Although I had a harder time thinking of specific examples of microaggression that I've witnessed this week, but many times I have seen acts of microaggression between children in the classroom, similar to the examples seen in the readings from Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). I remember one time in our small full day Kindergarten classroom when two girls wanted to play "house" in the dramatic play center. When one of the young boys also wanted to join in with them in their play, the other boys in the class said "Oh, Rosbin wants to play with the girls!" You could see in his face that their comments triggered a concern in his mind as he made a defensive comment like "I'm not a girl!", but he continued his play with them and didn't seem to mind what the boys thought. Thinking back to that scenario now I can't help but wonder how this experience is effecting his opinions of himself within his group of peers and the identity he is forming. In the same classroom, 9 of the children were white and only one had come to the country recently from Guatemala and spoke Spanish as his primary language. He was a very eager student, willing to learn, especially the English language, and very interested in showing his abilities and interests to his teachers and classmates. He always wanted to be seen and part of the group, often making up stories about having siblings or pets at home to feel welcomed by his peers. I think after a while the other children caught on to his elaborate storytelling and began to seclude him from play, didn't want him to sit with them at lunch, and didn't want to include him on the playground. Now, Rosbin's personality accounts for a great many factors, including his family culture and dynamics. The other children in the class might not be specifically targeting his cultural background when they criticize his character traits, but they are creating a negative barrier between themselves and Rosbin that has and will continue to effect his development in many ways.
I once recall being a target of microaggression when our ice cream supplier delivered to our location one hot afternoon last summer and, although we had never met before, I happened to be the only person nearby to open the snack bar and sign for the delivery, so I introduced myself as the director and offered to help. He didn't like that. He immediately asked for my husband, who he had previously been in contact with, and when I said he wasn't available he was extremely standoffish and rather rude that I was the person he had to deal with at the time. I felt as if my being a woman was extremely displeasing to him and that he was offended and annoyed to have to work with a lesser person because of my gender. Overall my emotions were surprised, offended, confused, and building up to defensive against his behavior.
Both of these experiences have shown me that discrimination, prejudices, and stereotypes can place a huge affect on individuals and groups of people who are targets of either intentional or unintentional microaggression. Although I was rather startled by this delivery man questioning my capabilities, I can only imagine that having to deal with forms of microaggressions on a daily basis would become exhausting physically, mentally, and emotionally.
References
Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J.O. (2010). Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves.Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Culture & Diversity from Three Perspectives
The first person I asked to give me a personal definition of culture and diversity stated that culture is a combination of ones family, beliefs, history, and race, and diversity is the differences that people bring together to make up our society. A second person I spoke with focused their definition of culture and diversity specifically toward ethnicity and racial differences between various groups of people, and traditional values that people portray within a set group. Another person mentioned that culture was largely made up of relationships and the social environment that a person is raised and lives. They summarized diversity as the social variety of the differences that individuals and families possess and share as a whole.
These three perspectives on culture and diversity have some similarities as well as some different viewpoints on the topic. The first and third definition provided a more broad definition of the words, listing multiple characteristics such as race, beliefs, history, relationships, etc, and how these characteristics make our society a diverse people. Many of these cultural characteristics were shared by Gonzelaz-Mena as the melting pot of life aspects that make up who we are as a person (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). I tend to agree with this idea that culture is so personal, so independent, but that's also what gives our society its diversity. The second definition was a bit more focused on the ethnic aspect of cultural identity and how our vast races make our society to diverse. After just having spoken with three individuals that I know, it's become more clear that culture and diversity is personal and is thought of very personally as well. Our opinions are defined by our own culture and experiences, which will in turn also affect how we view others. I feel that we should always be open minded about our neighbors and willing to learn more about the various cultures that make our world so diverse.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Culture and Diversity (2011) [DVD] Perspectives on Diversity and Equity. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Ngo, B. (2008). Beyond “culture clash”: Understanding of immigrant experiences. Theory into Practice, 47(1), 4–11.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.
These three perspectives on culture and diversity have some similarities as well as some different viewpoints on the topic. The first and third definition provided a more broad definition of the words, listing multiple characteristics such as race, beliefs, history, relationships, etc, and how these characteristics make our society a diverse people. Many of these cultural characteristics were shared by Gonzelaz-Mena as the melting pot of life aspects that make up who we are as a person (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). I tend to agree with this idea that culture is so personal, so independent, but that's also what gives our society its diversity. The second definition was a bit more focused on the ethnic aspect of cultural identity and how our vast races make our society to diverse. After just having spoken with three individuals that I know, it's become more clear that culture and diversity is personal and is thought of very personally as well. Our opinions are defined by our own culture and experiences, which will in turn also affect how we view others. I feel that we should always be open minded about our neighbors and willing to learn more about the various cultures that make our world so diverse.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Culture and Diversity (2011) [DVD] Perspectives on Diversity and Equity. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Ngo, B. (2008). Beyond “culture clash”: Understanding of immigrant experiences. Theory into Practice, 47(1), 4–11.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
My Family Culture
If I were being moved to a foreign country after a catastrophic event, the first small, personal item I would bring with me that represent my family's culture would be a photograph of my family. One particular photograph that comes to mind was taken of my entire family at my wedding. I would explain to the people of the country I would be traveling to that this photograph is a physical reminder of my loved ones that helps me to keep them in my heart and my mind when I cannot be with them. Pictures and imagery are such a huge part of our culture, from old family photos to everyday digitals on Facebook. I know I enjoy keeping many memories through photo reminders. I would also bring one particular family heirloom that was handed down to me from my great-grandmother, a small Catholic Bible. I received this Bible from my great-uncle when she passed eight years ago and truly felt honored that she would want me to have something so dear of hers. This special heirloom handed down to me has significant meaning and an item that I hold very dear. The third item I would want to bring is a old tile mold that has the name of my grandfather engraved in the stone. He played a major role in building our current town and the local tileworks factory that is well-known in the Bucks County, PA area. This particular mold was used by my grandfather to mark his work and was given to my mother by the tileworks foundation as an heirloom when he passed.
If I was told that I could only keep one of the three items when arriving in this new country, I would absolutely feel torn as to which item I would bring, especially if I didn't know what would become of the other two items that are so important to me. Thinking about each one, I think I would end up choosing the Bible given to me by my great-grandmother. This Bible not only has strong reminders of her, but also of other family members and memories, not to mention they hold God's spiritual guidance to get me through such a trying time.
Overall, thinking about this hypothetical scenario has made me realize even more that culture is so much more than skin deep. It is a typical conception that culture is race, ethnicity, or where you come from, but culture is also about relationships, memories, and family values that you grow old with.
If I was told that I could only keep one of the three items when arriving in this new country, I would absolutely feel torn as to which item I would bring, especially if I didn't know what would become of the other two items that are so important to me. Thinking about each one, I think I would end up choosing the Bible given to me by my great-grandmother. This Bible not only has strong reminders of her, but also of other family members and memories, not to mention they hold God's spiritual guidance to get me through such a trying time.
Overall, thinking about this hypothetical scenario has made me realize even more that culture is so much more than skin deep. It is a typical conception that culture is race, ethnicity, or where you come from, but culture is also about relationships, memories, and family values that you grow old with.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Final Thoughts about Building Research Competency in ECE
Throughout the Building Competencies in Research course, I feel as if I have had an immense amount of exposure and guidance through research techniques, methods, considerations, preparations, ethics, conduct, and more. My previous exposure to any type of research had really only revolved around the scientific community and the structure used in science to develop and implement experimental studies. I was surprised by the qualities of educational research that are utilized in studies on young participants, such as child and parental consent, ethics of conducting study, methods and options for collecting data, etc.
My thoughts about conducting research were really confined by a different way of setting up an experiment. Although the structure of many of the articles we read throughout the course had similar structure, including an introduction, methods description, results, discussion, and conclusion, I was introduced to new concepts in research in the education field. For instance, the methods of collecting data, whether quantitative or qualitative, as well as the use of sources through triangulation were new concepts. I also found that the term interpretivist can play a significant role in studies, as it can become a challenge for researchers to divide their opinions, projections, and initial thoughts when collecting information through observation and, particularly, personal interviews. It is often difficult to divide our human nature to hold to personal opinions, speculations, predictions, and viewpoints when hypothesizing about a topic, however it is an important factor to maintain knowledge and regulation of throughout a study in order to obtain accurate results.
Over these 8 weeks, one of my first challenges was determining a topic that would make sense and theoretically work for this simulation study. As the course moved on however I felt as if the information, readings, and articles we were assigned provided a tremendous amount of background information regarding how studies are properly planned and executed when it comes to working with children in an educational, social, etc. environment. On a more personal note, unfortunately this semester also challenged me on time, but I feel like I was able to maintain management of assignments to the best of my ability.
I think that after taking this particular course, my exposure to early childhood has really opened to a new light of childhood studies through formal research. Their are definitely many factors to keep in mind when studying children that are vital, not only to the research aspect, but more importantly, to the children, parents, and families that are participating. The study examples that I have read about these last 8 weeks are much different than my previous experiences studying plants, animals, bacteria, viruses, etc. They deal with something much more fragile - real lives that are easily influenced and affected by outside sources. However, through the benefits I've already witnessed, research on early childhood education has an immense amount of benefits to the field that will continue to create positive environments, programs, and learning for young children.
Thank you to everyone who read and posted on my blog. I appreciate all your comments, thoughts, and suggestions for my future research in ECE!
Caitlin
My thoughts about conducting research were really confined by a different way of setting up an experiment. Although the structure of many of the articles we read throughout the course had similar structure, including an introduction, methods description, results, discussion, and conclusion, I was introduced to new concepts in research in the education field. For instance, the methods of collecting data, whether quantitative or qualitative, as well as the use of sources through triangulation were new concepts. I also found that the term interpretivist can play a significant role in studies, as it can become a challenge for researchers to divide their opinions, projections, and initial thoughts when collecting information through observation and, particularly, personal interviews. It is often difficult to divide our human nature to hold to personal opinions, speculations, predictions, and viewpoints when hypothesizing about a topic, however it is an important factor to maintain knowledge and regulation of throughout a study in order to obtain accurate results.
Over these 8 weeks, one of my first challenges was determining a topic that would make sense and theoretically work for this simulation study. As the course moved on however I felt as if the information, readings, and articles we were assigned provided a tremendous amount of background information regarding how studies are properly planned and executed when it comes to working with children in an educational, social, etc. environment. On a more personal note, unfortunately this semester also challenged me on time, but I feel like I was able to maintain management of assignments to the best of my ability.
I think that after taking this particular course, my exposure to early childhood has really opened to a new light of childhood studies through formal research. Their are definitely many factors to keep in mind when studying children that are vital, not only to the research aspect, but more importantly, to the children, parents, and families that are participating. The study examples that I have read about these last 8 weeks are much different than my previous experiences studying plants, animals, bacteria, viruses, etc. They deal with something much more fragile - real lives that are easily influenced and affected by outside sources. However, through the benefits I've already witnessed, research on early childhood education has an immense amount of benefits to the field that will continue to create positive environments, programs, and learning for young children.
Thank you to everyone who read and posted on my blog. I appreciate all your comments, thoughts, and suggestions for my future research in ECE!
Caitlin
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Australasian Journal of Early Childhood
The website for Early Childhood Australia (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/) provides many links to early childhood research, including Early Childhood news, Every Child magazine, and Everyday Learning Services. One particular resource of early childhood research, the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood (AJEC), is Australasia's foremost scholarly journal and the world's longest-running major journal within the early childhood field (Early Childhood Australia, 2010). Some of the recent topics discussed in research articles include early childhood curriculum and the consideration of Aboriginal books in literacy, curriculum guidelines through comparison of New Zealand and England, and children’s transition to school in Sydney, Australia from Bangladeshi parents. It was refreshing to see the variety of research topics being completed in Australia’s early childhood field. One article I came across discussed the impact of children choosing free literature typically promotes positive family and social interactions between story characters and that family members took an active part in the family’s literacy through reading at home. It was also insightful that there are many topics and areas of early childhood that play a big role in the formation and development of curriculum, such as popular culture, child play, literacy, school readiness, and culture.
References
Early Childhood Australia. (2010). http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/australian_journal_of_early_childhood/about_ajec.html
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Research that Benefits Children and Families: An Uplifting Story
One topic that jogged my memory and interest this past week is the devastating physical and emotional hardship of childhood leakaemia. My husband's aunt, Dr. Patricia Buffler, the Dean of Nursing at the University of California Berkley, has been the head of research on childhood leukaemia and recently found that their are significant benefits to children attending day cares and schools during early years and the prevention of leukaemia. Through Dr. Buffler's interview with BBC News UK, she explains how early exposure to illness and experiencing coughs and colds will actually boosts a young child's immune system against more severe illness, such as leukaemia - a malignant blood disorder (Buffler, 2008). She summarizes that by attending a playgroup, a child's risk of developing one common type of leukaemia is cut by about 30% according to research (Buffler, 2008).
This current research being conducted on childhood leukaemia, that involves children in physical studies, has a great benefit to all those with this childhood illness. By studying the impact of children being involved in playgroups and day care programs, with minimal exposure risk, we can help prevent the bigger risk of such a horrific disease. Dr. Buffler's research at the University of California has certainly provided further insight into this severe childhood illness.
References
Buffler, Patricia. (Speaker). (2008 April 29). Daycare 'cuts leakaemia risk'. [Interview]. UK: BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7372568.stm
This current research being conducted on childhood leukaemia, that involves children in physical studies, has a great benefit to all those with this childhood illness. By studying the impact of children being involved in playgroups and day care programs, with minimal exposure risk, we can help prevent the bigger risk of such a horrific disease. Dr. Buffler's research at the University of California has certainly provided further insight into this severe childhood illness.
References
Buffler, Patricia. (Speaker). (2008 April 29). Daycare 'cuts leakaemia risk'. [Interview]. UK: BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7372568.stm
Friday, May 13, 2011
My Personal Research Journey
The topic I chose for the research simulation is the development of fine and gross motor skills in early childhood. Specifically, I would like to reflect more on the following three subtopics: pattern of normal development of fine and gross motor skills for children between the ages of birth to two years, methods of promoting positive muscle growth and skills through types of movement activities in the home and school, and how surroundings and relationships influence developing muscle function during early childhood. Personally, I have a scientific background through my undergraduate studies in college, and I find the growth and development of the human body, especially from such a young age, to be fascinating. Already, I have read through a few professional articles on the topic of how motor skills are best learned, practiced, and refined through early childhood and have grown more interested in finding out more on how this area of early chlidhood development can be applied in my field and program. I have background in researching for projects and papers, but some of the simulation processes is a new experience.
After completing the research chart, which was a new process for me, I feel as if it helped me to organize my thoughts and the information provided. I think it is a great organizational tool when reviewing resources for research. From the Professor Davis’ comments, there were a few areas that I could review again and make changes to for the future. I think I tend to elaborate in certain areas beyond what may be needed - an area of writing I would like to simplify - so this assignment put that idea into perspective for me as I continue my research. If anyone has any suggestions for me regarding the simulation research project, my topic, or resources that have benefited you - please feel free to share!
Caitlin
(Blog 2)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)