Welcoming Families From Around the World

I just received word that I a student from France will be moving to the United States and becoming a part of my child care facility. I am preparing to welcome this family to our country.

To become culturally responsive towards my new family I will make a personal commitment to getting to know and understand this student on a personal level, which includes understanding him/her socially and emotionally and knowing their academic abilities.

I will do as much research as possible to better understand their cultural interest and beliefs and make arrangement to ensure it is included in my classroom setting.

I will help the student to understand the importance of valuing their home culture while learning different aspects of other cultures.

I will address issues of diversity and use the student’s cultural background to create and effective and meaningful learning experience.

I will be respectful of the family values and beliefs.

 These preparation help make the transition to moving to a new country more pleasant. They also allow me to be better prepared to ensure the child and his/her family feel safe and that they belong.

  

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

       Many of us have experienced some type of bias, prejudice, or oppression at some point in our lives. Whether it was direct or indirect these experiences can have a damaging effect on an individual. Sometimes they are unintentional but are still harmful to the person who is being targeted. One particular incident that I can remember was when my daughter who is deaf begin her high school career.  Many people assume that deaf people are not capable of achieving academically. Although being deaf does present challenges, some deaf people are still able to function like normal people. All throughout elementary and middle school she performed well and did well academically. When we had her IEP meeting to prepare her for high school they had already spelled out what they thought would be best for her and not taking into consideration her goals for herself. She knew that she wanted to be a dancer and that she wanted to go to college, therefore with much hesitation they had to redo her IEP plan.

         As a parent I was angry because they just assumed because she was deaf that she would automatically graduate with a certificate of attendance and not be given the choice to fulfil her dreams. In order for this to be a greater opportunity for equity the administration would have to change. Instead of assuming what they think is best for a child, you should know and understand what their needs and wants are. Today my daughter is a senior in college and was featured in the Valdosta daily newspaper on 4/09/14 as the first deaf student to graduate from Valdosta State University’s Dance program.  The article is below.

 

April 9, 2014

Silent Dancer The Valdosta Daily TimesThe Valdosta Daily TimesWed Apr 09, 2014, 05:50 AM EDT

VALDOSTA — Having watched Sharia Stripling dance and perform for the past few years in Valdosta State University Theatre & Dance productions and musicals, audiences would never know she's deaf.

That's the idea. Audiences are not supposed to know.

Stripling, her instructors and fellow dancers cannot ignore her hearing impairment during preparation, training and rehearsal, but she's not working to become a deaf dancer. She's been training to be a dancer.

In a few weeks, Stripling is on track to becoming VSU Theatre & Dance's first deaf student to graduate with a bachelor of fine arts in dance.

Eric Brandt Nielsen, a VSU dance professor, recalls Stripling applying for the program a few years ago.



"As her advisor, we discussed the challenges of the curriculum after she auditioned for the program," Nielsen says. "We knew she had the talent to get through the performance/technique classes but we needed to define what academic courses we would focus on in the curriculum that would be difficult challenges for her."

Dance faculty also wanted to know the protocol for handling Stripling's studies, as well as the VSU Access Office sign-language personnel accompanying her. Teaching a deaf student challenged the dance faculty, Nielsen says, but he knew from experience it could be done.

"I first saw how music is used for deaf dancers during Peter Wisher’s residency at Glassboro State College in the late 1970s," Nielsen says. "He brought his company of student deaf dancers from Gallaudet University, which is a federally chartered, private university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It is located in Washington, D.C. Peter was the first to show me how speakers on the floor would help deaf dancers feel the vibrations. He also explained that he had those with partial hearing dance in front so that others, who had no hearing, could follow more easily."

Nielsen incorporated these techniques in Stripling's classes. He would speak with signers to communicate with Stripling, or stand in front of her so she could read his lips, or he would assign a student to work closely with her, guiding Stripling by touch to changes in movement.

Stripling has proved an eager student. To become a dancer, Stripling says she knew she must work hard and be prepared prior to classes and rehearsals.

There is the story of her participation in the VSU Theatre & Dance musical "State Fair" a few years ago. Stripling speaks few words, preferring to sign and read lips, but to dance in the show, she had to appear to sing the songs with the rest of the ensemble cast. Though she only mouthed the words, she learned the lines to all of her songs. She knew the words better, earlier than most of the other singing cast members.

There's the personal way she prepares for rehearsals of new choreography. Through a signer/interpreter, Stripling explains. Though she cannot hear the music, she can feel the music's vibrations. With new songs, she sits in her room, increases the full volume on her iPad, then hugs the digital tablet against her chest so she can feel the vibration of the music. So she can understand the seismic rhythms inspiring the dance moves.

Sharia Stripling has been learning to make adjustments since losing her hearing at the age of 4 years old.

"I could hear," Stripling says through the sign-language interpreter. "Mom tells stories of how I sang and baby-talked. One day I remember watching TV and my hearing just left."

Her mother, Teresa Goodman, took young Sharia to doctors but they provided no real answers to why the youngster had lost her hearing.

Goodman has always encouraged her daughter to live life to its fullest while realizing that it will take hard work to achieve her goals. She encouraged her daughter to dance.

"Deaf people can dance," Stripling says. "Maybe I can't hear the words but I can feel the vibrations."

As a child, Stripling found inspiration through Heather Whitestone, the deaf ballet dancer who became Miss America in 1995. Stripling realized all things are possible. Stripling took dance classes in a Macon high school.

Following her VSU graduation, Stripling plans to earn a master's degree in business and physical therapy. The oldest of five siblings, she would one day like to open and operate a business with her family that incorporates dance, physical therapy and cosmetology.

Still, Stripling often runs into the incredulous, those who wonder how or why she dances. Yet, if one stops to consider it, dance makes tremendous sense. She cannot hear the music, but she does not need to hear or speak words to communicate.

Dance is a language that needs no words.

Reference:

http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/local/x694519106/Silent-Dancer

 

 

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

      This week we are discussing micro aggressions.  One experience with a micro aggression that I can remember that happened to me was really not directed at me but because my daughter can’t hear I was asked the question. We were at a church event and I was having a conversation with another church member about my daughter. As I mentioned before she is deaf but she is a dancer and people often wonder how is she able to dance to music she can’t hear. After explaining to them how she is able to dance and is not able to hear, I was asked if she could read. Although I know no harm was intended I immediately assumed that they felt all deaf people could not read. I felt angry and she was also angry because she knew what he had ask because she can read lips. My response to him was yes she can read she goes to school and is making good grades. She just can't hear.

        My observation experiences this week helped me better understand the affects discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes can have on people. The constant use of micro aggressions can cause psychological damage too those who are most venerable. We may not intentionally mean to cause harm but the harm cause can be devastating especially for young children. Although I try to pay close attention to what I say to others, this week helped me understand why it’s important. Because I have been affected by the use of micro aggressions and know how it makes me feel, it is important to me that I do not impose that type of behavior upon another individual.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

 

This week I talk to family and friends to get there definition of culture and diversity. These are some of the definitions I received from others.

Culture is your lifestyle or way of life.

Diversity is the different groups of people

Diversity is the combination of various people, ethnicities, and cultures.

Culture is the history/ background of a person.

 As you can see each definition is different but is what they perceive culture and diversity to be. In this course many aspects of culture and diversity have been studied including those defined above. According to the learning resources culture is referred to as how a group of people live. It is the way we talk, play, eat, and relate to each other. This includes our language, religion, holidays, housing, and food. Culture is definitely our way of life but you determine what and who you are. It is possible to relate to other cultures without abandoning your home culture which is a major influence on how I think about culture and diversity.

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 (NAEYC).

My Family Culture

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

 

A description of the three items you would choose

My Bible

Photo album filled with family pictures

My computer

 

•How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you

II would take my bible because it is the foundation on which my family stand. Our faith has brought us through many situations and without Jesus being our Lord and Savior we would be lost. I would take my photo album because it holds so many memories of us as a family over the years. I chose my computer because I have a lot of my family’s history stored on my computer that goes back to when my great-great grandparents were living.

•Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you

If upon arrival I was told I could only keep one item I would be devastated because each item I chose has important information that relates to my family and our history.

•Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise,

As a result of this exercise not only do I understand how important my family and culture is but that of others is just as important. I understand the value of holding on to your identity and who you are as a person. Just like we would not want to lose what’s important to us, other family’s feel the same way.

 

 

 

 

 

When I Think of Research

Throughout this course I have learned the value of research and how it makes finding answers to questions effective and possible. This course has helped me find ways to use research to help me find answers to questions I may have pertaining to the early childhood field. Research is designed to help me spend time exploring questions or topics that interest me and breaking them down so that I am able to reflect more on them.

Before this course I have read about research but never fully understood the process. After going through this course I have a better understanding of this process and I also understand the value of the process. Within the early childhood field research is designed to help improve the lively hood of young children, therefore the idea of doing research is more valuable for me now.

The research planning, designing and conducting process takes time and much planning to ensure validity of the results. We have to ensure that the process is done correctly. This process may require you to consult other experts, talk to your colleagues and friends about their views, and even reading about different opinions. The design process is a matter of options and as such is the creative process of translating a research idea into a set of decisions about how the research will proceed in practice (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010). There are also different ways in which the designing and conducting of research can be approached.

I faced many challenges from start to finish because this process was new to me. Forming the research question and ensuring that is was not too broad to be research was the first challenge. The next challenge for me was trying to avoid being bias and eliminating any ethical issues. But after exploring and studying the research process more carefully, I am able to apply what I have learned to my research simulation to ensure I am doing it properly.

This course has deepened my passion for the early childhood field and has given me a deeper appreciation for those who have already conducting some form of research. The research process as it relates to the early childhood field requires that much time work and dedication be put into it.

References:

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I.  (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

 

 

 

Research Around the World

The website I viewed was Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

There were many topics of interest listed on this website. Most are final major projects and thesis presented by students from different countries. A few of the projects listed that caught my attention were, Involving Fathers in Early Childhood Care and Development , Assessment of Interaction and Stimulation in Single-Mother Low-Income Families, Assessing the Influence of Different Early Childhood Development Models On Pre-School Children’s School Readiness in Kenya,  and Curriculum Development Using Community Resources.

Because I have had the opportunity to explore international websites in pass courses the information found was not knew but always enhances or builds on what I have already learned. It is always interesting to know what other countries are doing to improve the quality of education they are able to provide to children. This information can also be helpful to others as well. We can always benefit from each other. That is why it is so important to remain in contact with other professionals at home and in other countries.

Any information presented in my course for the purpose of study is always valuable information. Because the information on these websites is always changing or updating I have saved websites for future development opportunities.

http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php