Awareness o Microaggression

Describe at least one example of a microaggression which you detected this week or remember from another time. In what context did the microaggression happen? What did you think and feel when you observed the microaggression or when you found yourself as the target of a microaggression?

•  When we first moved to Pensacola Florida my daughter had an incident with her teacher because she was made fun of because she talks so proper, or should I say, she didn't use broken English or slang words and the teacher told her she needed to stop playing and use her regular voice because she doesn't talk like that. I didn't understand what that mean, so I went to the school and talk to her teacher and she told me, "She thought my daughter was disguising her voice to try to make the other students laugh." Well my daughter was upset because she told the teacher this is the way she talk which is very proper. I told the school how was my daughter suppose to talk using broken English, ebonics, or even slang. The school really did not know what to say and I kind of made a statement that not all black people spoke improper English. I was upset because not only was my daughter going to get in trouble for speaking proper English but she was also told to speak the right way and my question was, "What was the proper way to speak?"

In what ways did your observation experiences this week affect your perception of the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people?

• This subject is really touching to me because I experienced racism as a child and when I moved to the South from California I did not think that racism like I have observed in the South still exist, but in fact it does. Children living in the South are still labeled or stereotyped because the way they talk, dress, social economic status, and gender. Because as a society African American males are labeled as dead beat dads, staying in  out  of prison, or jail, uneducated, and pretty much not achieving anything in life. I see this everyday young boys being pat down, thrown on the car, or pulled over because they look, or dress suspicious. People  should not be judged or classified as everyone else but, unfortunately this will continue in the world into we learn to except, and appreciate every one's differences.

Culture and Diversity

On Friday 18, 2011 I had the opportunity to talk to three of my friend’s one of my friends Donna who is from Trinidad, Ericka who is Caucasian, and my other friend LaShanda who is African American. I asked my three friends what culture mean to them and their definition of diversity. Their response was:

·         Donna said Culture means the habits of the people of a particular region, nationality, or religion and Diversity to her mean to either look, act, or possess qualities different from the majority of similar people or things.

·         LaShanda said Culture includes all of the knowledge, beliefs, habits, laws, etc. that are specific to one group of people or one society and Diversity to her mean is the differences and uniqueness separating one person or thing from another. Diversity means that people come from a different culture, or have different ideas.

·         Ericka said Culture means someone background or nationality and Diversity to her mean different genders, races, religions, and sexualities.

 

Listening to my friends and co-workers on Diversity and Culture which included  some different aspects on social identity, all three of my friends pretty much stated that same thing just in a different version that culture revolves around the importance of family within their culture. Their responses really made me realize the importance of culture and diversity in todays society because people must be prepared to teach, work, and live in a world that is culturally diverse meaning be able to tolerate and be respectful about the differences and similarities between one another.

My Family Culture

Sitting here thinking what three personal items I would take was pretty easy because I have always been told to take my personal items just in case of a catastrophe. My three personal items I would take are:

• Pictures of my family like husband, children, mother/father, aunties/uncles, grandmother/grandfathers etc.
• Important documents like  birth certificate, social security card, i.d.these items I chose because it will prove my birth, nationality and citizenship as U.S. American.
• Medical records/prescription also because my history if I was in need of medication, show my blood type, shots that I have had, and also may be able to trace my blood line to find my family.

Upon arrival to this new destination I am told that I can only keep one of these items. This would be the hardest thing I would ever have to do because it's like you are leaving a part of yourself and history behind but if I have to choose I would choose important documents because as much as I love my pictures which shows my family culture and our family over generations my documents are a way to prove who I am and who my family is.

Doing this assignment really made me start to think how important family, family life, and family culture is so important to reserve the memories and life history to pass down from generation to generation. I hope one day to sit down with my children and just remember our ancestors by looking at photos, videos, and listening to recordings of our family to remember not forget.

When I Think of Research....

What insights have you gained about research from taking this course? 

The insights that I have gained is that I thought I knew a little about research but in fact, I really didn't know that it takes a lot of  work,  preparation, and time to do a research paper. It is so many different factors to consider before starting research.

In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

I had an idea in my head that research in early childhood involved child development theories or teaching strategies. I hadn’t given much consideration to the smaller projects such as routine, and  parent involvement  to start a great research paper.

What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

That planning and designing is the most importmant thing to the whole process because in these stategies you’re research topic is in constant evolution. I changed or altered my topic with every assignment because as I learned more the more I realized my errors.

What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?

I was challenged in the beginning with my topic. I was so passionate about my topic that I couldn’t narrow it down. Mr. Davis feedback and the course text helped me see that while a topic can have you’re interest it has to be workable for the time limit and resources available. I then took my original topic and thought about ways to still meet that need but on a smaller scale.

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

I had never explored this aspect of the early childhood field and as with any change I felt some discomfort along the way. I have an increase in pride in my chosen profession because I can honestly say that I am a little better equiped as a early childhood professional to not only understand research that I read but also can conduct a research paper with the help that I have gained through this course.

I would like to thank my colleagues for their  support and sharing their thoughts, dreams, and comments on the discussion board.  I also want to thank our instructor for the feedback while doing our stimulation assignment. See you in the next course.

Research around the World

Early Childhood Australia:

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

 

1.      What are some of the current international research topics?

·         Insider Perspectives on Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia

·         Early childhood service delivery for families living with disability: Disabling families through problematic implicit ideology

·         The challenges of implementing primary arts education: What our teachers say

·         Early childhood teachers' misconceptions about mathematics education for young children in the United States

2.      What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

On this website I found pretty interesting. That they offer free online services for the early childhood field. The website also shares important information and articles on issues in Australia that are also free to access without being a member. On this website it gives you option on ways to keep up with the latest information in Australia Early Childhood through:

·         early childhood news

·         ECA WebWatch e-newsletter

·         Australasian Journal of Early Childhood article index

·         Every Child magazine article index

3.      What other noteworthy information did you find on this website? Other information that I found on this website is besides the research articles that are available for you to review the website offers books that also goes along with the research topics, and articles and on the web directory there are supporting best practices that have articles you can access and read about children’s emotional well-being, Children’s development, speaking out for children, and professional development articles that can be accessed and read for free.

Research Benefits of Bad Behavior in Early Childhood

I decided to go with option number #2 researching my own topic dealing with Bad Behavior in Early Childhood.  In young children, challenging behaviors are apparent in a number of ways. Some children may act defiantly and refuse to comply with the requests of teachers. In some cases, defiant episodes culminate in physical and emotional outbursts such as temper tantrums, antisocial, bullying, and including violent acts such as biting, kicking, pinching, punching or hair-pulling, and verbal aggression or taunting--may also occur among children. Other forms of challenging behavior include lying, whining, stealing, inattention and property destruction.
Behavior sometimes stems from issues related to family, home-life, neglect, poverty, drugs, physical abuse, and mental illness within the family. Whatever the case may be researchers have a deeper understanding what affects children behaviors by identifying the source of the behavioral issues and responding positively to the child’s needs. Some techniques can include:

• activity or group of peers--to avoid the stimuli that triggers misbehavior
• changing the child's setting environment.
• offering options and choices may lend feeling of empowerment and minimize the frequency of misconduct.

 

My Research Journey

My simulation topic is. What resources are out their in high-quality programs to help students and teachers deal with behavioral issues in the classroom. I chose this topic because like I stated on the discussion board I see children with sauveur behavioral problems and most of the time it is so hard to teach the classroom because of certain children acting out, screaming, rude, and interrupting constantly in the classroom. For me I hate having to talk to a certain child everyday all day because I know it gets to the point that  the child is shutting you out to. I never want to raise my voice, be mean, or even keep isolating a child from the rest of the children because I know a child can not learn from isolation.

So far with my research I am checking the web for peer reviewed journals, talking to my supervisor at Head Start on what we provide for services to teachers and children. I think this will be a great start for my research and I will be open to any suggestions or resources for my topic. I look forward to reading your comments.