Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Fellow colleagues, by the time you read this I will be in Peru visiting my son and daughter in law, and will be very remote at times so I don't know if I will be able to respond. As soon as I get home I will read you posts, as I look forward to learning from all of your experiences. My apologies.

I think the most microaggression I have experienced is in the early childhood field. I feel I am always getting defensive and having to justify it as a viable career and an important part time of a child's and families life. I have heard parents refer a person when we are looking to fill a teaching position; they say "she is a great babysitter, I think she would be perfect for the job." Sometimes I just let it go, other times I try to explain that there is much more that goes into the job than babysitting. Wages for early childhood professionals are very low in comparison to Kindergarten teachers, so when the word "just" is put infront of early childhood the feelings of inadequacy pop up. Because I have been racialized only a few times I can only imagine the oppression felt by ongoing assaults, as Dr. Sue explained it is the accumulative effects that are so damaging.

This causes me to have a sharp ear as well as be impecable with my own words, and speak up so the shift to equality can take place!

Prospective on Diversity and Culture

What is culture and what is diversity?

Two of the answers I received were very similar, both from men, one a young white American, the other an Italian immigrant.
Culture=was defined as the collective personality of a set of people.
Diversity= was defined as different, or group of mixture of different people or beliefs.
I would say if I were asked these questions before this class this is how I would have responded. Through this course I have learned there is much more than collective beliefs or a group of people. These definitions are what I would consider surface cultures, but each person has their own culture due to experiences, privilege or disadvantage, environment, birth order etc. There is so much that makes us different that not even the differences are the same. The third answer I got was from a teacher who immigrated with her parents in the 70's from England. She said Culture and diversity are similar, it is the daily routine at home, a way of interacting socially. When she moved they felt like they were coming to cowboy country in Colorado, she knew they were cowboys because they had guns hanging in the back window of their truck, she had never seen a gun. Back in England the're whole village only grocery shopped on Friday or Saturday. Sunday after church people take a walk and picnic on the country side, then they go to the pub and have a Guinness or lemonade and sit outside talking for hours. Because the little town in Colorado was mostly ranch land there were no social shopping or gathering places. She never became accustom to this life style, she married a man from her home town in England and stayed in the area raising their children as American's.

This gave me such insight to a person I have been working with for years and never asked her about her culture. As I was writing the reflection this week I was speaking of a way my culture was misinterpreted and still felt anger towards this person, this experience took place in the early 70's. As I wrote it I realized there was no way this person could see the misinterpretation because it wasn't part of her reality. Suddenly I felt no more anger. I will really enjoy people much more asking questions to learn more about their deeper culture. 

My Family Culture

 The picture above is a little ceremony pouch, it contains a sage stick picked from my yard (the smell of it brings so many comfort feelings of home),  the shell is used in smudging / cleansing along with the sage stick. My family as a child was filled with religious ceremony, it has evolved through the years. And lastly the compass my father used in WWII, and a painted metal bead of my mothers. I would describe my parents who have passed and the memories and gifts that shaped who I am.

I would have to choose one picture out of many of my families favorite mountains, or backpacking trip. When describing this I would recount adventures and feeling the outdoor space gives me.

Last I would bring a wildlife book, not only would I love looking through it at pictures of familiar companions and describe to another the special features and strength each one holds, but also I would begin introducing myself with my new surroundings and its wildlife and learn from my new host country.

Being told I could only choose one item I would choose the pouch pictured above, this would be a scary feeling of being detached from the things I feel comfort and safety from.

My grandparents were in this situation, although it was their choice. Non the less I completely understand how food, traditions and language can be such an important piece of the comfort someone feels in a new place. I have always understood how important family is, but this gives new meaning to a family unit. I would want to go where ever my children lived, I would want to go to see the school my grand daughter would be in. All of the things we are told to make sure we accommodate extended family, that would be me. What a great perspective I have never put myself in.

Research

"Play is the highest form of research." Albert Einstein 

After this course, play is the furthest thing from my mind when I think of research, although Einstein's saying is very true. First I must thank my colleagues for your thoughtful perspective and great questions, Tammy your patients and extension of thought has been very valuable, I'll be honest, not easy! 

• This class has helped me be efficient when looking through research with tips to find just what I'm looking for. It has given me a great appreciation for research and all that goes into it. I have tools that help me discern what type of research (qualitative, quantitative or both), the validity and how ethical it is and the importance of that.

• I never thought I would be interested in conducting research, the more I learned the more my curiosity was peaked and I wish all of us were able to conduct our studies and share the result. I would really love to do a very small scale version of my research simulation because curiosity killed the cat, but the cat died happy. I have the utmost respect for researchers and I feel I have the tools to discriminate ethical and valid studies. 

• The lessons were many in planning, designing and conducting research with young children. First I felt I had narrowed down my design, as I was writing the outline I came up with so many extraneous variables. This caused me to go back and alter and change many of the pieces, such as the participants, the questionnaires, the interview method, and how many programs would participate, giving new meaning to flexibility. It comes down to relationships, whether it is with the participants or designing questionnaires or interview questions to research relationship.

• The biggest challenged was narrowing down the topic, we were all warned to keep it simple. Because I didn't heed the warning as I was picking what methods I would use it was overwhelming and would not be feasible. I choose some simpler quantitative methods to collect data and analyse then the meat of the research is the informal interview. This is where I felt the real relationship to cultivate learning would be reviled.  

• In the research process I feel a gentleness towards early childhood workers. Its funny, I haven't even conducted the research but by thinking of every angle I could and the challenges each situation brings, I can no longer blame anyone for not doing or knowing what is the best for children. The erge to cultivate a relationship with anyone in the early childhood field has become my new focus.  

Thank you again to everyone for this insite and learning. 

Research Around the World

                     Early Childhood Australia http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

                                      The ECA is equivalent to the U.S. NAEYC

One issue I was very interested was the National Quality Reform that took place about a year a go with the Australian federal government, where they are willing to invest in early childhood. “The benefits to children of good quality education and care in their early years cannot be overstated: they are immediate and lifelong.” This has spurred a $300 Million dollar investment in services and wages, very inspirational.

Some new insights I learned from this website is the focus on Intentional teachers, in comparison to explicit teaching, which is necessary for example in teaching kids how to use scissors. There are three parts that go in-depth on how teachers can use intentional teaching by following the lead of children, or initially teacher directed.  This is a great example how all forms of teaching follow the early childhood pedagogical philosophy. Below is the link to the video of the 3 part series.

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/e-learning-videos/talking-about-practice/intentional-teaching/

It is very interesting that ECA has been in existence since 1938, they were formerly called Formerly the Australian Pre-School Association. They have been producing professional research and documentation supporting early childhood for over 50 years. Because of their longevity I understand the investment the government is willing to put forth because they recognize the importance with such a long history. 

Research that Benefits Children and Families

            The research topic I am interested in is the benefits of children’s play/learning in a naturalized setting. There is more research out there then I originally thought, but the focus I would concentrate my study would be with programs in cities with limited natural space. The data would be collected in participating programs as they are right now. Then data collected after teacher training in the same programs and adding natural features to outside spaces. The purpose of this study would be to illustrate the gains in creative play, problem solving, child initiated experiences, expanded language and corporative play. All of these illustrated gains involve teacher support, asking open-ended questions and seeing play as an important part of academic growth.

        The benefits of this study would be creating quality-learning experiences for children of all socio-economical levels. This in turn would reduce the achievement gap when entering kindergarten. Benefits of teacher education on age appropriate open ended play as an important part of children’s development in all domains. Value would also come for communities to look at play spaces for young children in public parks and schoolyards. Many community natural spaces are built by the community itself, providing ownership and space for families to enjoy.

Topic of Research

Benefits of Naturalized Play Supported by Adults: Learning Experience for 3 and 4 years old Children in a Preschool Setting.

This is my topic; it has been transformed many times! I found it very difficult to narrow it down, and am not sure if I have achieved that? 

My large scope goal is to make quality child care accessible to all children. I had to back track quite a bit, because I think the way to achieve this is to have Universal Preschool. But one of the arguments against that is the fear of standardized assessments or implementing academic curriculum. I would like to emphasize play as an age appropriate learning tool to policy makers.

Because of my naturalist background and my hope to transform fixed plastic structures in playgrounds to naturalized play spaces, I must first illustrate the benefits of naturalized play. The more I have experienced and read, the only way nature play will happen successfully is by having teachers use this free, rich resource. This includes changing the perception that outdoor play is used as a teacher break, or that weather is bad.

I am really excited about this because it is my passion. I am apprehensive because there are so many pieces to the research puzzle. It helped me so much to use the texts 5 key points in writing a Literature Review, each article I read gave great examples. I am also getting great resources from the articles I am reading from the reference list. 

I welcome any suggestions or input!