Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

 

Purposeful, unintentional, implied, or blatant microagressionism can be hurtful to the victim of those thoughts and words. Personally I have experienced multiple situations of microagression, however most of them I do feel the insult was unintended and seen as a friendly “joke”.

My Experience

Growing up and even into adulthood I have experienced racial microagression. It started to feel like regardless of where I went, who I was with, no matter how hard I tried to fit in with my peers I got the same burning question asked…” What are you?” I am put aback by this rude question every time I am faced with it. “What are you?” What exactly are they asking me, do they mean who am I, all these feelings run through my mind, yet I end with the same result… just let it go Frances, they don’t mean it in a rude or mean way. Coming from a mixed culture and being a Mixed-American, I was never black enough, white enough, or even Native American enough to truly be accepted by either of the groups. Now, however, I began to realize the questions were paired with comments such as, “your hair is so pretty, your skin tone is beautiful, I wish I looked like you,” but my listening normally stopped right after they asked that dreaded question, “What are you?” I have opened my heart, mind, and ears to understanding the people are asking questions to get to know me better and see if they can relate more to me as a person, they are not asking to hurt my feelings or make me feel like I am a “What” rather than a “who”.

 I being from southern Louisiana and from a predominately white demographic area, I have experienced out right racism, while also experiencing microagression. After learning about microagression I am now able to understand more clearly that some statements or words do not have to be meant or intended to hurt or be rude. I can now relax a little and listen to the rest of the conversation before shutting down and getting offended.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

1.    Samantha-

·       Culture- a person’s foundational belief system based in/on their religion, morals, and values.

·       Diversity- a group that have minor similarities and more differences; but can coexist seamlessly

2.  James-

·       Culture- A family’s entire being from raising their children to jobs and anything else a family would do as a unit.

·       Diversity- various cultural groups

3.  Veronica-

·       Culture- the way a group of people live

·       Diversity- multiple groups of people that have different cultures.

 

Reflection:

During this course I gained a better understanding of what each other terms: culture and diversity, meant. Mirroring the collective opinions of my family and friends, I learned culture means what a single groups stands for including religion, morals, values, traditions, and lifestyles. I automatically think about cultural invisibility comes to mind when thinking about examples of culture and diversity. People are so consumed with their personal ideas and beliefs that they are blind to their uniquenesses.

When interviewing friends and family about culture and diversity I feel they omitted their person thoughts and examples of how culture and diversity have effected them. They were focused on defining the term and not really going pass their assignment.

I was enlightened mostly by others definitions of culture and diversity. I had similar views and definitions about bother terms, but was surprised how deep they got with their ideas and thoughts about the meaning of the words. I have definitely opened my mind about the meanings and deeper understanding of culture and diversity.

 

My Family Culture

•If I was forced to select three personal items that could effective represent my family and our culture, I would first choose a cross statue. This cross has been passed down through about 3 generations and now lives with my mother waiting to be passed down to one of the next group of children. The cross represents our family’s faith and religious back ground. It is a clear symbol of what we believe, our values, and what we find important in life. The second item I would want to bring would be my hand-made Native American Chief sculpture. My great-grandmother created this sculpture and has also handed it down through generations. This items embodies our cultural background and family legacy. It shows the pride and strength of a family and an entire ethnic group that refuses to die. The last item I would

select a huge family photo album, which holds hundreds of pictures throughout many years and represents our family. For every family event from wedding, births, and baptisms to barbeques and family reunions we take loads of pictures and put them all in one book.

•I would most likely be devastated if I had now give up two of my three treasured items after we arrived in our new country. It was hard enough selecting three, and to have to be told I would have to limit it to one would be heart breaking. All three of those items have their own significance to my family and me.

•I really set down and thought about all the important things and symbols that could represent our family as a whole and noticed it was actually hard and confusing. Something that I think or hold as important or symbolic someone else in my family might not have the same feelings.  I also found myself looking for items that could show different segments of our culture, from religion, family lineage, and family heritage. I think I did a pretty good job narrowing my entire being into three items, even asking my parents if the items were good and appropriate (which they agreed).

When I Think of RESEARCH...

I remember at the start of this course having very conflicting and overwhelming views of  what I would be required to do. I was completely overwhelmed with life itself, let alone the idea of 8 weeks of research. I have gained a lot of calming information about what it takes to research ideas successful, but I still have a few mountains to climb related to research overall.  I loved the constructive feedback throughout the course, and have gained a better understanding of how to developing and completing a valid research study.

I can admit that I have always been fearful of completing any form of research. Even though I have become more comfortable wih the process of researching, I am still a bit nervous about the whole thing. After going through this course I have learned the steps, terms, and methods of research, which have easied my concerns. The best part of this course is that I am now able to pick and choice appropriate methods and processes that work each type of research study I am a part of.

Throughout this course I have been going through many life changing events, so focusing on soemthing that I already found overwhelming was even more overwhelming. I found myself getting frustrated and losing my drive. I eventually had to seek a counselor, calm down, and push through not only the class, but more importantly my life situation. After refocusing,  I was able to get a full understanding of the research process and was also able to complete the course; gettingone step closer the my goal. After finding the base of my research study, I actually found my research useful in my educational career  which included: creating a Food Drive to help out our local Food Bank, implementing the Buddy Back Pack Program (where low-income students are able to use a new food pantry on campus to take food tiems home over weekends), and implementing the first annual  tree angel program (where faculty and staff are able to adopt a family in need over Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have also become more interested in creating a child care center that assists the families in lower-income areas and possibly starting a Head Start Program in my community.

 

    Some of the challenges I faced during this course were more personal then course related. Of course  personal issues become concerns during the process of the course, but I was able to regroup and get the overall idea of the research process. I found myself struggling this section of 8 weeks, forcing me to go over information repeatedly and pretty much praying I completed the assignment correctly. I looked to feedback from my colleagues and professor to ground me and keep me going even when I wanted to throw in the towel. 

I always knew I wanted to own a Child Care and Learning Center, but after this course I see their is a bigger need in low-income areas for a center that can offer a higher level of education and care for the students. I found myself a few courses ago becoming more interested in the Head Start Program, but that too is limited to specific students and families. I want now to create a center that can embrace families in need, hold a high standard of acheivement, and provide the best education and care I can too ALL  children. 

I feel I have found my career calling after this research course.

Thanks ALL!!!!

Research Around the World

I had the opportunity to review a current topic presented by the Early Childhood Australian organization (ECA). The organization advocated for all young Australians, their families, and the ealry childhood profession.

One of the newly presented research by ECA showed that nearly 70% of people asked feel that affordable early childhood education programs was more important that Paid Parental Leave (PPL) for young families. This finding was not surprising at all to me, because I know if surveyed I would have chosen the same. Unfortunately, affordable child care and education does not mean (at all) that the child would receive the same high quality/standards as higher costing centers/ programs. It would be amazing to have the government in both locations (America and Australia) come together on demanding high quality with affordable prices, so that all children/families would have access to the best educational systems.

The poll conducted was in response to the current debates related to the PPL. After reading this article, I became interested in the PPL concerns and wondered if the US had some sort of like poll or survey, but was unable to find one. The ECA, like me, is very supportive of an effective idea in supporting parents in their ability to spend time with their families, however with spending time some parent must send their children you care centers and need to know/expect their children are getting the best education at the best price.

I liked this website because it had multiple links to research through. They not only presented their personal views and concerns, but also recognized others and respected them. The website and organization posted numerous magazine subscriptions and even allowed viewers to see sample articles from the Early Childhood News. GREAT RESOURCE!

Reference:
Early Childhood Australia. A voice for young children. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodastralia.org.au

Research That Benefits Children and Families-Uplifting Stories

Imagine that you possess the means and the knowledge to conduct research studies about any topic in the early childhood field. Imagine further that you are not restricted by the reality of the present. Imagine that your study will make a major positive contribution to the well-being of children and/or their families. What topic would you choose? What can you imagine the positive contribution(s) would be?

I would easily choose the topic of feeding the world's youth, but I would first focus on my community and state of Texas. If I were able to research ways of be able to feed all starving children and actually be able to implement the outcomes, I would probably be hailed a prophet or some kind of savior of mankind. By researching and inventing a way to end world hunger, I would actually be able to assist in ending multiple issues throughout the world: low education levels, poverty, crime, bad health, etc. The possible positive contributions are endless, because everything filters back to a person's basic needs not being met; which negatively impacts every other part of their lives.

Here's a way that we can stop dreaming, and start doing!

Twitter (#FoodDay2013):

• On October 24, America will celebrate @FoodDay2013, the nationwide movement for healthy, affordable, sustainable food.http://www.foodday.org
• Join millions of Americans on October 24 for @FoodDay2013 to advocate for affordable, healthy, sustainable food.
• #FoodDay2013 is October 24. Millions of Americans will #EatReal & push for better food policies. What are your plans?

 

Personal Research Journey:"

The topic of my research is: What is the lasting effects of being labeled impoverished or having a poverty mindset as a young child? This topic is important to me as an educator, parent, and daughter I am constantly surrounded by children are dealing with the epidemic of poverty. Growing up both parents told me stories about their childhoods; how hard it was, how appreciative I should be, and how it affected who they became. My parents grew up in household where nine children and two parents survived on 50$ a week, however, neither parent felt they were living in poverty. I feel that by them not being labeled impoverished or having the mindset of being in poverty my parents had a huge advantage in having life successes. It is my thought that children that fully believe they are in poverty or have been labeled by peers, adults, teachers, and/or schools to be in poverty end up suffering from stagnation related to poverty. These thoughts are the basis or foundation of my research.

So far this simulation process has been not as overwhelming or boring as I thought it would be. I think I am enjoying this process more because I had the choice of what I wanted to research. I found the assignment of finding creditable resources challenging, but extremely useful. I needed to be able to see the differences in what are the expectations of a creditable resource versus a not so creditable one.

I am extremely passionate about childhood poverty and ending childhood hunger. One of the programs/organizations I am working with is the No Kid Hungry Movement, which is sponsored by the Food Network. September is the awareness month for ending childhood hunger and we support this movement/month by wearing and using the color orange. I am exstending an invitation to my colleagues to support the No Kid Hungry and Ending Childhood Hunger Movements by wearing orange and going to the Food Network website and seeing what each of us could do to end childhood hunger.