Diversity

The college in which I am employed recently had a discussion amongst the staff about the Institutional Value, Diversity. The discussion of Diversity amongst the college professionals was surprising to me. Culture was identified on more than one occasion as customs, values, traditions. On the other hand diversity in this situation was discussed simply in terms of surface culture. One individual addressed the differences between individual culture and cultural differences, but otherwise many references to diversity simply revolved around ethnicity. Family culture was also mentioned as a difference that is not often taken into account in Higher Education settings, this including the way children have been raised and the roles they play in their family culture. It was stated and seemed to be a general consensus that differences should be accented, not as a means to stereotype, but as a way to gather information and learn from one another. The idea of assimilation and viewing individuals as either a fruit salad or a fondue pot was also mentioned. The fruit salad requires many different kinds of fruit and when all mixed together each still maintains they uniqueness, but collaborate to make a delicious salad. On the other hand different ingredients are also used to make fondue, but over time they all blend and melt together no longer uniquely identifiable, but still delicious.

 I am including a link to a video by Jane Elliott that was done in the 1970s in a classroom to discuss stereotyping, but also to show how teachers and authority can influence the perception of children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bWlTZZN3DY

Fleeing the country and all I could take was...

When thinking of what three items I would take if I had to leave my country it was extremely difficult. It is probably really easy to over think this question. What is necessary, what can I not live without, what matters the most to me? I believe I am going to cheat just as little. For one item I am including all five of my children's baby books. These books include photos since their birth, stories, crafts, every little tidbit of information as their mom I never want to forget. The next item I would take is a cement buffalo. The buffalo is the size of small child's shoe box. It is painted, and looks like a buffalo laying on the grass. It is pretty heavy considering it is made out of cement. All of my grandparents died when I was very young, and this buffalo was my grandmothers, so no matter how old or ugly it is, I still have it sitting in my bedroom by dresser. The third item I would take would be a picture of my husband and I on our wedding day. We were married in the Catholic church and again on the beach in Mexico. The picture is of us on the beach in our wedding attire.I believe my explanation of these three items would be that I value family and my relationships the most. I believe that this is how I define myself. These items represent what is most important to me; love, happiness, family and those relationships. If I were told upon arrival I could only take one item instead of all three I would be devastated, however, my family would still be with me and I believe that the memories will still be with my and new memories can be made. For me hands down the item I would take would be my children's baby books. While I make the books to remember and reflect upon, which is for me. Ultimately they are gifts for them when they are older to keep and remember as well. I feel this is how I can teach them part of their culture, traditions, and self -identification.  While doing this exercise I realized that as we have examined surface culture, dominant culture, and family culture the most important to me is family culture. While I would miss many things about the United States, nothing came to mind that I couldn't live without that reflect dominant culture of the United States or surface culture. Looking back I could have taken a flag or a religions symbol, but those things didn't even come to mind until after the fact. 

Insight Into Research-Week 8

The field of Early Childhood research is new to me. The code of ethics and ethical considerations that must be in place do not vary all that much from different fields of study, but there are slight differences. For example, one of the biggest considerations is gaining informed consent from parents but also assent from child participants. Prior to this class I was unaware that there is a difference. I believe designing a study and focusing on how it will be carried out makes the process more realistic. This process has allowed me to think realistically and with a level of compassion towards potential participants, as opposed to thinking abstractly about a study and participants. This process has allowed me to personalize a study and become committed to following through with the study. The biggest challenge for me was getting my research question to a specific and consice thesis that could be tested. I knew what I wanted to test, but eliminating external factors and insignificant factors was a challenge for me. Defining one word, going from social -emotional development to the word anxiety took weeks for me, but when it finally came to me I knew it was the one testable variable I wanted to use. As I began to see the work of my colleauges throughout the course and the research studies they were designing as well, I began to realize how large the early childhood field is. The amount of research and different avenues are immense. This truly is a field that is expanding and I am excited that we all get to be a part in the process.

International Research

In the journal article, Incorporating Indigenous Stories of Basotho in an ECCD Programme at Leseli Community Centre, the use of Indigenous stories in early childhood education programs is studied to determine the positive effects the stories may have on the development of young people. It is stated that these stories assist in language development as well as social and moral skills that are specific to the Basotho belief system. As traditional means of passing on culture have been replaced due to modern demands of living young children were lacking the transmission of these social norms, so they were incorporated into early childhood education programs (Ntsonyane, 2004).
This website was a wealth of knowledge broken down by thesis' of graduate students pertaining to issues from the African country they are from. I can see this as a way to learn more about the neighboring communities and to compare and contrast issues and trends that one another may be experiencing. It would be interesting to do something similar in the United States broken down by state issues and trends. I also found it interesting that both in the United States and in Lesotho we are trying to incorporate culture into our early childhood programs. While in Lesotho they are trying to preserve their culture we are trying to be diverse and accept all cultures.



Ntsonyane, P. (2004). Incorporating indigenous stories of Basotho in an ECCD programme at Leseli community centre. Retrieved from http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php

Children and Research

As I began thinking about research and children I couldn't help but to think back to my previous job and how research guided the inception of psychosocial rehabilitation for children and adults. As I began to research this I stumbled on the article, "Conducting Psychosocial Research With Children and Adolescents: A Developmental Perspective". This article demonstrates how children have benefited from research over time. As the article mentions, children previously were not considered as individuals or where regarded as little adults, without taking into account the specific nature and unique characteristics of each child. Over time research has shown how children grow, learn, develop, and how each child is different with regard to these topics. Something as simple as the child centered approach is a great example of how research such as the study presented in this article benefits children. With this in mind the profession of Psychosocial Rehabilitation as succeeding in intervening for children to assist them with social and emotional development, and produced coping strategies that over time have proven to be beneficial for many children as well.

Murray, J.S. (2000). Conducting psychosocial research with children and adolescents: A developmental perspective.Applied Nursing Research 13(3), 151-156. Retrieved from: www.appliednursingresearch.org/article/S0897-1897(00)81258-6

Research, Where Do We Begin?

I have decided to focus on the subtopic, is there a difference in the social -emotional development of children from another country once they immigrate?  The vast amount of children that have immigrated from other countries to the United States and the variety of countries of origin make this an interesting topic for me. I have previously worked with children that have suffered severe traumatic experiences and seen the cognitive and psychosocial effects trauma has inflicted upon them. I am curious to know if this can be translated into a different type of traumatic experience such as immigration. Based on my research thus far there is an achievement gap for many children that are immigrants or minorities, I am curious to know if moving from one culture to a completely different one, leaving friends, family, and familiar surroundings can inflict severe trauma and be accounted for when considering the achievement gap. We have discussed how professional development and awareness for issues related to diversity can impact the achievement gap, but what if there is a different root cause that also contributes to this and is being neglected? I am glad that we have dissected our topic as we have. When I first began this I was thinking heavily about how different theories and approaches may affect children from different countries of origin. Thinking about this from a few different perspectives led me to a topic I actually feel very interested in and motivated to learn more about.

International Challenges

Wow, I am not sure what to say about the international challenges. I was very disappointed to not have a contact outside of the United States to share information and resources with. I think it is a fantastic idea and a great way to collaborate with other professionals. I was very interested to read about situations that children have experienced such as natural disasters and how this affects development. At times the scope of thinking about things becomes very narrow. For example, I never considered how the tsunami of the Indian Ocean affected young children's development in terms of early childhood education. I, of course recognized the trauma this would inflict, but not how different age groups had to respond to the tragedy and what the implications for that may have been. I think there are cultural challenges that exist too. As I said maintaining open mindedness and not viewing things so narrowly also comes in terms of ethnocentrism as well. Poverty, religion, culture, norms, mores are all unique to individual societies and interpreting those things in context, as opposed to within the limitations our own culture allows can be challenging. Lastly, at this stage of our professional journey we can make contacts, increase our knowledge base, but ultimately how do we contribute? I suppose I feel a little of my disappointment in not having a contact can be tied to this thought. I know I want to reach out. I want to learn more, I want to contribute to Early Childhood Education regionally, nationally, and internationally. Mentor-ship from established professionals is one way in which this can be accomplished. I feel breaking into that atmosphere can be challenging.

So with regard to the challenges faced and my drive and passion to contribute, my international goal would be to eventually form a type of sister city program linking a program I am working with in combination with a program internationally. I am very interested in The Congo, Angola, or Pakistan for this international resource. There is so much to be learned and even in life when consulting a third party opinion things seem clearer to that other party. I believe having a supportive program to collaborate with, as well as work to enhance young lives strengthens us as professionals. Also, this increases the exposure to cultural diversity for our young children we serve, and hopefully leads to a spirit of altruism later in life.