Considerations, Reflections, Aspirations

For the past eight weeks I have learned so much about diversity and how unique each individual is. Because of this I am more motivated to advocate for early childhood in my country and to spark the fire in each and every individual the importance of early childhood education. When I see people around me I no longer look at them with a close mind but I realize that each of us are all special and we all have unique roles to play in making society a place where we can all exist in peace and learn to love and respect each other no matter how different we all are. I have said this before and I will say it again the world would be so boring and drab if we were all the same color, size and culturally identical. But in a sense we are all the same, because we really share the same needs: food, shelter and clothing but most of all we all want to be accepted for who we are, loved, appreciated and just are given a chance to live life to its fullest. It is therefore my hope as an early childhood professional it is my hope that I will be fully prepared to deal with challenges that are associated with diversity. The goal that I would set for the early childhood field as it relates to diversity is continue this master’s journey. I believe the best thing for a person who hopes to bring about positive change is to be knowledgeable. With the necessary information we can develop our resources and tools to help make early childhood development better for the generations to come. I would also like to thank all my colleagues who have commented on my blogs, responded to my discussions and have offered some great insights and encouragement. I you wish all the best in the future endeavors as we continue to make the field of early childhood development shine bright.

Considerations, Relflections, Aspirations

Welcoming Families From Around The World

The family I would love to prepare for culturally and welcome into my home would be from Pakistan. Pakistan is located in Southern Asia. The Pakistani culture and customs are different from the Western culture and I believe having a Pakistani child in my home and learning her about her would be quite interesting. Before I can welcome a Pakistani girl I would have to learn about her culture. The first thing I would want to learn about her is which ethnic group is she is from because the country of Pakistan comprises of many ethnic groups. The second thing I would want to learn is her name. As we know a name is a source of identity and it is very important as the host I am able to pronounce her name properly and even know the meaning of her name. The third thing I would do is to find out the kinds of food my child guest eats. Food is very important and having a guest in your house not eating what you have prepared for meals can be very distressing and I definitely would not want my guest to be hungry. The fourth thing I would to prepare for my guest is to learn a few about their language such as a few minor phrases. Probably I would get a language book to help with interpretation of basic words. Learning a few words from her language will allow some amount of communication. The fifth thing I would want to learn about the Pakistani is about some general customs and etiquette. This very important too because how Pakistanis relate to each other especially in terms of gender relationship will impact on the kind of relationship formed. Unfortunately girls are treated as cattle in the Pakistani culture and many times are married before they reach the age of 16 years. Being prepared for a person of different culture is very important. Even though we might be different in cultural practices we basically are the same and have the same needs such food, shelter and clothing. To benefit from a cultural exchange we first must understand each other and, be very open-minded. Many times we become misled by what is being said in the media about persons who may be different from us. We do want to be stereotypical and bias in our behavior and therefore it is best that we are informed about the persons who are different from us culturally.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

I have experienced so many prejudices and biases happen to me and to persons in my immediate surrounding. I am from a mixed ethnic family and I my first experience with prejudice came from my family. As a child growing up I always thought that everybody was equal and basically the same. I never thought about the color of your skin or how rich are poor you were but I became aware of these types of prejudices as soon as I was introduced to kindergarten. The experience that stood out for me was my high school years although I experienced much prejudice and biases before. Hampton school is a boarding school for girls. Upon entering high school I realized that the only children of a certain class were given much attention. I was considered poor but I never thought of myself as being poor because from very early, I believed poverty was just your state of mind. Although designer clothes, shoes and other material things were bought with lots of money I always believe these things did not complete you or defined who you are. The teachers at the institution did not hide their prejudicial and biases towards persons who were considered poor. I became very ill at school and was sent to the sick bay. I got no medical attention, my parents were not contacted about my illness and I was kept in the sick bay for a week without any proper care. I cried and felt rejected. I got mid term holiday break and I was sent home. My father realized I was ill and my temperature was extremely high but because of how simple he was he did not realize how ill I was because if the school did not make an issue of the illness he believed everything was okay but when I fainted and he took me to the doctor, the doctor told him I was very lucky because I was developing pneumonia. Because he was intimidated by the school’s authority he did not do anything about it. I realized I was treated unfairly because I was not one of the favorite, yet the policy of the school specifically stated that once a child becomes very ill, the parents must be contacted immediately. Other children who were considered rich were not only sent to the school’s doctor but there parents were immediately contacted so that they could come and get their children. This experience has taught me so much. As a mother of three children I am very protective and can get very defensive for my children. Once I detect any form of biases or prejudices for against children in any social institution whether at church or at school I defend my children and I make my voice be heard. I used my experiences at Hampton school to strive above the obstacles. I remembered the day of graduation like yesterday. The students were excited and of course we were making lots of noise before the start of the ceremony. One of the senior teachers just came to us and started shouting at us that we were the worst and that we would never come out to anything good. I used her words as a motivation to strive above the obstacles. I entered the field of teaching to help children who were labeled as ‘no good’ and ‘poor’.