Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

 I spoke to three different people about their personal definitions of culture and diversity.

The first person I questioned is my "boss" at work. She is the Executive Director of the school and I am the assistant director. She is Puerto Rican and married with no children.

Her definition of culture is anything. Culture plays a big part in who a person is; their background, who they associate with, who they have to follow, and gender roles. She believes that culture is engrained in children as young as toddlers. And that is why people are the way they are. But, that your culture can change over time, especially if you are unhappy with it. 

Diversity to her means "Don't be a racist." (She laughed when she said this.) But continued on to say that diversity is a necessity. It is how we get to know worldly things. It is respecting everyone's cultural decisions. 

The second person I spoke to was a teacher at my school. She is older than me, has been divorced and re-married, and has several adult-aged children and stepchildren. She said that culture is who you are as a person. And Diversity is different experiences and acceptance of different kinds of people, not just racially, but gender vs sex.

The third person I spoke to is a friend that I recently reconnected with from high school. He is single and has no children. He states that culture is uniqueness among groups of people, places, and things. Diversity is differences in the masses.

An aspect of culture and diversity that I learned about in this course is the definitions and examples of a culture that my friends suggested. Culture really is everything about how a person lives (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). When Denise stated that culture is anything about a person's life, it circles back to everything that is stated in our textbook.

An aspect that was omitted was diversity. Diversity is such a broad word and I feel that the definitions that were given do not fully encompass the true definition of this word.

While thinking about my own definitions of culture and diversity, it was helpful to hear what my friends thought about these important concepts. I had similar thoughts about their definitions even before hearing theirs, but now feel that my thoughts are valid based on what I have learned previously and what I have heard from my friends. 

My Family Culture

In the event of an emergency, I would take these three items with me:a Hot Wheels car, a cross stitched bird picture that I made, and a book called The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood.

I would choose to take a Hot Wheels car with me because drag racing is something that has been apart of my family culture since I was a little girl. We did not take vacations when I was younger; we went racing for long weekends. I have my extended family at the race track. Not only do I love racing now, but my children also love racing and my son is obsessed with cars. The racecar toy would be a consistent reminder of the love that I have for racing.

The cross stitched picture of a bird would be a choice for me because it is something that I made myself. I enjoy cross stitching. I currently have this picture hanging in my bathroom and when I look at it, it reminds me of my grandmother. Growing up, Grandma had finches as pets. We would visit her once a month. The first month, she would only have two birds. The next month, there would be 10 birds because they had laid eggs. The following month, there would be only two birds again and when we asked her about where they had gone, she would say that she let them go so they could be free. 

Birds have always been special to my mother, sister, and me. On the day that Grandma died, several hundred birds followed my mother home to her house from Grandma's house, about a 20 minute drive. They landed in my parent's yard and just sat there all day long. From that moment, 12 years ago, birds have meant more to us than they did growing up. Grandma always said that she wanted to be free like a bird. The bird picture that I cross stitched has dual meaning and makes me smile when I see it. 

Finally, I would take this fun children's book with me because it is one of our family's favorites. My kids love this book! We take turns acting out the way that the mouse reacts in the story. When I read it to children at my school, it makes me smile because I can see my own children being silly and laughing as we turn the pages.

If I could only choose one item, it would be the Hot Wheels car. I would be sad to not have the others with me. But racing has made me who I am today. I have a racing family that are not just close friends anymore. Racing is a lifestyle choice. 

I really took a look at who I am as a person and the culture of my family while writing this week's blog. I will admit, it took me a while to think of three items that would represent my family. I actually had to talk it out with my best friend because I struggled with choosing just three items. It was eye opening for me because I do have a culture for my children. I haven't ever thought of it as culture, but I do. We race. We love birds. We have true love for one other. And each of those items is something that shapes who we are. 

Final Post of EDUC-6163

When we survey high-class families about their involvement in their child's education, we can really see what is happening in their familial structure that could benefit other families that do not have much family involvement. It could really be helpful to this field because all teachers are always questioning why some families cannot be more involved. Even if it is a reason that cannot be controlled, it would be eye-opening for all involved. 

Early childhood education teachers, and really all teachers, up to the age of 8, or second/third grade, would be able to benefit from this simulation. As an early childhood educator, I would love to learn more about ways to help those children that do not have much parent involvement. I am realistic that this simulation might take a lot of time to 

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

For me, personally, I realize how important research is to this profession. I understand why educators go through such rigorous training and how their personal research can help so many other educators in their classrooms. 

I want to thank all of my colleagues throughout the past 8 weeks. You all have been extremely helpful for me in understanding the research process.  I hope to work with you all again soon!

Research Around the World

What are some of the current international research topics?

I chose to explore the website, European Early Childhood Education Research Association, or EECERA. This website had great research topics that were explored in their journal publication. Many of the research topics were similar to ours here in America: COVID-19, how children are handling lockdown/quarantine, play-based learning during a pandemic, bullying, helping immigrant families, teachers' well being, and social-emotional learning in a preschool setting. I really liked that most of the international topics were so similar to ours. It was easy to relate to these topics. 

What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

I really liked the article that I read about comparing cultural differences in Australia versus Japanese culture. In America, we assume that all international cultures are different from ours, but we forget that other countries feel the same way and are making the same comparisons as us. 

I also enjoyed reading about how teaching math to children under 3 is becoming a popular and successful trend in Australia. As someone who loves math, I find it to be a great idea and that we sometimes do not give children under 3 much credit in this department.

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

This website was extremely easy to navigate. Everything was formatted in a way that anyone could find what they were looking for. I also really liked that there were special issues that were targeted to specific trends. I will most definitely be adding this site to my favorites tab and using it in the future.

References

MacDonald, A. (2020) Mathematics education beliefs and practices of Under 3s educators in Australia. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 28:5, 758-769.

EECERA. (2019, February 05). European early childhood education research Journal (eecerj). Retrieved February 13, 2021, from https://www.eecera.org/journal/

Kim, S & Dreamson, N. (2020) Culturally inclusive early childhood education for sustainability: a comparative document analysis between Australian and Korean curricula. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 28:5, 712-730.

Uplifting Stories

For me, I do not have any real-life experience with research for children or adults. I would however enjoy letting my children participate in a research study that would benefit them or other children of their age range that are in our community. I feel that as a parent, I have the capability to do my own research for my children and then I can make an accurate decision as to whether or not they will participate. 

When I first became a teacher and began working at a preschool in the afternoons, I did speak with one family that had had their children in a research study about baby foods. They had done their background research for themselves and the parents decided that it was okay for their older infant to taste several different foods. The parents watched the child's reaction to the foods and then they reported back to the research team. They had a good experience and I appreciated that they made the conscious choice as adults and parents to allow their child to participate. 

The child did not have any after-effects and the parents were able to save a little money on food items for the week that they served the food. If there were more research opportunities available, I would most definitely allow my own children to be participants. At 7 years old, my daughter would enjoy being a participant, as she has her own opinion about many things. And my son is 2, and would not be able to give the best feedback, but we would be able to use his non-verbal cues to see his reaction. It would be good for all of us!

Personal Research Journey

 For my research simulation, I chose to explore the topic of family involvement in early childhood education based on socioeconomic status. I chose to write about this topic because it is something that I do not have a lot of experience with. I have always worked in middle to upper-class locations where family involvement occurs in a wide range. I like to believe that all parents want to be involved in their child's education, but I fear that that is not always the case. It hits close to home for me because my own parents were extremely involved in my education. Because of my current marital status, my children's father has not always been as involved as he should have been. He trusted me to make the "correct" decisions and now because of our situation, he has begun second-guessing all my choices. He never cared before and now he does. I realize that this is something that is not always based on socioeconomic status, but it does. White, blue-collar men, dads, often times leave the decisions about childcare and education to the mother. 

In Philadelphia, there are plenty of families that send their children to school hungry and tired and only because they have to. If their child presents issues in the classroom based on their behavior or attention to detail, the parents are not always around to assist teachers in helping their children. One reason could be because they do not care. Another reason could be because they are too busy working to keep the lights on in their home. They could be the only parent in the household and are just "too busy" to help their child. 

Ultimately, I want to explore the situational circumstances of a child's home and their parent involvement. I am looking forward to exploring this topic further with the help of my colleagues. If you have any suggestions for resources for this topic, I would greatly appreciate you sharing them with me.

Final Blog Assignment

The past 8 weeks have been extremely eye-opening for me. I realized there were international issues, but I guess I was naive that the issues were so major compared to some here in the states. Obviously, Covid has been an issue for basically the entire world. It is an extremely difficult time to raise our children in, but thankfully there are early childhood programs that are helping our littlest learners cope with the changing world.

Consequence #1

Covid 19

Our country has taken many precautions to help stop the spread of Covid-19. Upping our cleaning and sanitizing practices, taking temperatures periodically throughout the day, wearing masks when in public and in confined spaces. Other countries have not been able to take the same precautions and the virus has been spreading like wildfire. I appreciate that organizations like UNICEF have been offering help to countries that need assistance for children and families who have been affected by this pandemic. 

Consequence #2

Diversity

Diversity is something that is all around us, no matter where we live or what we do. In low-income situations or high-class situations, there is diversity. In early childhood education, we can teach diversity in many ways: through books, discussions, food in a play kitchen, displays in the classroom, etc. By including parents in the process of teaching about diversity through parent involvement at the school, we have a higher chance of helping children care less about color and more a chance of teaching them to accept everyone for who they are.

Consequence #3

Global Fund for Children

This organization is amazing! I really appreciate that they are making such a big deal about education for girls and bringing awareness to situations that only impact young girls. In the United States, there is awareness, but education for girls is not always a goal. It is an idea, but educating all young people is more "important" than girls. For women, there is still a divide in our rights and what our responsibilities are. If we choose to stay at home and not work, we are lazy. If we choose to work outside the home and still have a family, we are selfish. If we choose to not have any children, society looks at us like we are monsters. The Global Fund for Children supports all children, no matter their sex, but they are also bringing awareness to girls in particular, and I think it is something that more organizations should be aware of. 

Personal Goal

I would like to continue learning about how other organizations are helping girls in other countries. I also would like to see that the United States starts valuing teachers like other countries do. Early childhood educators are still viewed as glorified babysitters. It really bothers me that we have the same credentials as elementary teachers but get none of the recognition. I'd like to continue to research how we can bring awareness of the value of ECE professionals in the US and follow the lead of other countries.