My Professional Hopes and Goals

                                                By Lisa Martin

It is my hope that as an anti-bias early childhood educator and an advocate for children and families everywhere I will be able to contribute to the emergence of a more tolerant and equitable society. It is my hope that I along with my devoted colleagues and classmates will be able to impact change from every corner of the globe. I accept that change does not occur overnight or in a vacuum, but I believe as Louise Derman-Sparks that it is our vision of a better more peaceful world, where equity and justice are available to all humankind, that generates the passion and motivation to keep us striving towards its fulfillment (Laureate Education, 2011).

It is my goal to be the type of early education professional that is able to work with and support children and families from all over the world, as I create an anti-bias classroom that embraces diversity. I will be a teacher who knows herself well enough to make sure her cultural framework never interferes with her ability to make others feel at ease in her presence, and allows her cultural responsiveness shine through in every situation. I want young children and their families to be at home in my classroom. I intend to partner with families and empower them to advocate for the best possible outcomes for their children. I will work towards greater equity and social justice for the children and families I serve.

My passion has grown over the past eight weeks as I have witnessed the passion of my classmates. My peers shared their experiences and thoughts with me in a most unselfish way, driving me to do the same. It is them that helped me perform the deep self-reflection I needed to really understand who I am, and examine the feelings I had internalized and buried so deep I was able to ignore them. We as a group were fortunate to have a professor who inspired greater critical thinking and made sure we always took a broader view of any subject. I want to thank my classmates for teaching me about their countries and cultures, and taking the time to read my blog and offer insights.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Diversity and equity work: Lessons learned. [Video webcast]. Retrieved from                                                                                              https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse %26id%3D2651 0391%26url%3D

Welcoming Families From Around the World

                                                By Lisa Martin

I am sure as a preschool teacher working with a very diverse population I will encounter families from countries I know nothing about. However, as a professional committed to learning all I can about the children and families I serve, this is not a deterrent or obstacle, but an opportunity and challenge. For example, if I were to have a new child whose family came from the Russian state of Chechnya recently I would take steps to learn about the country and its culture. Some of the steps I might take are:

1.   Go online and get a quick history lesson on Chechnya. I would learn they have experienced a great deal of violence in their quest for independence since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 2001, and the majority of the people are Muslim. (Lohr, 2013).

2.   I will engage in dialogue with the family aimed at demonstrating a genuine interest in their expectations and desires for their child, which will provide opportunity for the family to share with me information about their family culture and history.

3.   I will make sure the family feels welcomed in our classroom environment. I will work with the family and empower them so they fully understand their rights as parents and the importance of their involvement and contributions to their child’s education, so that we may collaborate in the best interest of the child. I will also support them in becoming acclimated to the American culture.

4.   I will promote equity through the curriculum and in all interactions with children, families, and colleagues. We must lead by example, and my behavior and actions will speak to my dedication to equity and justice for all. I will be an intentional listener and culturally responsive communicator, making sure the family understands our commitment to inclusion and equity. I want my words and actions to tell families that they and their culture are valued.

5.   I will find creative ways to introduce the new Chechen child’s culture to the other children and allow for open discussion of cultural differences. We can add a map of Russia to the other classroom maps if we do not have one already and mark the new child’s state on it. We can read books about children in Russia.

6.   I would also make a visit to the home. Basically, I will do everything in my power to make them feel comfortable and included in the early education environment.

I hope that if I do these things the child will develop a positive self-image and learn to appreciate difference. More importantly, I want them to value their own social identities, acknowledge their privilege, and not internalize oppression. Children shape their self-identity based on how others perceive them. “Unless the larger society values ad includes a child’s home culture, children as young as 3 and 4 may internalize a sense of not belonging and of themselves and their family as somehow being wrong” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 58). I want each of the families I serve to know I respect them and their culture, and I empathize with their struggles, and will make every attempt to understand their issues. I believe that if I make every effort to learn about my families’ cultures and support my immigrant families as they adjust to life in a new country, I will forge the type of relationships based on mutual trust and respect that lead to powerful partnerships and success for the child.

References:

Derma-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. O. (2010).  Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Lohr, E. (2013, April). What we know about Chechnya? CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/20/opinion/lohr-chechnya-dagestan/index.html.   

Personal Incidents of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression     

                                                          By Lisa Martin

I have lots of memories of being treated with bias and prejudice. I remember my days at SUNY Binghamton and thinking that the town’s people had no concept of what equity should look like in the 1980’s, as they were blatantly racist. It was in Binghamton and its neighboring little towns that I learned how subtle racism could be, and these lessons served me well in the years to come. It was little things like ringing up my purchases and then asking me if I wanted a bag, when no one in line before me was asked that and I had more items. The way the dining hall lady threw my meal card on the table after punching it, but politely handed my White schoolmates theirs back. The waitresses at the fast food like chain restaurants took so long to seat us and even longer to take our orders. A teaching assistant once placed a “B” next to my name to identify me as the Black student in the lab class, and even after I reported it to the head of the biology department nothing was done. The professor for whom the assistant worked gave a speech while staring at me about student’s not belonging and how he would weed them out. All of these people refused “to treat in a fair and just manner and take into account my individual capabilities, but rather chose to discriminate against me based on my race” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. xii). And all of this occurred before my eighteenth birthday.

All of the people that denied me my right to equality and equity above caused me emotional anguish, pain, and self-doubt; after all maybe there was something about me besides my skin color that made me less worthy. On the other hand, all they had to do was treat me the way they treated the members of the dominant culture and to create an opportunity for greater equity for me. I have experienced many such incidents over the past decades, but now I stick up for myself. I am also much more self-assured and confident than that college freshman, so I do not buy into the bias they are handing out or internalize the attempts at oppression.

I watch a lot of television and movies, and there is a great deal of prejudice and oppression displayed on both the big and little screen, some of it based on reality. There have been shows and movies that epitomized stereotypes regarding African-Americans, like the poor family living in the projects on Good Times or the single-mother with several children on welfare in Claudine. To counter these stereotypes they came up with television shows like Julia and The Cosby Family, and even though many members of the dominant class have Julia or the Cosby family as neighbors, it seems so much easier for them to view us in housing projects and living off welfare.

We all need to change and start looking at each other as valuable members of society, and realize that our society can only be as good as we make it. One of my favorite quotes by John Donne, found in an Ernest Hemingway novel, pretty much sums up how we should view ourselves and others, and begs the question, should we not take care of the whole continent and each other?

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee." (Hemingway, 1940).

Derma-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. O. (2010).  Anti-bias education for young children and    ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children

Hemingway, E. (1940). For Whom the Bell Tolls. New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons.