Television Show

The television show which I watched is an episode of Golden Girls. Four women are the characters in the show. Three of them are in the kitchen having breakfast. The fourth person stomps into the room while talking, picks up a cup and joins the other two at breakfast. Later she walks in the door with a worried look on her face. She talks to the others, shakes her head and gesticulates. Suddenly she runs to the door and opens it. A policeman stands there with a young man. She and the young man hug each other, speak to each other then she speaks to the policeman. While she does so the woman to whom she was speaking covers her face and bends her head. The young man shakes hands with the women, sits down and speaks with them. He gets up, speaks with the person who hugged him and leaves. The women continue their conversation, leave the room and prepare for bed. Sometime later the women appear in the outer room where four young men sit in the chairs gyrating to music. One woman turns off the radio. There is a conversation between the young men and the women then three of the young men are shown the door. The young man who was brought in by the police is angry. He talks and gesticulates to the women. One of them smacks him and he walks away. The woman who smacked him is spoken to and restrained by the others. A woman follows the young man. She speaks to him but he walks angrily away. Three women sat around a table toasting someone. They carry on a conversation. One woman writes something on a notepad and passes it to the others. The last person gets up with the notepad in her hand. The young man appears with his bag. One woman steps up and speaks to him. They sit and have a conversation then they both get up. The women and the young man gather around a table to have a toast. Conversation follows. One woman makes a phone call. When she was finished she spoke to everyone. They stand and say good bye to the young man. He hugs them and leaves.

 

When I and looked at the show with the sound off, I consider the women as friends and tenants who share a home. The young man is seen as the son of one of the women and the three young men as new acquaintances of the young man.

The nonverbal behaviors of the characters show different feeling and expressions. At the commencement of the episode the woman who had just walked in shows that she is concerned about something. Later, her three friends are worried about her absence, and when she returned they are relieved. She is extremely worried, and jumps up and runs to the door. Her outstretched hands, smiling face and hug are an indication of relief, joy and welcome. Her friend’s action of covering her faces and bending her head is a sign of embarrassment. Shock caused the two women to jump out of bed. This turned to anger when the four women arrived in the sitting room and saw four young men sitting in chairs. They were happily gyrating in the chairs. The first woman to step into the sitting room angrily turned off the radio. The women angrily pulled and pushed the three young men out the door. The upset and angry friend confronted one of the women and was slapped by her. The young man strode away angrily. His mother followed and touched him to calm him down, but he rebuffed her. The young man attempted to leave the building stealthily but was prevented from doing so. He eventually left in joy after receiving hugs and touches from the women.

When the video was turned on I realize that of the four women, one pair of them enjoyed a mother-daughter relationship, and the young man was the woman’s grandson. When the young man was brought in by the policeman I thought that he was in trouble with the law. I also did not realize that his grandmother was attempting to flirt with the policeman.

My assumptions may not have been fully correct if I had been watching a show I know well. I would have been aware of the relationship between the mother and the daughter but not about the story plot or the other relationships.

This has made me aware that it is not easy to interpret nonverbal communication, and that when a person is angry and upset we should allow them to become calm before approaching them. We should also approach them with care. When dealing with students, parents and colleagues we should not make assumptions about their nonverbal communication and body language especially when we are not aware of their cultural background.

Competent Communicator

The person who in my estimation demonstrates competent communication is like me, a Caribbean person. He is a lawyer by profession, a politician and a former Secretary General of the Commonwealth. Sir Shridath Ramphal is a fluent speaker who is very articulate. He has a great sense of humor and uses both words and gesture to command the attention of his listeners. He does not speak in a monotone but modulates his voice to get his message across. Sir Shridath has a friendly personality and is an attentive listener. One year when our school held its annual Career Day Sir Shridath was the guest speaker. His message to us was clear and was understood by all. He listened attentively to the questions posed by the students and answered them honestly and with clarity. As he mingled with the students after his presentation he asked about our proposed career choices, and gave advice that would help us to make wise decisions. I would love to model some of my communication behaviors after Sir Shridath so that I would be able to make persons feels comfortable when they have to communicate with me. I would also endeavor to be a good speaker, and a good listener who is not judgmental or disrespectful.

Professional Hopes and Goals

Just the thought of working with students from different parts of the world gives me a sense of joy, and at the same time it would be a challenge. It gives me a sense of joy because I am excited to put into practice what I have learned about working with diverse groups. I am also confident that I would receive help and support from my principal and my colleagues. This exercise would challenge me because at its commencement I would be unaware of the feelings of parents regarding their children being part of an inclusive classroom. Additionally, I would not be au fait with the culture of my students and would have a difficulty communicating with some of them. One hope that I have is for students and their families to have a smooth transition, that there are necessary ideas in place for this smooth transition and that the families feel welcomed, loved and appreciated.

One goal would be to have yearly compulsory seminars/conferences for teachers and everyone else who works in the early childhood field. In this way persons would be educated and informed about what is taking place in the early childhood field, and they would be kept up to date about recent developments and current events.

It was a pleasure and a learning experience reading all of my fellow classmates’ blogs, posts and discussion. I was able to learn from all of you about your experiences and your challenges, and how you were able to overcome them. Sharing my experiences with you caused me to reflect on both happy and sad times in my life, and how these situations have helped to shape who I am today. Thank you all. A special thanks to Dr. Williams for guiding us all through this course and for challenging us to know ourselves better.

Welcoming Families from around the World

The county of origin that my family would be coming from would be Thailand which is located in Asia. Since I do not know anything about this country the first thing I would do is find out from which area of the country the child has come, what language or dialect is spoken by its residents, the correct form of greeting and the correct way to pronounce the names so as not to offend anyone. I will then write the word “Welcome” or whatever the greeting is in their language together with the child’s name. I would not want to greet the family in a way that would be deemed disrespectful. Secondly I would want to know the types of food and the eating habits/styles of the family so that when the other students ask questions I would be able to answer them. This is necessary since they may eat with chopsticks instead of fork. Additionally, there are different reasons why persons may not eat certain foods, such as religious beliefs and they may need to pray over the food before they eat it. The third thing I would find out about are the child rearing practices. Knowing the child rearing practices of the people is very important and I would not want to do anything that would be contradictory to the way they raise their children. Fourthly, I would seek additional information about children from the country by reaching out to a teacher/educator who has either taught a child from Thailand or has interacted with children from the country. Lastly, people’s beliefs and values are very important to them and I will need to find out what these are.

These preparations will allow me to learn about the cultural practices of my student, and to be able to show respect and appreciation for them. They will also help me to develop a good working relationship with my student and the families, and help me to learn what the family’s goals are for the student. It would make it easier for me to communicate with the family and to understand their point of view as it relates to certain issues. Parents would feel appreciated and valued to discover that the teacher knows about their culture, and would feel comfortable to have their child in a class where the teacher took time to know about them beforehand.

 

The Personal Side of Bias,Prejudice and Oppression

Two years ago my cousin who was employed at a private school applied for a position as a teacher at another private school system. She had just completed her Masters in Education and felt that she needed a change of environment. She sent in her application and was approved for the second phase. This second phase was a telephone interview at which she was successful. The final phase was an in person interview to which she was invited. At the interview, my cousin who was in her early fifties, was interviewed by three younger person, two females and one male. The male was the principal, and the females were classroom teachers. She informed me that during the interview, the principal took a phone call and was also texting on his cellular phone. At different times, one of the interviewers would ask her a question while the other two could be seen casually talking to one another or even laughing. After the interview they said thank you and she never heard from them again. If she was able to pass the other phases of the interview, what happened at the in person interview? It appeared that her failure was a case of ageism. When they realized that she was an older person they did not pay much attention to her during the interview. She felt that she was rejected because of her age.

Although she had the required qualifications for the job she was not given a fair chance. The interviewers, in just considering her age, failed to take into consideration the experience, expertise and skills which she, as a mature and seasoned teacher, possessed. In this way their bias and prejudice diminished equity. She could have become an asset to their organization. Once a person is healthy and possesses the required qualifications for the job he/she should not be denied the position because of age.

Even though I was not the person involved I was hurt and very disappointed. She has worked hard to achieve what she has and deserved to be given the opportunity to prove herself. It made me think about myself. Would I be discriminated later in life because of my age? If so what can if do about that?

I think in this situation the principal and the two teachers with him would need to change their attitude in order to turn this into an opportunity for greater equity. They may also need to be educated about ageism and its impact, and the legal implications of age discrimination.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I have not detected any form of microaggression this week but I do remember one from another time. My mom volunteers at a boys’ orphan. When she was there she saw a young boy about eight years old who was born with fetal drug alcohol syndrome. As such he has a facial disfiguration. He was very jovial and fun loving. During the Christmas vacation she took him home to spend the holidays with our family. On Christmas eve we all went to church where a concert was being held .At the concert an extra child was needed to read a part because someone was absent. This little boy volunteered to do so and you could have seen the look on people’s faces. One lady even asked him if he was sure he could do it. He replied yes and she then asked him if he was positive. The boy just smiled went on stage and read the part. At the end of the reading he received a standing ovation. People felt that because of his disfiguration that he was unintelligent. He proved them wrong. This is a great example of ableism.

As I look back then it shows how we perceive and judge people based on their physical attribute. In the same way that people of color feel marginalized so does someone with a disability. It must therefore be really hard to have a disability and also be someone of color. Such persons are not given the opportunity to be themselves and to show what they are capable of. They are perceived by others based on a stereotype or a feeling that another person may have of persons like them.

 

Perspectives of Diversity and Culture

In preparing my blog I questioned four persons regarding their understanding of culture and of diversity. I spoke with three practising teachers and one parent. Two of the teachers work in Maryland and one in Brooklyn. The parent with whom I spoke resides in Maryland. The four persons with whom I spoke are themselves from a diversity of culture. I spoke with a female Caucasian American citizen, a male American citizen of Mexican birth, An African American and an American citizen who was born in the Caribbean.

According to the male respondent culture is what a person is accustomed to. It is the person’s background and includes his language, what he eats and what he wears. Diversity refers to a mixture or having different aspects of something. He referred specifically to the people of Mexico as being diverse because some groups dress differently, speak differently and observe different festivals. He claims that they are diverse in terms of their culture. The female Caucasian teacher sees culture as what a group of people do and how they behave. It defines them and represents their ancestors and their heritage. She defines diversity as differences in people or a variety. To the teacher who was born in the Caribbean, culture is the aspects or characteristics of a person’s upbringing that makes the person who he/she is. It includes the person’s beliefs, customs and certain aspects of their way of life. She defines diversity as the differences in persons in relation to their sexual orientation, religion, culture and views about life in general. The parent claims that culture is a collection of different traditions that are observed and practiced among a group of people and diversity is a mixture or a multiple of options.

In relation to culture the responses given represent some aspects of both surface culture and deep culture. Surface culture examples include what persons eat, wear, and their celebrations. Mention was made of some aspects of deep culture such as language, beliefs, upbringing (parenting), customs, behavior and way of life. The respondents had difficulty in defining diversity. Some answers given were vague and not specific enough. . The male respondent spoke about diversity in relation to the Mexican people and I assumed that the diversity was related to their ethnicity. In speaking about diversity one person mentioned sexual orientation, religion, culture and views about life in general.

Important aspects of deep culture such as gender role, child rearing practices, values and mannerisms were not mentioned; and when speaking of diversity no mention was made of race, ethnicity, child rearing practices, family types and persons with disabilities.

I was not surprised that the respondents were not au fait with all the different aspects of culture and diversity. Prior to commencing this course I was too was unaware that there was surface culture and deep culture and I did not regard family types as an aspect of diversity. When I think of the definitions given for the two concepts it makes me realize that as educators we need to be aware of every aspect of what makes our children and their families different, how these differences affect their lives and their hopes for their children and how they impact our teaching. This knowledge would help us to develop better relationships with families, and make us better teachers who are willing to adapt our programs so that our students can receive the full benefit of the educational opportunities offered to them.

My Family Culture.

The three items I would take with me are my photo album, my bible and my family quilt. My photo album is very dear to me because in it I have pictures of my different family members at different times in our lives. There are pictures of different family members at important family functions, events that are of great importance to us for different reasons. I even have pictures of friends and associates in my album. Some of these photographs were taken at various cultural activities. These activities showcase some of the cultural celebrations of the different ethnic groups of my country. They are photographs which represent times of joys with my friends and family. My bible signifies my religious beliefs. I can read my bible when I feel heavy and burdened about situations. Finally I will take my family quilt. Whenever there is a major event in the family such as weddings, births or anything of significance in the country, it is added to the quilt. It therefore represents the history of my family.

I would be so upset if I had to give up two items. The first thing I would do is try and plead with the authorities to see if I could go through with all my items. In the event that I am unable to do so I would take my photo album with me. Through the pictures I would be able to tell my family and friends about myself and family and about the culture of my country. By looking at the pictures I would be reminded of who I am, where I am from and that I have hope. Although my Bible is important to me I have memorized many of its verses. In my quiet moments I would recall these verses and they would comfort me.

Undertaking this exercise has made me realize that my culture is very important to me, and it was a difficult task to prioritize the items that link me to my family and my culture. It also helped me to realize that my culture comprises different aspects of my life and each is important to me. And each has helped me to be who I am. In the same way that I have valued my culture I need to value and respect the culture of others. We should respect other people’s culture because we would not want ours to be disrespected

 

When I think about Research

I have learnt that research is a very detailed process comprising many steps.I was able to see that it is not what I thought  it was,just reading some journals and then doing a research paper.There are lots of factors to take into consideration when doing a research.

I have a new respect for researchers after realizing all that they have to do to present a research paper,and even the guidelines they have to follow to make it a reputable research paper.

What I learned about research ethics made me think about the participants especially children and the importance of their role in research.I think  about if they were being treated fairly ,whether they are being informed or are forced to be part of research.

I learnt that planning research is time consuming.If the design is not planned properly then the findings cannot be validated.Every part of the design is important and each step must be followed carefully.It is very important to validate the findings.

Many of the terms being used were new to me and it was hard for me to understand what I read until I became familiar with these words.After reading the glossary and doing more research I was able to understand many of them.I had to re read some sections many times to get a clear understanding of what was said.

This course has confirmed for me how much early childhood professionals are dependent on researchers and that all professionals need to read research in order to be familiar with and keep abreast of developments in the profession.

Research Around the World

The website I choose to learn more about is European Early Childhood Research Association.When searching around I was able to see that this association has a European Childhood Research Journal.This journal is issued five(5) times annually and is said to be one of the most prestigious early childhood journals in the world.Most of the topics in the journal were focused on play.Some of the headings read-Make-believe play versus academic skills:a Vgotskian approach to today’s dilemma of early childhood education,the dynamics of early childhood spaces:opportunities for outdoor play and The Influence of play context and adult attitudes on young children’s physical risk-taking during outdoor play.

Also I have seen that the publications  are written in two languages,with English being one of the languages.

EECERA‘s Annual Conference is the largest early childhood research conference in Europe providing an exceptional forum and network for scholars, policy makers, researchers and practitioners.

ECERA looks to like-minded organizations, institutions and research centers to offer mutual support and information sharing. EECERA does not automatically agree to reciprocal links arrangements.The Board of Trustees wants to ensure that such links and partners have similar aims and values and has formulated a criteria.

These are some of the organizations that they have links with:

• eRegion (Inter-Municipality Initiative)
• The Korea Institute of Child Care and Education
• Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association