6164 blog Last Professional Hopes and Goals

This course has been a very enlightening one for me. Partly because I have learned so much new information that I have seen but overlooked many times. The one thing that I did not know much about or at least did not know what to call it was the grouping of micro-aggressions, such as LGBT-ism, ageism and classism. I have gained a deeper appreciation about wanting to understand individuals more and more and have learned to show others not to judge others before getting to truly no a person. One “hope” that I have when I think about with children and their families, who come from diverse backgrounds, is that children will learn to adore themselves and not allow others to make them feel less about themselves. Despite what society deems as superior, a child must understand that they uniqueness will not make them any less of an individual. I would want each child to begin to be more outgoing and not be standoffish because of worrying about what others will think of them. With each child loving themselves, the love can spill out into the world, in my opinion, and may erase hatred as much as possible.

If I could set one goal for diversity, equity and social justice in the early childhood field, it would be that in each community-based schools or private school there would be a diverse collection of well-trained teachers. In order for them to be trained, they would need to have resources available for them at all times, even after they are hired for the job. I would like to envision that each teacher will have knowledge about diversity, equity and social justice and realize its importance. If they recognize how important it is for children to learn and comprehend, then they would be willing to incorporate some lessons within their classrooms.

Last but certainly not least, I want to say a good-bye to all of you -my fellow classmates. I enjoyed reading each of your blogs and discussions. You helped me see things from point-of-views that were different than my own, which has helped me learn and think much deeper in each of my courses –thus far. Good luck in the next course and hope to see you all in it.

Week 7> Welcoming Families From Around the World

Sorry, I do not know why my first post was not posting correctly. I hope you can read this one.

WEEK 7 BLOG

In the next two weeks, I will have a new student from Cyprus coming to my class. To prepare for her arrival I, first, took the time to find out more about their area and its culture. Just to get a feel of its location, I find out that “Cyprus’s capital is Nicosia and has 0.8 million people. It is the largest island in the eastern Mediterranean and is situated south of Turkey. Cyprus has long been a crossing point between Europe, Asia and Africa and still has many traces of successive civilizations – Roman theatres and villas, Byzantine churches and monasteries, Crusader castles, Ottoman mosques and pre-historic habitats. The island’s main economic activities, like tourism, clothing and craft exports and merchant shipping. Traditional crafts include embroidery, pottery and copper work.
 A traditional local dishes include the meze. The Republic of Cyprus gained its independence from Britain in 1960 and is known as the
 island of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, who, according to legend, was born here” (European Union, n.a., para. 1-5). Their
 culture is adapted toward learning Greek Cypriots but everyone speaks English, thus she would not feel left out language-wise moving to
 the United States. The religions there are Muslim and Christian, which we have both so they would not feel left out. Fishing and tourism
 is important to their area. Most things that we would find on their dinner tables are yogurt, bread, dips, vegetables and salads. They do 
celebrate holidays that we do not and so I would definitely take that into consideration. Everyone is very laid back but extremely
 respectful to their elders and professional lives.

After learning all about their culture and beliefs, secondly, I would focus on their educational process. I found out that a child’s parents
 are very involved with the whole process of education. They value it as very high. They are there to cover all expenses from early childhood
 education until they graduate from college. This area I would not have to worry about with my new student and their parents, which will
 seem to be a very pleasant experience. YEA!!! Their educational system encourages education all the way up into adult learning. The
 European Commission stresses key competencies, such as knowledge skills and gathering an attitude to help learners feel fulfilled to
 later get a great job. They encourage learning the mother’s native tongue, other foreign languages, digital skills, literacy and basic math 
and science skills. They also teach horizontal skills, such as learning to learn, social and civic responsibilities, initiative and entrepreneurship,
 cultural awareness and creativity. So, by knowing these things, I know that the child will be very well-rounded when he or she arrives to my
 class.

Reference

 European Union. (n.a). Cyprus. Retrieved October 18, 2014, from
 http://www.europa.eu/about-eu/countries/memebr-countries/cyprus/index-en.htm

Week 6: The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

There is a memory about an issue that occurred around the last Halloween holiday (2013). It was an incident that I observed as well as many others because it was on the news. It was when Julianne Hough put on what people call “black face”, which is just painting her face black so that she could represent herself as a black person –keeping in mind she is a white female. Basically, she was paying homage to Uzo Aduba, who plays “crazy-eyes” in the Netflix original series called Orange is the New Black. Now, because I understood what she was doing, my reaction was that I really did not get offended at all. What I did say was that she must really like the character “crazy-eyes” to paint her face black. Nevertheless, there were many who found it offensive and ridiculed her for doing it, although her other friends were dressed up like some of the other main characters in the television show. Fox News (2013) states, “that Julianne had tweeted insisting that it was "never (her) intention to be disrespectful or demeaning to anyone in any way," and that she realizes her costume "hurt and offended people," some weren’t so quick to forgive her. On the other hand, Joan Duvall-Flynn, President of the Media Area Unit of NAACP of Pennsylvania stated the current racial tensions in the United States require careful reflection as we relate to each other. If her behavior is a political statement, she should explain that and if her behavior is an act of impulsive insensitivity, she needs, as a public figure, to be more responsible and an apology for such insensitivity is appropriate" (para. 3-5). I really do not know what category to put this particular incident in at all because I understood her intention and I could tell she was not trying to intentionally offend anyone, which would be put under the category that Dr. Sue calls “racial microaggression” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).

Now on another note, Nick Cannon, who is black, did the same thing but he put on “white-face” because he was attempting to promote his album named “White People Party Music” and his character was named Connor Smallnut. Now, some people say that it was not as offensive Julianne putting on “black-face” because it has always being a racial things back in the day. Now, in my opinion, I felt that Nick Cannon was being racist and should not have done it. USA Today (2014) states, “On Good Morning America, during an interview, Nick Cannon said that he knew it would spark controversy, when he did it” (para. 1). This proves that some people, despite the racist repercussion of their actions, will do anything to gain publicity. He got what he wanted as well free advertisement for his album. Neither one of these incidents promote fairness for the other race.

In conclusion, everyone must strive to mindful of all actions and how they may affect the next person. No matter if it is to gain publicity or to pay homage to a person. Each action will have a reaction –good or bad. I really do not have a definite answer on what would have to change to turn these two incidents around for greater equity right now. What I do know that some people feel offended easier than others and that will come from how a person has had to deal with certain circumstances in their life. If most of their life was a negative experience, than that is what they will mostly put out into the world and vice versa. We all need encouragement to make positive choices, while keeping mind that we all make mistakes –sooner or later.

Reference

Fox News. (2013, Oct. 28). Julianne Hough slammed for donning ‘black face’ Halloween costume. Retrieved October 9, 2014, from http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/10/28/julianne-hough-slammed-for-donning-black-face-halloween-costume/

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved October 9, 2014, from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_5572146_1%26url%3D

USA Today. (2014, Mar. 31). Nick Cannon responds to ‘white face’ criticism. Retrieved October 9, 2014, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2014/03/31/nick-cannon-responds-to-whiteface-criticism/7106779/#