My Professional Hopes and Goals

When working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds, I have the hope of helping everyone succeed by creating an inclusive environment that allows everyone the satisfaction of being appreciated by others.

One of my goals for the early childhood field is making sure that all families have the resources they need to fully nurture their children. This is important because the parent/family/caregiver is the child’s first teacher and can make the largest impact on the child’s decisions.

I would like to thank my wonderful colleagues for sharing their experiences, ideas and insights related to equity, diversity and social justice. My colleagues have deepened my understanding of a variety of topics in the early childhood field!

Blog: Welcoming Families From Around the World

I am working at Little Leaders Child Development Center. The staff is welcoming a 5 year old girl named Phongpip  from Thailand. This is the first family that I’ve met emigrating from Thailand. There are several ways that I can be culturally responsive to this family!

1.      I’ve learned that this family speaks the primary language of Thai. As an early childhood professional, it is essential that I support the family’s native language. I will have lots of fun learning basic Thai greetings such as

Hello/Good Morning: sawasdee krup(male) Kaa(female)

Goodbye: la gon

Thank You: Kop Koon (krup/kaa).

2.      I’ve learned that the family loves serving spicy food to their children and we will be providing meals such as rice and stews called curries.

3.      I was informed that the family likes playing a popular sport called Takrow. The early childhood professionals will introduce this sport to all of the students. This is how we will play: the players will try to keep a ball made of ratton (woven palm stems) in the air by using their heads, legs, and feet.

4.      Phongpip’s parents wanted everyone in the child development center to know that her favorite song is the Bollywood Dance. We will celebrate Thailand’s culture by playing this song once each week.

5.      As an early childhood professional, I will allow Phongpip’s parents and family to do additional  projects sharing their family history, culture and values with others.

These preparations will help build strong teacher-parent partnerships and will allow the early childhood professional to learn more about the family’s deep culture. It is essential for me to support this family and other diverse families so that I can enrich the quality of education for all!

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I was watching a movie called "Why Did I Get Married?." Four black women entered a clothing boutique and were having a disagreement with each other about how the clothing would fit. One of the store employees who happened to be a white woman calmly interrupted the conversation and stated "We do not keep cash in the store." Although the movie is a family oriented comedy, my persoanl opinion was that this was a racial microaggression. The store employee did not know anything about the customers who were shopping in the store. I kept asking myself "Why would she bother to make such a degrading comment?" Was it because they were women of color? Was it because they were arguing? Or perhaps----Was it something else? If I were the target of such a bias or prejudice, I would feel like others perceive me as a threat, a criminal, or bad person. This incident diminishes equity because the customers were not being treated fairly. The store employee assumed that they had an intent to rob or steal from the clothing boutique. They were being treated as criminals instead of customers. In order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity, I would have to increase awareness that this behavior towards customers and diverse groups of people is clearly unacceptable by going public and speaking out about sensitive issues.