looks on their faces because it was the day that the woman had to go to prison. The lady was nervous and afraid because she had never been to prison and didn’t know what to expect. The lady the met the man and women once they got inside, was a correctional officer of the prison and was there to take her clothing, check her body for any items that are prohibited to bring inside the prison and commanded that she changed into her prison jumpsuit. My assumptions were fairly correct in the episode and they were not difficult at all to determine the nonverbal communication at all.

 

I took the liberty of viewing the nonverbal communication, being that I was unable to hear and read the gestures and body language instead. From the five main categories of gestures and movements that convey meaning nonverbally (Ekman & Frisen, 1969), I believe that the “Affect displays” fit this particular scene perfectly. Through the facial expressions of the woman, ultimately displayed signs of “masking” from the time she was walking into the prison. “One common facial management technique is masking, replacing an expression that shows appropriate feeling for a given interaction.” (O'Hair, D., et al 2015 p104). It could possible that may assumptions would be more correct, had it been a show that I know well, simply because I have gotten to know most of the characters well and knowing their body language and facial expressions and what they usually portray when they display them.

            I learned that it is vital to be very attentive to the kinds of vides you may get from a person’s eye contact, facial expressions and body language and to not take them so personally. An “Aha” moment to my colleagues, Nonverbal communication can be tricky at times. When someone is displaying an act of sadness or frowning, it could be an act of sarcasm as well. Pay attention to all expressions of those involved to get a clearer understanding.

 

                                                                   References

O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J.  (2015). Real communication (3rd. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. 

Someone who demonstrates competent communication

Michelle Obama

 

I chose First Lady, Michelle Obama as one who exhibits competent communication. Throughout eight years of President Obama's Presidential term, I have grown a love Mrs. Obama and the support she provides for her husband as he leads our country. From listening to the many speeches of Mrs. Obama and understanding how she shows a deep devotion to her country by the context in her communication when speaking to Americans, sending encouraging messages to U.S. citizens, from children to senior citizens. I am still in Awe just to known that Mrs. Obama visited my very own home state of Mississippi and spoke to the 2015 graduating class of Jackson State University, sending powerful messages to students who were in route to pursue their dreams. This particular behavior exhibited by Mrs. Obama makes her effective in my opinion.  I would want to model some of my own communication behaviors after Mrs. Obama, being that she has served as an advocate for poverty awareness and healthy eating to reduce obesity in America. As I am an aspiring Early childhood professional, practicing advocacy is one of my professional goals. to see how Mrs. Obama serves as an advocate and fosters for children and families, while acting as a role-model for women, I am truly inspired by the competence in First Lady Obama's communication.

References:

https://youtu.be/4ZNWYqDU948








Professional Hopes and Goals

 

   When I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds, I hope to have received the knowledge on how to successfully cater to the needs of the child and family as of assisting in proper educational support in the classroom and developing a strong relationship with the family create a sense of comfort for them and being able to join together to better help meet the needs of the child.

         One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to learn how to reduce negative attitudes and responses that create unintentional forms if bias and create a more colorful classroom that in no displays any exceptional of children and families of diverse backgrounds, better-yet, making them more of a priority.

      

        I would like to say thank you to all of my colleagues that I have gotten the chance to work with in this course. From having the chance to take in the many insights you have shared in your discussions and having the chance to give tips and ideas to one another… Thank you!! It has been a pleasure to work with all of you, and I hope to see you all in our next glass. Good luck on your educational journey J

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Guinea

        As working as a head start teacher, I was recently acknowledged that I would be receiving a diverse student and family from the Country of Guinea. I had never heard of this country, which means I am illiterate of anything, regarding its history, practices, social living, beliefs, education, religion or anything else connected with this country. I slightly worried about how I could help this new child and family of the country of Guinea adapt to my classroom and new environment without having much knowledge on their homeland, then I came to the conclusion that practicing these particular steps of being culturally responsive in the classroom could be a major staring point to success.

 The five ways I chose prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family were to:

1. Collecting resources and reading up to advance my knowledge on this particular country to gain possible insights that could relate to my family I will be working with. Also going outside my classroom and asking for guidance and advice from my other fellow teachers.

2. Prepare myself to carefully avoid and watch for cultural conflicts in the classroom, forms of biases or prejudices of any way and to be able to meet all needs of this new student coming into my class just as I do for my other students.

3. Decorate my classroom with pictures, textbooks, toys and other material that gives a welcoming atmosphere for the child and family and helps to show that this particular culture is accepted and matters as well

4. Think of and create activities that are helpful in promoting one's self-esteem, and activities that also gives the new child a sense of expressing themselves to their classmates along with the other classmates to be able to express themselves to one another, which may lead to more interaction with one another.

5. Plan a conference with the new family, allowing them to ask any questions they may having, to give them the opportunity to speak of any suggestions they may have, in hopes to form a relationships with the family to be able to learn more about any boundaries they may have to avoid overstepping them.

 I believe that these preparations would benefit both the family and I by me being able to better assist this family by catering to their necessities respectfully, teaching their child to my fullest potential and learning how to prepare and teach those students of diverse culture in my classroom and for future references as well.

Ultimately, I believe that these steps of preparation will help this family feel more safe and secure away from their homeland.


The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

 

 

           I remember an incident once where I witnessed a form of bias and prejudice. I and a couple of my friends and relatives were out celebrating our friend's birthday, upon this celebration we decided to go to this particular restaurant to eat. After we were seated by the lady that greeted us in the front, a waiter came moments later and asked what kind of drinks would we like. everyone gave the waiter their desired drink of choice, except one of our male friends at the table. with a stale face, he replied, " I don't want this faggot serving me a drink". Everyone at the table was astonished. the waiter, surprisingly kept a smile on his face and stated that he would have our drinks out shortly and walked away.

 

           The biases and prejudice in this incident diminished equity, due to the fact that our male friend did not want to be served by our waiter, simply because he was a homosexual male, was judged by his physical appearance and feminine accent. Because our waiter happened to be in relations with those of the same sex as his own, he was not treated equally as others and publicly humiliated by the comment that our friend directed towards him.

 

This incident made me feel very embarrassed and sorry for the young man that waited on our table and for my friend, to find that he had such a bias perspective towards homosexual men, and last for myself for unknowingly being involved with a person as such. I never thought that I had been friends with anyone who was so judgmental.

 

My friend would have had to be the one to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity. because of the fact that we as humans are different, non are the same, meaning different sexual orientations as well. My friend's perspective and attitude towards homosexuals would have to be changed, and he must learn to accept people as they are and treat them as human beings.



Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

 

I remember detecting a microaggression a time in my life. This particular microggression happened to be a gender microaggression. One day, I was in a store and I noticed one of my old friends that I grew up in my neighborhood with that I hadn’t seen in over ten years. As we had a brief conversation, I noticed he had on a uniform shirt that read a logo, “Greenville fire dpt.” And blue khaki pants. I asked him of his occupation as a fire fighter and if his company were currently hiring for new trainees, and he bluntly stated, “You don’t want to do this type of work, this is a man’s job. You should be sitting behind a desk in an office instead.” After hearing this comment, I was instantly caught in a “catch 22” phase. I was so caught by surprise that I did not know how to respond to such a comment from my old friend. Therefore I quickly changed the subject and spoke no more of it. Although my old friend’s intentions may have been good with no intent to harm, I felt that he thinks women can’t complete any tasks that men can and that women are made for inside a more feminine jobs only.

After experiencing this kind of gender microaggression, my perception of discrimination, and stereotypes have been affected because the encounter that I had with my old friend was one of the many examples of how women are discriminated against in society. There are companies that will not hire a woman simply because she is a woman. Women tend to be stereotyped as feminine individuals who are unable to work as hard as a man. My opinion on this stereotype is that I feel that this stereotype is more of an ego and pride issue. Men do not want women to be seen as tough as them. We are usually expected to be dependent on man, when there are some things in society that we actually do better than a man and is done on a regular basis this day in age.



          For this assignment, I chose to contact three people that I have close relationships with, who I believe, in some ways, are culturally different from me. I chose my neighbor, Robert who is a wheelchair bound male, my old male co-worker, Abdul, who is Jewish and one of my undergrad college classmates, Cassie, who is Caucasian. I asked these three individual their definitions of culture and their definition of diversity. Their responses follow:

Definition of Culture:

Robert: “Culture, to me is our way of life and the way we do and view certain things.” (Robert 2016)

Abdul: “Culture is how we as a people acknowledge our traditions, customs and beliefs. And we must follow them” (Abdul 2016)

Cassie: “Culture is how we adapt to the world around us on a daily basis and take advantages of the resources we are provided with.” (Cassie 2016)

Definitions of Diversity:

Robert: “Diversity governs the difference in people, regarding race, gender, abilities and many more.” (Robert 2016)

Abdul: “The difference of all people” (Abdul 2016)

Cassie: “What separates the differences from the similarities in us” (Cassie 2016)

 

        The answers that I received displayed quite a few aspects of what I have learned in this course. For example, Abdul explained that culture has ties with traditions, customs and beliefs, in which he leaned toward defining culture as in what he shares with his family and others of the same ethnicity as him.

        Robert mentioned abilities as part of his definition of diversity. By Robert being a wheelchair-bound individual, his abilities are slightly shortened. This difference, which I would rather say uniqueness, is one of his characteristic that makes him diverse in his own way.

        I did not notice any aspects that I felt were omitted in the definitions, although it is possible that I may have missed some. If anything, it has broadened my thinking.

        Thinking about the definitions I were provided with by these individuals has influenced my thinking about culture and diversity by allowing me to realize that culture does not always have to be a particular method followed by a group of people to considered as a culture, nor is it a requirement. Individuals are allowed to follow their own culture freely. I now understand that culture and diversity go hand in hand. Some of the cultures that an individual chooses to possess and follow could possibly make them diverse in some form

My Family Culture

A major catastrophe has hit the U.S. and my immediate family and I are among the survivors. We are being relocated to a new country to take refuge, and I am not able to make any decisions about the evacuation plan or the final destination.  I have no details on the final destination in which I will be placed and I may be forced to stay there permanently. I can only bring one change of clothes and three small personal items.

          Along with my change of clothes, I would also take with me a copy of my Birth certificate, my college diploma and a copy of the photos of my relatives.
          
           I would explain to others the significance of these items by informing them how important it is to be able to prove my identity and my homeland from where I am originally from, regardless of where I am replaced, the proof of the education I received and the remembrance of family members that did not survive or were located in a different place from. All of these items are able to help symbolize my personal identity and family culture.
     
           I would be very devastated if told I could only keep one of the three items upon arrival. It would be a tough decision to make, because all three of those items help to define who I am, where I come from and one of the most important accomplishments that I completed. Being that I would be in a totally new environment, with new people and not having a single person who knows me personally, besides my own family would be very frightening for me and for my family. I would think about the possibilities of being separated from my family that I evacuated with, being given a new identity and losing my own culture and being forced to practice new beliefs. And most importantly, having lost all visual memories of my relatives, whom I may never see again.

This exercise has given me new insights on what it is like to lose everything and be forced to move from an area that you have lived practically all of your life and that is all you know. Throughout the course of completing this exercise, I could not help but to think of those refugees and immigrant that I have actually faced this exact kind of adversity and I became very emotional. It is one thing to see and hear about these kinds of situations on the news, but actually experiencing these are so much different. I pray that America is never put in this kind of situation and that we as a people are able keep our homeland, freedom and rights and to never have to be forced to give up who we are.   

When I Think of Research...

I have gained many new insights from taking this course in these eight weeks that we were given. In the beginning of this course, I was introduced to studying and analyzing scholarly research articles, searching for my own and developing a research topic of my interest and breaking that main topic down into three sub-topics and choosing only one specific subtopic of interest from there. Although this was just the forefront in conducting research, I feel that becoming aware of the potential risks and ethics to be aware of were very beneficial insights to me. My ideas about the nature of doing research have drastically changed after learning of proper protocol and procedures to follow before attempting to conduct a research study. From the choosing of participants, sampling and choices of collecting data are all vital and must be properly thought through before beginning. Permission must first be allowed from participants, along with mentioning all possible risks.

  I learned that the process of conducting a research design first begins with suggesting a topic of interest for research. This topic would generally be one that makes a point to a specific idea of interest and can be studied for further investigation to retrieve results that reflect the design. The second step in conducting a research design is figuring out exactly how the design will be conducted and what will be the focus of the design. “Research cannot be well designed unless what is to be researched is clear.” (Naughton et al 2010 p105). Next is refining the topic and breaking that one topic into a series of several sub-topics, placing them in the order that is similar to the order of processing and determining whether these topics are considered observational or experimental and whether they lend themselves to be formulated into a hypothesis (the ability to make an educated guess on the topic). Next is the careful review of the time the study and who is to participate, in means of the past, present and future and the ages of the participants. The selection of participants for the study and understanding whether random sampling is necessary or not is vital in the process of collecting data and analysis. Once the data is collected, which is often very little means of resources, pilot testing is performed to determine whether the implementation of the designed has the ability to be successful or not

Some of the challenges I encountered were Processing and analyzing data and selecting persons to participate. Although processing and analyzing data seemed as a tedious task, I was quite relieved to find that all research is not mandatory to be correct and can also be a defect cause from the design or hypothesis of the intended question of the research. Incorrect data can sometimes lead to the findings of new information that one had no knowledge of before. I have gained a better outlook on this process.

  I would believe that it takes choosing participants that fit the description of the intended purpose of a design, but had a difficult time understanding exactly how the concept of sampling for some designs could still conduct accurate researching and results. I did not agree with the process of stratified random sampling at first after understanding that these designs were performed using uneven amounts of participants. But after understanding that the use of sampling of uneven participants always used the greater number of participants for the groups of participants that were the primary focus of the design, and  ensuring that those groups were both still equally represented and considered as a random sample helped me to understand more.

My perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified throughout this course due to the fact that I am now fully aware that studies are able to be conducted to enhance the betterment of classrooms and education in the early childhood field. With results and findings of these successfully conducted studies could have a major positive impact on students, families, teachers and administrators in the early childhood education field.

Research Around the World

A U S T R A L I A

For my week 5 Blog assignment, “Research around the World”, I chose to explore: Early childhood Australia: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Some of the current international research topics on the early childhood in Australia website are

-State of Early Learning in Australia Report 2016 – This report provides information on the quality, participation, and affordability of early childhood education and care currently in Australia

-Productivity Commission Inquiry into the Education Evidence Base- looking at national approaches to collecting and using data for early childhood education and care to improve outcomes.

-National Quality Framework Review – Looking at the efficient and effective ways Australia is improving quality education and care.

-Reform of the Federation White paper – Documentation of government spending to improve transparency

 

 

    This website as a whole consists of: Learning modules, Social media channels, Early Childhood Magazine, ECA Voice News Letter Everyday Learning series, Research in Practice series, Australian Journal of Early Childhood Education and ECA WebWatch e-newsletter.

    There is also a parent section that provides important information and strategies on real topics affecting parents of young children, such as their health, nutrition, separation anxiety, sleeping, and transitions from early childhood to school. I would recommend this site to educators and parents of young children

 

 



Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Positive Parent-Child Relationships

 

 

I have encountered and witnessed the positivity of relationships between children and parents on numerous occasions. Although I could share a story, I would rather share information on document I reviewed that discusses the benefits of  positive parent-child relationships. The National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (NCPFCE) is an organization that has created a framework of research practices that focuses specifically on the outcomes of family engagement. The study, "Positive parent-child relationships" is one of the several studies performed and  is explained in the article, giving details of studies and interventions performed on families that have shown positive results. " Positive parent-child relationships provide the foundation for children’s learning. With parents’ sensitive, responsive, and predictable care, young children develop the skills they need to succeed in life. Early parent-child relationships have powerful effects on children’s emotional well-being" (Dawson & Ashman, 2000), Benefits such as increased child development and school readiness was predicted to be the ultimate result of parent-child relationships as well as attachment, which helps the child feel secure with the parent and more open to them. This act also causes benefits for the parents as well, being that children can be more manageable, which gives a positive vibe for both ends. There is some very good insights in this reading and I encourage you to consider reading.

 

(n.d.). Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center. Positive Parent-Child Relationships. Retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/family/docs/parent-child-relationships.pdf

 

Dawson, G., & Ashman, S. B. (2000). On the origins of a vulnerability to depression:
The influence of the early social environment on the development of psychobiological
systems related to risk for affective disorder. In The Effects of Adversity on
Neurobehavioral Development: Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology (Vol. 31,
pp. 245-278). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates.

 

 

 



Your Personal Research Journey

Research Simulation Topic

Hello Class!! Through the duration of this class, the topic of my research simulation will be: “How does changing demographics and diversity change teaching or instructional practice in the pre-school classroom?” I chose this particular topic because I have always been interested in multi-cultural education and diversity in the classroom and knowing that this topic is known to have a dramatic change on teaching and instruction, I decided to elaborate on this further. As an aspiring early childhood professional, I am sure that I will be faced with this same situation in the future. I found it quite challenging to find resources to reflect this topic, but I was able to retrieve articles that introduced some of the teaching styles and methods to include for the culturally diverse. I am currently doing fine for the moment for this process, but I am always willing to accept assistance. Therefore, I am open to take suggestions and any helpful tips that anyone has to offer for this process. The resources that I have chosen for my topic are listed below. Thank you and good luck to the rest of you all on your research topics

 

    Drake, D. D. (1993). Student Diversity: Implications for Classroom Teachers. Clearing House, 66(5), 264-266.

 

Kohnert, K., Dongsun, Y., Nett, K., Pui Fong, K., & Duran, L. (2005). Intervention with Linguistically Diverse Preschool Children: A Focus on Developing Home Language(s). Language, Speech & Hearing Services In Schools, 36(3), 251-263.

 Souto-Manning, M., & Mitchell, C. (2010). The Role of Action Research in Fostering Culturally-Responsive Practices in a Preschool Classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(4), 269-277. doi:10.1007/s10643-009-0345-9

 



Consequences of learning about International Early Childhood

Consequences of learning about International Early Childhood

 

Learning about the International early childhood field to me, is considered as a life-changing experience and getting a first hand look at the many issues and trends that children are facing in other countries than our own. Although some countries face different issues as us, such as poverty, malnutrition and access to healthy drinking water, some issues are just the same as ours as well, such as children and families receiving an equal and fair education. on the Professional side, administrators and instructors are given the chance to understand what diverse children and families lack in their home countries, which can help them to better understand what is needed of them and how to offer those things if they were to ever enter their classroom. This would also apply to me as well, considering the fact that I plan to one day become an early childhood instructor.

 

GOAL:

I believe that One goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations should be to produce a better pathway of communication between American early childhood educators of the U.S. and international early childhood educators in order to build strong partnerships, share ideas on how to spread the awareness regarding the well-being of young children to ensure that they receive the best education as possible and work towards bringing a reduction to inequity in the early childhood field nationwide.



Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

Due to the fact that I still have not received a response from any early childhood professionals through the podcast, I chose to navigate UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/) and share insights I have learned that reflect my professional goals. There was not much that I could find on this site because many of the pages were considered as a forbidden area unable to access, therefore I decided to share what was available and also happened to be interesting to me. One of UNESCO’s themes, “Education for the 21’st Century” followed by the Education 2030 Framework, is an organization developed to enhance equitable services such as quality education, gender equality, rights of humanity, health awareness- specifically focusing on HIV and AIDS and vocational skills. Using global and regional systems, building partnerships and collaborating with governments, UNESCO plans to affect education systems in this exact matter worldwide. I was very intrigued to learn that the UNESCO has been in effect since 1945 and seeking to promote benefits for the betterment of education for children in many countries. Considering the fact that advocating for quality education for children in the early childhood program has become part of one of my newly revised professional goals, this theme of UNESCO showed much relativity to my future plans and goals upon entrance in the early childhood field.

Sharing Web Resources

      After following links outside of Zero to Three for the first time, I discovered the website under the  malnutrition in children sub-heading: http://www.nctsnet.org/content/defining-trauma-and-child-traumatic-stress

     This link leads to a website, titled, "Defining trauma and Child Traumatic Stress" The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) explains the purpose of their network, gives full details of the types of trauma children face, that can lead to stress and offers methods of treatment and a wide-range of resources as well.

       Although I created an account with Zero to Three to receive an e-newsletter, which were supposed to come around the first of every month, I have not yet received one.

        Upon exploring Zero to Three throughout this week, I have learned this website offers valuable information on care an education for children, maltreatment and behavior and development and methods to improve each aspect in children. there are links provided on the advocacy of children and offers tips on how to support or become one, I really admire the fact that the "Public Policy" section provides and updated factsheet (2015) on the living status- including health, family ties and positive learning of infants and toddlers in each of the fifty states including the District of Columbia, along with data and resources. I found the factsheet pretty interesting due to the fact that our assignment for this week relates to it.

      

Getting to know your international contacts-- Part 2

While exploring the website, Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative”, I gained a few insights about early childhood systems around the globe. Center of the Developing Child by Harvard University’s Working Globally runs a program based on science to create policies and practices. After reading the information on the website, I have learned about how Brazil has that Harvard and Brazil has an organization, formed in 2011: Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância, which invests in Latin American children who are facing socioeconomic inequalities. I admire this program because it is reaching out to the culturally diverse families who are facing issues with income and education etc. In the years 2012-2014 Policy makers in Brazil came to Harvard for a week-long workshop in hopes to return and make changes in their policy and creating action plans. Upon returning to Brazil and continuously working together in San Paulo for workshops, the Brazilian policymakers developed three major investments for children in early childhood which were:

 

• “A comprehensive national “Legal Framework for Early Childhood” was developed by the 27 members of the Federal Congress who participated in ELP and it was adopted by the lower House of the Congress in early 2015.
• A new early childhood development program in the city of São Paulo led by its First Lady.
• A new home visiting program, designed by the coordinator for child health in the Federal Ministry of Health, and piloted by the First Ladies of São Paulo and Fortaleza”. (Harvard University)
  Canada, which has a program called: Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) focus on implementing science-based research and studies on the development of the brain to share with early childhood policymakers in hopes to support the betterment of child development. The AFWI has its own website, http://www.albertafamilywellness.org/ which runs different programs, has news and events, valuable resources and programs and interesting and educational videos and games. Overall, I have learned that there are quite a few countries working with Harvard University here in the U.S. for the sake of young children and investing in programs for their support along with families as well. Working globally can have some positive benefits when working together.