I really enjoyed this course, I was able to challenge myself and reflect on experiences that really defined who I am. One hope that I have when working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that classrooms represents all of their culture.I really hope that every child and family can feel and be accepted as they are.
One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity and social justice is that we see continue to see progress. Progress is so important and really makes a difference. We have to celebrate the things that we have overcome and continue to make differences. The first step of anything is awareness, so making families and people aware of diversity, equity and social justice is a big step.
Thank you colleagues for supporting me and challenging my thinking. It has been a real blessing to write each of you this last 8 weeks.
This post hit home to me because I had a lady in my training last week from Singapore. When I found out a month ago that I was going to have this lady in my training, I began to do my research on Singapore, really focusing on the child care system. The reason I did this is because I train on how to assess quality teacher child interactions, and I needed to ensure that what I was saying could a line to the culture of Singapore. I learned that Singapore child care system is a little different from America's mainstream child care, but that there are strides to really focus on quality care outside of the home.
In addition to researching Singapore, when I met Siren, my participant from Singapore, I asked her to tell me about the child care system she worked with. I asked her this because I didn't want to make the assumption that what I researched about Singapore was her experience. She was able to share with me her experience with child care, and the purpose of attending my training.
To answer the questions of the blog:
Since I work with adults who work with children, I will use that position to answer the following questions:
1. The name of "your" participant country of origin: Singapore
2. At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards the participant? 1. Conduct research 2. Ask the participants their experience instead of just assuming 3. Being aware of my own bias 4. Allow participants to share their stories and experience that may be different from the dominant culture 5. Create a diverse learning environment
3. A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the participant. I believe that the steps that I am taking will allow the participant to be comfortable in our discussions, and by asking their experiences, let them know that we value them an their opinions.
When I reflect on my experience with bias, prejudice and oppression, I think the experiences that hurt the most were the ones that happened on the "sly". When I say the "sly" I mean that it was done in a passive aggressive manner. The experience that I have been thinking about the most lately was when I was working as a Director of a Child Care Center. When I was first hired to create a child care center from scratch. My boss who was a male, only expected me to work with the children because he believed that was my "place". When we first opened we were having some financial issues because we didn't have enough families yet. I had worked at a center before and wanted to share my financial experience with my boss because I had overcome the same problem at my previous job. I went to my boss with my idea, and basically was told not to worry about it, just to worry about the children because that was what I was good at, because women were good caretakers. At the time, because he said it in a laughing manner, I didn't let it get to me, but now I know I was a victim of sexism.
The way my story diminished equity, was I wasn't even given the chance to try my idea because I was out of my "lane". Our business ended up suffering, until we hired a financial consultant who was a woman. When I shared my idea with her, she tried it, and it worked, We were out of debt within 3 months.
The feelings that were brought up because of this was hurt, confusion and the feeling that I wasn't good enough, or smart enough to run a child care center. It also hurt my professional feeling because it made me feel like I was only the "babysitter" and that was it.
The fact that someone was hired and heard me out, lets me know that my boss had to be moved aside so that I could have an opportunity to try out my idea, that ended up working.
It's so funny now that I am able to spot different isms out, before I knew about them, but wasn't so aware. Now I am fully aware and find myself pointing them throughout my week.
This week I learned about microaggressions, I actually have experienced microaggression, but I just never knew what it was called. According to Derald Wing Sue (2011), the speaker
of the media segment, “Microaggressions are brief everyday indignities that are
verbal, behavioral or environmental, that they may be intentional or
unintentionally communicated to women, to people of color, to gay/lesbians that
have an insulting message behind them that often time causes severe
psychological distress and harm” (Laureate Education, 2011). I want to share my experience of microaggression, I shared this experience in my weekly reflective journal assignment, but since you all can't read it, I will share it with you all. I have experienced microaggression, and for me it happened with my white friends or even co-workers. Once I was riding back from lunch with a co-worker who I felt close to. We were talking about some of the child care centers we worked with, and some of the teachers we really needed to mentor. During the conversation, my co-worker looked at me and said, “Cierra, sometimes I forget that you are black because you don’t act black.” I remember being upset, but not wanting to say something because I was afraid that I would be labeled as the “angry black woman.” I looked over at my co-worker who was smiling at me, and I could tell that she didn’t mean any harm, but I still felt hurt, anger and dishonored. I think what makes microaggression so interesting is that it is not done on purpose, most of the people who say it, is not aware that they might offend the person they are saying the comment to. I have to admit that I have done it before. I think the reason I did it is because I wanted to relate to the person. I know it is werid, but for some reason I thought that is how I let the person know that I know they are different and I made note of that. It's crazy, I know, and I won't be doing it ever again. Reference: Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
The term culture means so many things to different people, and this week's blog assignment proved that. This week I spoke to my mom, boyfriend and bestfriend, and ask them some questions about culture.
I asked all three people what are their thoughts about diversity and culture.
My Mom:
Culture is everything, I think it has to do with how people live. In theory everyone wants to be diverse, but it's actually hard because everyone wants to be accepted.
Boyfriend:
Well look at our relationship, laugh out loud. We are so different from each other. I mean I was raised in Dallas, and you were raised in Austin, and that contributes to who we are as people. I like diversity and I like learning from people who are different from me. I love that we are from different races and cultures, I learn so much from you everyday.
Bestfriend:
I think culture is important, but I really don't know what my culture is. I get culture confused with identity. My mom and I was just talking about the importance of dating someone who is from the same yolk as you. When you date someone like you, it makes the relationship easier.
I learned a lot from the answers I received and thought a lot about what they all said. My mom's definition of culture is how I view culture. I also believe that culture is everything and it is how people live.
Everyone's opinion of culture is different, but my bestfriend had a point about dating someone who is from the same yolk as you. Don't get me wrong, I love my boyfriend, but I am happy that we share the same "deep" culture such as religion.
Culture is an interesting topic to learn about, because it is everyone, and it is more exciting to hear how other people view it.
I love the scenarios when you have to decide 3 things to take with you. It's like you have to categorize your life. So after much thought I think I have my answers to the questions below.
1. Three items you would take to represent your family culture in case of a major catastrophe.
I wish this was simple, but it isn't, but I would take:
1. My chest of family photos
2. My cell phone
3. My chest full of letters from family member
So these three items represent something special to me. The chest full of family photos has all my photos of my family in there. There are pictures of my grandparents when they were young, and all my family. What I think is so interesting is that people don't take pictures for family albums anymore, but really now for Facebook and social media. The chest with all my photos gives me memories and remind me of where I came from.
My cell phone is my favorite thing, and it holds pictures, text, music and other things that represent my family. I have videos of gatherings we have had, and pictures that will never be deleted.
Since I was about 7 years old, I have been saving letters. I remember writing letters to my friends in between classes. I also remember there was a time in my life when my mother couldn't afford a home phone, so I communicated with family members via letters in the mail. My grandma and I wrote letters all the time, nearly every week, and she would share stories with me, and I would learn a little something about my family.
If someone told me that I could only keep one item, it would have to be the phone. The videos on it are special, and one is of my grandma on her 85th birthday.
What I learned about this exercise is that I don't items per say that represent my family culture but I do have memories. When I was doing this exercise I was looking around my house to find items that represented my family, but all I could find was pictures. I thought that was very interesting!
Another semester is coming to close. I can almost feel graduation on my face! This semester turned out to be quite a joy. From sitting my top on my lap in airports, hotels and even Uber, I have successfully completed another course in my master journey. As my last blog assignment for EDUC 6163, I have some questions that I am going to reply to!
1. What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?
Answer: I really don't know where to start. I know when I first started this course, I remember a streak of fear coursing through my body, that even the word "Research" scared me. I believe what saved me was the awesome handouts, textbook and of course Dr. Parrish. I learned that research is a process, but it can be done, and you have a choice on the path you can take to get it there.
2. In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?
Answer: Research is not a bad thing. Actually after planning out a research design, I actually understand research and the process a lot more, and feel that research might play a part in my future with early childhood.
3.What lessons about planning, designing and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?
Answer: The real questions is what did I not learn? I entered this course not knowing a thing about research, except that it gave answers to our questions. Now I know how to select a topic, write a hypothesis, design a study, select participants and even determine dependent and independent variables. 4. What were some of the challenges you encountered-and in what ways did you meet them?
Answer: I hated the week when we had to turn our research topics into quantitative designs. I repeat, I hated that week, and believe I even cried the Sunday it was due. (Yes I am a dramatic person!) I wanted my assignment to be perfect, but I had no idea how to turn my research topic into a quantitative design because I had selected the topic to be a qualitative design in my head. I was so frustrated that week. But I learn so much from the comments Dr. Parrish left me and I now feel more confident in the quantitative design, just please don't ask me to complete another one. 5. What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?
Answer: Not much! I never really considered myself a researcher, and still don't, but I know that is something that I am capable of doing. Humans in the early childhood profession wear many hats and have magical powers. I remember when I was a Director, and the Account specialist asked me to write down a list of things I did at work daily, so that they could try to match my pay to my worth. Well I remember the page was two and half pages long. The Account specialist came back to me and said, "Oh my, I would have never guess that you did this much? We can never pay you what your worth, but we do appreciate you and will buy you breakfast every Friday." So I guess it's safe to say that I can add "design a research study" to my list of things I can do!
I enjoyed reading all of your post and discussions, see you in our next course!
The website I choose to explore was Early Childhood Australia, there at two reasons why I chose Early Childhood Australia, the first reason is because it's the Australian equivalent to the U.S. based NAEYC and second, my job is talking about sending me there to train teachers, so I wanted to have a strong foundation before I go.
Some of the current international research topics included, The role of research in professionalizing early childhood, why play-based learning, the ethics of early childhood research and my favorite Leveling the Playing field for Kindergarten entry: Research implications for preschool early literacy instruction.
What made this explorations so amazing was how much information I learned about Australia and the different things they are doing with early childhood, for example, the program Kids Matter, which works with early childhood education and other services, to support the mental health and well-being of young children (Early Childhood Australia, n.d.). Another thing that I found that was insightful was about the importance of talking to children and using language everyday. What I learned is that by helping children talk, and by listening and responding to them, is a critical occurrence that must happened daily both in the present and the future (Early Childhood Australia, n.d.). Children learn from us, so it's important that we set an example, and we provide opportunities for children to use language.
I really enjoyed exploring and learning from this website. Something else that I found valuable is that the website provides a lot of resources, and one of the resources was different modules, some of the modules that are available is outdoor learning, duty care for workers and the role of certified supervisor. I thought this information would be useful to me because there were topics to that interest me.
Reference: Early Childhood Australia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2015, from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/
If I could conduct research on children on any topic, I would choose to conduct research on the effects on effective teacher and parent relationships in low-economic communities. The reason I choose this is because I want to see the benefits of a healthy relationship between the child's teacher and their parents. Often I see that teachers and parents sometimes are just going through the motion, or doing the bare minimal. I know that there is currently research that looks at the teacher and parent relationships, but I really want to conduct this research in low-economic communities, where teacher-parent relationships are not frequently seen. My research question would be, "The benefits of teacher and child relationships in low- socio economic communities." I would choose five centers to work with for a period of three years.The reason I want to choose three years because I want to see the lasting effects and not temporary effects.
I imagine that the positive contributions is that we would see that by having effective teacher-parent relationships in low-economic communities, the children will have benefits lasting throughout grade school. I also want to see if there is an effective teacher-parent relationship, is there a change in how the teacher works with the child? I also want to research the steps both the teacher and parents took to make their relationship work.
I am so excited to be conducting research on a topic that I got introduced to but didn't have time to really find out a lot of information about. The topic that I chose is immigrant children and their families. My subtopics are immigrant families and language barriers, immigrant families and access to quality child care and immigrant families and unauthorized immigrants parents. I am still in the process of coming up with a question, but I am trying to decided exactly what I want to ask.
The reason I chose this topic is because I live in a city, Austin that has a increasing number of immigrant families. I the subtopics that I chose are barriers that I see immigrant families are facing. As my community strives to end the barriers, I still see that the barriers are present.
When I was going through the simulation process, I tried to think about a topic that I was really interested about. I am a person who gets bored very easily, so I wanted to choose something that was going to keep my interest. During the simulation process, I created a brainstorming web. I started out with the topic that I was interested in, which was immigrant families, and then I made a web of topics that I wanted to learn more about. This is how I created the subtopics. The next step for me is to create a central question that is linked to my topic.
Research has always been a foreign concept to me, but I am learning so much in just a couple of weeks. I use to think that reading research was so complicated, but learning the process, is really making it easy. As I move forward I continue to learn tips about research, and I am actually finding job in the process.
I am so sad to know that this class is almost over. This class has been my favorite thus far. When I first learned that we would be e-mailing an international contact, it was a bittersweet moment. First I didn't know where to start to find my contact, and I didn't really know how to greet my contact. I am so thankful that I got Atica and she was so patient with me. She literally answered all of my questions and responded promptly.
The three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for my professional and personal development is...
1. Gaining insight to the trends of early child care programs in the Dominican Republic. Atica really shared stories with me, and painted vivid pictures. I thought I had an idea of what life for a child in the Dominican Republic would be like, but I was wrong. Just like American, the Dominican Republic have the rich, middle and poor class. Families who are rich have access to high quality programs, and families who are poor, not so much.
2. Another consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is realizing and respecting that the early childhood movement is happening world-wide. Often I get so stuck on America, but it's what I know, that I forget that other countries are doing what they can to provide quality care to the children.
3. The last consequence that I learned from Atica, is that education is important in the Dominican Republic but it can be difficult for children in the rural areas to gain education, just because of the distance of a school. I found this to be interesting because in America we are so used to getting around in cars, that distant usually doesn't stop of from doing what needs to be done. So I learned that what we take for granted in American, such as education, can be considered a blessing in another country.
The one goal that I have is that our community takes time to learn about issues/ trends around the world, and offer assistant when needed. I think sometimes we get so focused on our community, that we forget about the people around us. So I think it would be beneficial, if at the next EC community meeting, I bring up my conversations with Atica, just so they can be aware of what is happening around the world.
This week was a busy week, but Atica and I was able to Skype each other, which was really nice. The video quality wasn't great, so we ended up chatting on Skype, but it was nice to finally meet my pen-pal.
Atica is really nice and has a lot of experience in the Early Childhood field. I asked her what is her dreams, and she actually wants to move to America. She is currently working on a team where some of her researchers live in the Dominican Republic and some of the them live in Florida, so she gets to visit Florida a lot, and she loves it there. She shared with me that she is currently looking for open positions in Florida as we speak.
Atica asked me what I wanted to do in the future, and I shared with her that as of right now, I am not sure. I have only been a National trainer for nearly 2 months, and I absolutely love my new job. I told Atica to keep my contact information, and ask me the same question in 3 years.
I asked Atica the following questions,
1. What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work?
-Atica response: Right now we are working are research to find the link to children's school success based on their parent school success. We have just started the research and still have sometime to go. We know that there is currently research that has made the link. but of course we are linking it to children in the Dominican Republic.
2. What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?
-Atica response: I feel like anytime something is new, we have a training on it. The company is always pushing us to get more education or to attend some seminar,
3.In your opinion what makes a quality teacher?
-Atica response: A quality teacher is someone who can do the job of taking care of children effectively. This person usually has an education in early childhood, experience and knows and does what is takes to be a quality teacher.
Meeting Atica was the highlight of my week. I find it so fascinating that the love for children and how they develop is everywhere!
This week, I went back and observed the Head Start Association website. This week I explored the Knowledge Center link. Inside the Knowledge Center link, I clicked, on the Top issues link. I explored the Top issues link, and found a familiar topic, school readiness. Head Start is focusing on school readiness, different funding approaches,different Head Start Regulations and re-authorization methods (National Head Start Association,2014).
I explored the Head Start Act link, which was about School Readiness. President Bush signed the Head Start Act on December 12, 2007, titled Pubic Law 110-134" improving Head Start for school Readiness Act of 2007 (National Head Start Association, 2014). The Public Law 110-134" was an act the reauthorize the Head Start program (National Head Start Association, 2014). The link had the original draft of the amended Head Start.
The research I did on the link, really helped me make the connection of School Readiness that I had done in week 5 discussion post. School Readiness is a big deal, and quality programs are trying to ensure that children are prepared for school. As School Readiness becomes part of the big plan, I am expecting to see change at the State levels. As of right now Texas has a curriculum that is dedicated to School Readiness, and children who are in poverty or at low-economic status level, can currently attend a child care program who is using the curriculum. I expect to see a larger push as time progress, and I am interested to see how Head Start will incorporate this trend.
When I gave a training in Seattle, I had the chance to train some Head Start teachers, and I asked them what is currently the big focus of Head Start. Many of the teachers shared with me that, Head Start site Directors are making a giant push for Expanding Children's Learning. For example, when a child says something, the teacher is supposed to be expanding what the child says. The teachers link this to school readiness. So school readiness is already a part of the Head Start process.
Have a great week everyone!
Reference:
National Head Start Association (2014). "Poverty's Effect on Child Development."Research Blast (n.d.): n. pag. National Head Start Association,
This week was a great week for communicating with my international contact Atica. Atica is currently living in the Dominican Republic and works as an early childhood researcher. She shared with me that she is currently conducting research with a team of colleagues to look at behaviors of children from maternal mothers who have received a college education in comparison to children whose maternal mothers haven't. The purpose of the research is to provide funding for a project that will assist in helping children who are at risk. Atica also shared with me that she often travels to America because some her research team is based in Florida. I asked her what were the education requirements for early childhood teachers because that was the topic that I chose for my week 5 application. Atica shared with me that where she lives, early childhood is not as big as it is in America. A lot of children stay at home with their mothers or grandmothers, first grade is usually the first start of school. Atica mentioned that even though a lot of children stay at home with their mothers or grandmothers, there a a few early childhood programs and they tend to start at the toddler age. When we were talking about teacher education, Atica mentioned that it depends on the location, but degrees are not required until grade school.
It was great touch base with Atica, we are trying to set up a Skype call, but the difference in time, makes it a bit hard, so e-mail is so much easier.
The organization I am researching and learning more about is Head Start. I chose Head Start, because I know somethings about it, but I have never worked as a teacher in Head Start. I found it interesting, that now as I am learning about Head Start, I am beginning to meet teachers and directors who work with Head Start. I am also learning about my career and Head Start go hand-in-hand.
I am a National Trainer for an organization called Teachstone. Teachstone development a teacher-child interaction assessment tool, name CLASS that measures the quality and effectiveness of teacher-child interactions. This past week, I learned that Head Start uses our assessments to measure teacher-child interactions, and that I will be receiving a lot of trainees from the organization. So I feel like I am now meeting people who can tell me more about Head Start.
When I visit the website this week: www.nhsa.org, I realized that nothing had been updated since last Saturday. I decided to search a topic that I would like to know more information about, which is attachment. I know the basics of attachment, but I just wanted to know more information about attachment, since I will be giving my first infant training in September. I was very disappointed when I discovered that the website didn't have any resources or blogs on attachment, so I decided to see what resources they did have, and I came across an article, which is titled, Poverty's Effect on Child Development. I decided to read the article because I wanted to see if it tied in to what I have been researching all week about economist investing in high-quality child-care programs.
The article Poverty's Effect on Child Development, was about a research study to see how poverty affect the total volume of gray and white matter in children's brain (National Head Start, 2014). The results where that children who are poverty have less gray and white matter in their brains, and less likely to have supportive caregivers and will endure more stressful life events (National Head Start,2014). After reading this information, I begin to think about everything that has to be done in the field of EC, and how to begin that process. I have taken the stance in training principals, directors and teachers on how to provide and measure quality interactions with children, but there is still so much to do.
The article did make a link about the importance of high-quality programs such as Head Start and enrolling children in them (National Head Start, 2014). This week I have been learning how economist believe they should invest in high-quality child care programs in order to see their investments come back to them. So there is an emphasis on high-quality programs from different points of views.
I will be checking next week to see what Head Start has in store for me!
Cierra
References:
National Head Start Association (2014). "Poverty's Effect on Child Development."Research Blast (n.d.): n. pag. National Head Start Association,
This week I got a chance to communicate with both of my international contacts, Pam an Atica. Pam is actually enrolled in Walden, and is in our class, but in a different group for discussion and blog assignments. Pam is from the Philippines and has been in the field of education for 24 years now. Pam currently resides in Korea, but is moving to Dhaka, Bangladesh. Pam shared with me her background, and how she came into the field of early education. Pam has a degree in Political Science, and worked as a preschool teacher, it is there when she realized that early childhood education was the career she wanted for her life. Pam shared with me the educational issues of her home country, such as rote learning and the emphasis on knowledge building instead of skills and attitudes so that the children could be life-long learners. Pam and I didn't get a chance to touch on the issue of child poverty, but that topic was asked in our last e-mail, but there hasn't been a response yet. I am sure that our next series of e-mail will talk about that topic.
My second international contact name is Atica. Atica and I are still working on establishing a communication routine. I sent an e-mail asking about poverty trends in the Dominican Republic, since that is where she lives, but she hasn't replied yet. I am hoping that maybe we can set-up a schedule where on certain days we exchange e-mails.
Since I was unable to talk to Atica about poverty tends in Dominican Republic, I decided to conduct some research on my own about poverty trends in the Dominican Republic. What I found out is that many children under the age of 18 are in poverty, especially in the rural areas (Benedetti, 2013). Many areas in rural Dominican Republic have no access to clean water, toilets, food or housing, leaving children in horrible conditions (Rural Poverty Portal, n.d.). I am looking forward to talking with Atica to find out more information, and some organizations that are trying to end poverty. As soon as she shares these details with me, I will share them with you all!
The insight that I have gained about poverty in the Dominican Republic is that is a difference in their poverty and our (American) poverty. For example, a child in poverty in our country, in most situations our children in poverty can have access to clean water and food, whereas in the Dominican Republic, they do not.
Have a great week!
Cierra
References:
Benedetti, A. M. (2013, October 08). Half Of The Children In Dominican Republic Live In Poverty According To UNICEF. Retrieved July 18, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/08/children-dominican-republ_n_3727957.html
Rural Poverty Portal. (n.d.). Rural Poverty in the Dominican Republic. Retrieved July 18, 2015, from http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/home/tags/dominican_republic
The web resources I selected was Head Start. I selected Head Start because I want to know a lot more information about the program. I have never worked at a Head Start program before, but I know that Head Start is considered to be the best.
The web link for Head Start: http://www.nhsa.org/
[google images]
Head Start is a non-profit organization that believes every child, regardless of the circumstances at birth, has the ability to succeed in life (National Head Start Association.n.d). The National Head Start Association's vision is to lead, a loud voice that will make sure that every vulnerable child is served with Head Start model of support for the whole child, the family and the community (The National Head Start Association, n.d.).
The National Head Start Association didn't have any updated news since April 16, 2016. So I decided to read blogs from their website. The blog that I was interested in was the blog titled, The Changing Picture of Poverty: Hard work is "just not enough". The blog talked about how poverty is more than just a lack of materials, it's something that strikes emotions, support systems and families (Fessler, 2014). The article's view on poverty was that it takes more than hard work to cure poverty (Fessler, 2014). Poverty effects many avenues of a person and their environment, and if the person is isolated, it can be harder for the person to get out of poverty (Fessler, 2014).
What I learned from reading this blog is that poverty is a cycle. Often when we think about poverty, we think about a lack of materials, in reality poverty is so much more than that. I learned that you have to first educate and support the mindset before you can help the circumstances.
[google images]
References:
Fessler, P. (2014, May 07). The Changing Picture Of Poverty: Hard Work Is 'Just Not Enough' Retrieved July 11, 2015, from http://www.npr.org/2014/05/07/309734380/the-changing-picture-of-poverty-hard-work-is-just-not-enough
National Head Start Association. (n.d.). National Head Start Association. Retrieved July 11, 2015, from http://www.nhsa.org/
When I first read what part 1 of the blog assignment was going to be, I freaked out. I literally know 5 people who live outside the United States, and none of them are Early Childhood people. I begin to think about all my resources, yes I could call my job, and ask to speak to one our international trainers, and then maybe they could connect me to a international host of a child care program, but it is the weekend, and our office is closed. I would have asked people on Facebook, but I just deleted my Facebook account last week, so that is no longer an option.
Do you know what saved me? LinkedIn. I signed up to LinkedIn, when I was in my undergraduate program and trying to get a job. I hardly go on the website, but it is a great place to meet and network with other people who are in your field. I went to my contacts, and found two women who are both in the Early Childhood field, and live internationally. The first lady's name is Atica, and she lives and works as a teacher in the Dominican Republic. I sent her a message in LinkedIn, and was super excited when she agreed to be my pen pal for this course. The second lady's name is Rabsaris, and she lives in Puerto Rico. I am still trying to figure out her connection to early childhood, because it says that used to teach in Head Start. I sent her an e-mail and still waiting to hear back from her. My last but definitely not least contact is our very own Pam Castillo. Pam is one of my peers for EDUC 6162. I first noticed that Pam lived internationally when I read her post in the student lounge on the first day of school. Pam has agreed to be my contact, and I am super excited to learn from her, she lived in Korea for years, and now is moving to Dhaka, Bangladesh. I am excited to see what the women will teach me about early childhood around the world.
When deciding what website I want to explore more in order to expand my resources, I chose the website that I didn't know much about. The website that I chose is National Head Start Association. I have heard a lot about Head Start and visited a center who is Head Start last year, but I really don't know the in's and out's because I have never worked in a Head Start program. I know how important Head Starts are, and how they are the prime example of quality care, but I want to know more. I was excited to see that this website was offered as one of the resources.
I am excited about my connections and the website, and can't wait for this journey!
You never realize how much support you need/ have on a daily basis until you have to think about it. The biggest support that I have is my mother. We talk every day, and when something doesn't go right with my day, or I need an extra pick-me-up, my mom is the person whom I call.
The practical supports that I need on a daily basis are, my cell phone, things to-do list, laptop, e-mail, my wallet and my car. I names these items, because if these item broke down or I didn't have access to them, I would have a difficult time.
Each of these daily supports make my day go a lot smoother. I don't have to stress because I these supports that get me through the day. If for some reason these supports were missing, my day would not be as smooth. Once I went out of town to work for a week, and I didn't have any cell phone service. I couldn't talk to my mom for four days, and as silly as it sounds, I had a hard time adjusting because I didn't have my daily conversation with my mom. When I speak to my mother, I share with her the events of my day, and talk through my daily processes. Since life is such a complex thing, it's nice to know that I have someone who I can talk to, and help me along the way.
I think it would be difficult to go day-to-day without the practical supports, just because I am so used to them. For example, a day without my cell is rough, because it literally has all of my work task, school task and personal task on it. My cell phone has reminders that I need daily, and provides me with the internet every where that I go. There are days when I leave my cell phone at home on accident, and literally I am stressed because I don't access to my calendar, contacts or e-mail.
If I had to go to a foreign country and build a child care center, the support that I would need, would be my mother in-person, that's right she would have to go with me! I would need all my practical supports, along with clean water. In addition to my practical supports and clean water, I would also need family photos, because being in an another country away from family, can be really rough. If I was in a foreign country without my supports, I would have a hard time thriving there and wouldn't be able to function.
I think we don't take in account our daily supports, and sometimes when we work with children, we don't take in account theirs. We all have something that we literally can't live without, and if for some reason that thing is not there, it can literally effect our whole day. I am so glad that I have supports, and can't imagine a day without them.
"Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold."- Joseph Chilton Pearce
"Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity."
- Kay Redfield Jamison
I am an only child, so I spend a lot of time playing by myself. Some people saw this as a bad thing, I actually saw this as a good thing because I didn't have to share my toys and I could play whatever I wanted to. My mother allowed me to play as much as I wanted. We lived in a one bedroom until I was in middle school, and in the one bedroom there was a large walk-in closet. The walk-in closet could literally be another room. That closet was my play-room. What I thought was so nice of my mother, is that she didn't store our clothes in there or anything because that closet belonged to me. The three essential play items that I had as a child were,
When I was a child, I was very big on pretend play. I would spend hours playing with dolls, and now as an adult, I realized that is how I understood relationships between people, especially the different roles that people play in each other's lives. What is so interesting is that when I went to visit my grandma's house in the summer, she didn't allow me to play with dolls. Instead of playing with dolls, I had to play with my cousins. During the summers instead of playing with dolls, we spend almost all of our time exploring the outdoors. My grandmother lived on a ranch, and my cousins and I would go on "Adventures". When I was exploring with my cousins, the three essential play items were,
These items changes roles. The stick would sometimes be my cane, and then would become a shovel. The bucket would also change roles, from a bucket, to a chair, to a stage.
My family supported play, but I believe it was for a different reason that I support play. For example, I believe that play is how children learn, and that children should have ample amount of time to play, but I believe my family took it as something for children to do, to stay out of the adults way.
Play when I was a child vs. how play is now is really different. When I was a child, I wasn't allowed to watch T.V. unless it was a family movie. I didn't have a T.V. in my room until I was a junior in high school. My summer was spend outside playing with my cousins, or during the school year, I was playing with my barbie dolls. I didn't start playing video games until I was in middle school. These days it's not the same. I can be at a restaurant, and three year old children are playing a video game, or watching a movie at dinner. I remember coming home from school, and playing outside, then going inside before the street lights came on. When I drive home, there are no kids playing outside. Children now have access to the T.V. and games than before. I hope that children can go back to play in it's purest form. I would love to see children playing outside, and if they are going to play inside, it is with toys and not a video game.
I believe that play between children and adults is different. As an adult, I don't really play to learn, I play to have fun! I play as time to laugh and enjoy myself. What I notice is that without play as an adult, I can still learn things. But I don't think that is the same as children. In order for children to learn something, they have to be excited about it, and enjoy it.
Relationships are the fabric of who I am. I love people, and love being around them. I have many relationships, but my favorite are my relationship with my mother, family, my two bestfriends, and of course my child development peeps. All of these relationships are important to me, and add to who I am as a person. Without any of these people and the relationships I have with them, I would not be the same person
Relationship with my Mother
The relationship I have with my mother is the core of my existence. My mother is a single-parent, and it has always been just us two. This relationship is positive because she keeps me grounded. My mother is literally the fuel that keeps me going. When I am down or hurting, she is the first person I call, and somehow she makes it all better.
Relationship with my Friends
The relationship I have with my friends is very valuable to me, but it is also the relationship that has some difficulties. As much as I love my friends, we don't always communicate effectively with each other, and sometimes disputes can occur. What makes this relationship so special is that these ladies accept me for who I am. We have been through ups and downs, but we still get along, and learn something new about each other. The way we have to keep this relationship positive, is by being supportive of each other, communicating often with each other, being respectful of each other, and asking when opinions are wanted, instead of just giving them.
Relationship with Child Development Peeps
This relationship is one that I cherish. This relationships started back when we all used to work with one another. Now since we all are a different places, we meet up once a week and talk about all the child development news that is occurring in our community. What I love so much about this relationship, is that we all have the same passion, and careers in early childhood, so we speak each others's language when we talk about quality care. This relationship is positive, because there is a sense of belonging. We all want the best for children and are willing to advocate for them.
One thing that I have learned about any relationship in my life, is that all relationships require some level of work and reflection. Anytime you take two people who are different, and put them together, you have to work at it. I sustain the relationships and partnerships in my life by communicating, engaging them in any of my life events, and being supportive of their desires and goals.
I believe that "relationships" and "partnerships" are very important components in the early childhood profession. I have relationships with teachers, parents and children. In order to make these relationships and partnerships last and become healthy is by communicating often with them. I have made is a personal duty to always say, "Good-morning" and "How are you," and give them time to answer. When I learn something new about myself from my personal relationships, most likely I apply them to my work relationships as well. You can't have a healthy and quality child care program, without first having relationships with the people and families of the program.
I love quotes about life in general, but there are two quotes that are very special to me, so special that I have them on my computer lock screen.
[Google.com]
I love this quote because it reminds me that, it all really starts with me. When I was in the classroom with my preschoolers, I had this posted in my classroom in my teacher area, because it reminded me that I have to be a role model for them. Children watch everything we do, and before we can expect them to be something, we have to be that first. What I noticed during my research of empathy, many researchers believe that the way to develop empathy in young children, is to be empathetic ourselves. Children are intrigued by us, and for 8 to 10 hours a day, are around us and watch everything that we do. So it is our job to give them something great to imitate.
[Google.com]
This quote is special to me because it reminds me how important we are in children's lives. I have heard many times that children are like sponges and they soak up everything they are exposed to, which is true, but the part that is lacking is the part that says it makes an impression on children are leave an imprint on them. So I like this quote because it reminds me that not only do children soak up everything around them, including my actions, but that is also leaves imprint and an impression in their lives. I think that is why anyone joins the Early Childhood field, it's not to become rich, but to make a difference in the lives of children in our families, schools and communities.
[Google.com]
Last but not least, the quote "Children Matter!" I love this quote because it is so true! I have dedicated my life to children because I believe that children matter. I also that believe that we matter and this field that we have dedicated our lives too, matters as well. That is one thing that I appreciate about being in this Master's program, meeting other individuals from around the world who also believe that children matter and want to make a difference in their lives.
Special Thank You's!!!
Over the course of the 8 weeks, I have been keeping up with everyone's blogs, but I want to give out a special thank you to Ruthanne (http://ruthannejuza2.blogspot.com/), Kaitlin (http://kaitlineberhart.blogspot.com/) and Kathy (http://earlychildhood2015.blogspot.com/). Each of your blogs has provided professional and personal insight over a specific topic and your lives. By each of you being open and transparent, I was able to relate to you and learn from each of you. You have made this online course more meaningful and I am thankful to have met each and everyone of you. I just want to say thank you for teaching me something new about children from different parts of the world, providing resources and for supporting and posting meaningful comments on my blog page. Good luck with your journey with your program, I hope I will speak to you all again!
Cierra Reference: Epstein, A. S. (2009). Me, you, us: Social-emotional learning in preschool. Ypsilanti, MI: HighScope Press.
I am an advocate for assessing the whole child. What I find interesting is, when children are in the child care centers, we assess the whole child using assessments such as Ages and Stages Questionnaire also known as ASQ. When children are in elementary school, assessments begin to move away from the whole child and are geared to cognitive development. I believe that all the developmentally domains should still be assessed throughout high school. This can be done by assessments that list the developmental milestone through development. Teachers can conduct assessment throughout the year, save student work and provide activities that are used to assess the children. I believe that assessment should be done throughout the year instead of twice a year.
Testing in China
Between America and China, there is not a big difference in standardized testing, except for how often a standardize test is given , but the reason I chose China to research is because China is actually working towards removing standardized testing. I find this interesting because China is leading in math and science technology, but is working towards removing standardized testing. The reason China is considering taking away standardize testing, is because they believe that with strict guidelines for the test, creativity and innovation is lacking in the students. China believes that creativity and innovation is what is needed for the country to succeed in the future.
Right now, all students have to take a standardize test to gain entry into college. The test is called "Gaokao". Students spend their whole life preparing for the test, because the results of this one test determines their whole future. For preparation of the Gaokao exam, throughout the grades, children have end of the year exams and benchmarks, that are used as check points.
[Youtube.com]
In America, the STARR test is given to grades 3-8 and 9-12 grade. 3-8 grades are tested over reading, math, writing, science and social studies. 9-12 graders, the test is given as an end of the course assessment test. The STARR test in America, can keep a child from progressing to the next grade and can actually keep a student from graduating high school.
My Final Thoughts...
I believe standardize testing is not needed. I don't understand how one aspect of development is beginning assessed, when we use all of our developmental domains to function through life. If we could continue to assess high schoolers, like we access young children, focusing on the whole person, I wonder what that would look like. I also believe that standardized only gives a snap shot of the student, and not the whole picture. We are basing the future of the students, based on a snapshot.
"EVERYONE GO INTO THE HALLWAYS AND AWAY FROM THE WINDOWS!" This was the message that the loud voice over the intercom was directing our 6th grade classroom to do. I can remember how panic my teacher was, using her cell phone to try to get in touch with her friend in New York, trying to see if she made it out okay from the daycare that was across the street from the Twin Towers. Two Hall monitor rushed into our rooms, and begin to move our class into the library, and all I can hear them say is, "Keep them away from the windows." As we are walking down the hallway of my three story elementary school, crowds of children are sitting on the cold white floor in silence, trying to wrap their small brains on what in the world is going on. Finally we walk into the library, and our class is directed to sit next to the holiday book shelf in silence. Finally my teacher walks in, surrounded with other teachers saying, "No it really happened, they crashed a plane in the twin towers! But my friend is okay, she called in sick today." The counselor turns on the news, and we watch as the plane crashed in the Twin Towers. As a Texas 6th grader, I had no idea what the Twin Towers were, and I really had no idea what terrorism was. As we all sat and watched the news, the principle rushed in the library and said, "They are locking down the Capital, Governor Mansion and the surrounding buildings. They are taking terrorist precautions." When the principle said that, I begin to cry because my mother worked next door to the Governor's Mansion. Other children whose parents worked at the Capital begin to cry as well, because we all thought that our parent were going to die. The counselors rushed all the crying or children who showed high distress into the their offices, as soon as we went into the offices, Firefighters arrived at the school, and directed our principle to lock down and make sure everyone was on the first floor and away from windows because our school was about five blocks from the State Capitol, and we were in "bombing range." I was so afraid, all I wanted was my mommy, and we couldn't get in touch with her. She didn't own a cell phone, and because her building had taken terrorist precautions, she wasn't at her desk and couldn't answer her office phone. This drove me crazy! I felt that something was wrong because all the other children could in touch with their parents but me. So I sat in a corner and cried, because I had no idea what was going on, and the one person that I trusted to take care of me, wasn't around to help me through this. One of the counselors saw, me and just walked over to me an held me. I was so afraid I was shaking. She just held me and rocked me back and forth, and said, "It's going to be okay." In about 2 hours, parents begin to pick up their children. I watched as parents and children rejoiced when they saw each other. Finally when school was out, my mother came running in the door. She grabbed me tight and kissed my cheek. I felt relieved and gratitude to Jesus that He brought my mother back to me. On the way home, I shared my day, and my mom shared her day of spending the afternoon in the basement of a government building. Even though we were thousands of miles away from New York, in Austin, Texas, we still experienced some of the ripple effects, of a National tragedy, that impacted our lives forever!
[Google Images]
Paris, France is so beautiful to me, full of romance and pasta. When I heard about the Charlie Hebdo Newspaper station being attacked by terrorist, I was shocked and in disbelief. Charlie Hebdo was a newspaper station, that was attacked by two men for publishing a controversycartoon with Muhammad. The attacked left 12 people dead. After the attacks at Charlie Hebdo, the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared a "War on Terrorism." This "War on Terrorism" is to find, stop and defeat terrorist, to provide safety for the France.
[Google Image]
The way that terrorism and war provide stress for young children, it takes away from one of the basic needs of children, which is the need to be safe. Terrorism and war has so many factors, that it is hard to narrow down one effect that is had on development. I just know that if children are always worried about their safety, how can they ever learn and thrive in their development? Basic needs have to be met first, before learning can occur.
[Google Images]
References:
1. Bilefsky, D., & Baume, M. D. (2015, January 07). Terrorists Strike Charlie Hebdo Newspaper in Paris, Leaving 12 Dead. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-paris-shooting.html?_r=0
2.Schiavenza, M. (2015, January 10). France Declares Its Own 'War on Terror' Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/01/france-declares-its-own-war-on-terror/384409/
Imagine you are at a high end restaurant, your favorite restaurant, your sitting at the table with your friends having a great time talking about your life, romance and gossiping about the people who didn't show up to dinner (just kidding I know we don't ever do that), you ask the waiter for a cup of water, the waiter nods his head and walks towards the bar. You continue talking with your friends, when all of the sudden the waiter bring your water and it looks like this...
[Google images]
What in the world would you do? In America, we would have a fit! We would call the manager, tell the manager and waiter some "choice" words and call the health inspector, take a picture and post it on Facebook and do the whole "nine" yards. After you would have complained, most likely this picture would be "BREAKING NEWS" and on the first page of the newspaper and the restaurant would be shut down.
Well what if I told you that there are parts of the world where this glass is "normal". I'll let that sink in. What if told you that children have access to this water, and drink this water regularly.
This glass tells a story, and this is why I chose the public health topic of access to healthy water.
America has spoiled me. I am so picky about the water I drink, I don't drink tap water, only bottled or purified water. Water is a choice for me, coffee is more my thing, but I know that if my throat is dry, all I have to do is go to my refrigerator and grab me a bottle of water that is clean and purified. How ridiculous am I? ( You don't have to answer that lol).
Once in undergrad, I was so poor that my water got "cut-off". It only lasted for one day and a half, and I will tell you that I had no idea how important water was to me, until I didn't have it. We use water for nearly everything, washing our hands, dishes, bodies, hair, toothbrush, before we put toothpaste on it, coffee pot, food and etc. For one day I had to experience what many people experience daily. Talk about a humbling experience, a day without water, will definitely make you appreciate it a little more.
In rural Kosovo, clean water is not really an option. This village in rural Europe literally has to ration water, especially in the summer months and often the water they have is not disinfected, leaving adults and children sick.
[Google images]
The water is so dangerous here that the CDC has a list of what not to do when consuming the water here,
Don’t Drink
Tap or well water
Ice made with tap or well water
Drinks made with tap or well water (such as reconstituted juice)
Unpasteurized milk
You can't even drink tap water, which is something that I hate, but at least can drink from my kitchen sink. Please watch the 3:43 minutes video that talks about the water of Kosovo:
This topic is meaningful to me, because NO ONE should have to drink water that is unsafe. This information has provided insight to a World-Wide concern, and I want to be a change agent for this dilemma that is literally happening around the World. UNICEF has a project that works to provide clean water for children around the world, as do The Water Project and Clean Water U, and I hope that someday down my career path, I'll be able to start a similar project or assist in one of the three listed above.
My birthing story is definitely one for the books! My parents should have know that my dramatic entry into this world was foreshadowing my future life!
Setting: Breckenridge Ridge Hospital Date:April 15- April 16, ...(the year is a secret lol) Characters: My mother, father, aunt, nurses and doctor...oh and Jesus :)
Story: My father and mother arrive at the hospital one hour after my mothers' water broke. They walk into the hospital ready to give birth to their beautiful baby girl. The nurses greet them and send them into a waiting room, where my mother gets a chance to change clothes and wait for contractions (how fun!). About 15 hours later, I am refusing to come out. I simply am not ready, and I am chilling in the womb. The doctors advises my mother to walk around the hospital, in hopes that this will get me moving. My mother and father walks out of the room and down the hall. After about 30 minutes later, I change my mind, and am ready to grace the world with my presence, so I slide my head out to greet everyone, the only problem is my mother is in the middle of walking around the hospital and the nurses are holding my head in place so that I don't be slip out in the hallway...surprise!!! 25 minutes later I was delivered and singing (screaming) my lungs out.
That's Me!!! 6 Hours After Birth
This is a true story, and my mother states it often whenever I do something dramatic, and I worn her that she should have known the moment I poked my head out in the hallway that being dramatic is a strong characteristics of mines, I literally was born with it.
My thoughts about birth is simple, it's am AMAZING process and also a GROSS process. I have to be honest. It's amazing because a human being is leaving another human being, and it's the finish product of a nine month process. It's also gross because of the blood, and cords and slimy things that go along with it. I know as a Child Development person I am not suppose to feel this way, but I don't do well with blood or anything else that belongs inside the human body.
This past week I have been reading and learning about prenatal development and birthing rituals from across the globe. One county that I wanted to find more information about is Brazil. I chose Brazil because I have a close friend who is from there, and I enjoy hearing the similarities and differences between the US and Brazil.
When it comes to childbirth and Brazil, over 40% of woman get a cesarean section (C-section) actually this number increases if we take in account Brazilian private hospitals, where almost every birth is a C- section birth, whereas in the US more than one-third of woman get a C-section.
Rio de Janeiro Brazil
[Google Images]
For the most part there really isn't too much of a difference between the US and Brazil when it comes to birthing practices. Both countries rely heavily on giving birth in hospitals. My mother didn't have a C-section, she gave birth to my naturally but did give birth to me in the hospital. One difference was the procedures before the birth. In the US, parents rely on a variety of information from various resources such as the doctor, birthing class, family experiences and etc. But in Brazil the parents only listen to the doctor, and what the doctor says is "golden!"
Reflection:
My thoughts on child birth and child development is this, birth is a new chapter in a humans book. Many countries have different practices on how to birth children to get here, but the main goal is to "get the baby here!" Even though some countries have the same birthing practices, some countries do the birth process different. For example in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, home births are common.
