Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

For this assignment I thought it would be fun to ask my children what they though culture and diversity were. I started with my 14 year old. When I asked her what her definition of culture was she responded stating that it was the way people lived and interact with their religion and country. When I asked her to explain to me what diversity was she did not know. She is about to go into 9^th grade so I feel that she should know the definition of culture and diversity. I explained what culture and diversity were along with the difference between surface and deep culture was.

My son who is 9 years old came home from school and I thought I would speak to him about this as well. I was curious to see where he was in this subject. He did not know the definition of either of these terms. I teach my children how to love and respect others no matter their race, gender, appearance, disability, or ability. I am proud to say they have displayed this respect in ways that teachers have praised them and I have been communicated with about the events. It was harder to explain to my son the definitions of these two terms. It seemed to delve too deep for his comprehension levels. However, he understood that people have different beliefs, dress different, eat different foods, and wear different clothing. When it came to understanding deep culture that concept was too complex for him.

I skipped asking my husband because he was too up to date with this area. So I called up my parents and asked what they thought. They named mainly the surface cultures as well such as dress, food, and celebrated holidays. The two deep culture aspects they named were religion and language. When I asked them about the definition of diversity they simply stated the act of being different. We discussed in detail about culture and diversity. I explained to them how culture is who we are starting with how we were raised and the environment we were raised in. I have to say they were less than impressed. I am assuming that they just wanted to hold onto their definition and leave it at that.  

After talking to the younger generation and then the older generation I realized that the topic is not discussed often enough outside the realm of educational classes. The society as a whole does not have a solid definition of either term. If this is true how can society respect something that they do not understand?  I have said it before that education is the main component in a battle against ignorance because ignorance is the root of conflict. We need to share our knowledge of culture and diversity with our communities and express the importance of respect whether we agree with their beliefs or not.

My Family Culture

I was asked to imagine the following:

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

I have to say that my immediate response before reading on was that I only needed my family. I did not need anything else. If we survived any other materials would be of no value, the lives of my family would be all that would matter. However, in this scenario we are asked to think about the three things we could bring to stay close to our culture.

The first thing that comes to mind with our family is picture. I have had a short career in photography and myself and my daughter love to take pictures. We have a significant amount of them. I feel that these pictures would tell our story, show intimate moments (both happy and sad), and the love that our family has for one another. The love that we have for each other defines us. It sometimes brings tears to my eyes when I see my children interact so closely and lovingly. Do not get me wrong, we are not abnormal there are plenty of days that they are tearing each other apart. But at the end of the day, they love and respect one another and would defend each other to the death. For that I am proud. One of the lessons I am trying to teach my children above most things is that your family is priority. Your family is your foundation and you need to love and respect them for who they are no matter what they decide to be. My older two children have a different father from my younger two children, if you had never met us before you would never be able to guess this. We NEVER use the word step or half. There is no such thing in our family. We are a family unit and that is it. We do not allow anything in our family that would separate us as such. The pictures I bring will show how we dress, eat, the environment we live in, and the places we like to travel. They will show times when we are laughing and happy and also will show the moments that have broken our hearts.

The next part of our culture and a great part of our family is the activities that my children are involved in. I would bring a soccer ball, football, and baseball. My children are involved in these sports and they love every minute of it. We are not the parents that go drop of our kids and come back when it’s over. We are the crazy parents that arrive 45 minutes early practice with our children, wear “spirit wear” that says “That’s our KID!” and we are there late helping clean up or supporting the next group of kids. This to me describes a sense of community. This is another aspect of our lives that I feel is important for our children to carry on as they get older. Be kind to your neighbor and join in. Help the person next to you and have fun! The last note that I would explain about these items is that even though we love the game and we follow the rules, it is not about the win. It is about being together, supporting your teammates, and having fun. Also, teaching our children that losing is ok too. We are not the best at everything all of the time.

It was hard to think of a final item to bring. I know this might sound silly but the item I chose was a Christmas tree. I chose this item because it is not just a symbol of presents under the tree in our home. The tree is significant of the holidays, staying close to friends and family, treating one another and our neighbors with kindness and love, and remembering the times with those that we have lost through the years. I think about my grandmother a lot on a regular basis; however this time of year is when I give more thanks to her for the values that she instilled in me. She is the one who taught me how to stay strong, be a forgiving person, and love unconditionally. We put the tree up usually on Thanksgiving night or the day after and then we do not take it down until the day after New Year’s. It probably shouldn’t be this way, but when we put that tree up the closeness becomes stronger, we are more charitable, and we enjoy more family time together even if it is just watching Snoopy’s Christmas.

As I stated in the beginning I would be happy enough with the clothes on my back and my family by my side. There are some material things that are near and dear to my heart, however when tragedy happens it puts things into perspective. All I need is my family with me and I can figure out the rest. I have been through tragedy (not as catastrophic comparatively) but I have lost many things that were of importance to me, in the end as long as my family unit was together I was ok. So if I was told I had to give up two of the items I would give up the Christmas tree and the sports balls. The pictures would be harder to give up, but my family trumps all.

In this exercise I learned how close my family actually is. We are fighters and we come out in the end of any adversity standing strong. We might struggle to get through it, doubt our decisions, but in the end as long as we are together that is all that matters. I feel proud after this exercise. I feel proud that I have been teaching this important aspect of life to my children. It is important for them to know that it is not material things that define us, it is what lies within our heart.

When I Think of Research...

Research and the technical terms that go along with it are overwhelming and intimidating to say the least. In the beginning of the class I was nervous and worried about understanding the process and terms of research. I have learned that in order to truly understand the process in its entirety you have to do a little research of your own. When I came across a term or idea that I did not understand I continued to look for more answers that would explain it to my understanding. From this course I have gained more knowledge about how to and why we implement research studies. I have also gained new knowledge in the differences between qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research studies. All of those I barely understood in the beginning.

In the beginning of the class if I had a choice in whether or not to implement a research project I would have immediately said no thanks. However, now I have more confidence that I could in fact apply my knowledge. Before this course I knew that research was necessary in helping many ideas become valid. I also knew that research could change the lives of many people. However, I did not picture myself as a part of the equation. Today I can happily say that I would join in on a research and be knowledgeable enough to have an active position.

In early childhood I learned that we need to have a majority of our research decided ahead of time. We need to take into consideration the ethical issues that could arise along with what design we will implement. Confidentiality is an issue that needs to be immediately addressed and we must also have a plan of action if it must be broken or is broken. When conducting the research in early childhood we must be prepared to use multiple tools in the early childhood field as well as have a determined time span planned.

The challenges that I faced started with understanding the technical terms. To combat this I researched outside of our course research to find definitions that would use terms that I could understand. Sometimes this was times consuming which made it a little more difficult with the large family that I have. The next challenge was to then take the terms that I learned and apply them to my research topic. There were times when I felt that I had to relearn the term to be able to relate it to my topic. Again, though time consuming I had to keep researching until I understood.

I do not feel that my thoughts about early childhood professionals have been modified. However, my admiration and respect has grown stronger. The work that educational professionals put into their careers and the children and families that they serve is a never ending job. Educational professionals are constantly working to better themselves and the lives of their students. This profession is not Monday through Friday 9-5, it is constant. Even when not on a schedule professionals are thinking about the next right idea to implement. This field takes compassion and willingness to want to change a child’s future.

Reserach Around the World

·         What are some of the current international research topics?

Parents’ and Other Caregivers’ Perception of Early Childhood Development Needs and Quality: A Study of the PLAN-Assisted Programmes in Bawjiase, Ghana, was the first research study I read through. This was interesting to me because I was glad to see that internationally we all agree that it is important for parent involvement. A part to parent involvement is to see that parents have the knowledge of Early Childhood Development. When parents can have that knowledge then they can help assist the educators with the developmental success of their children.

Involving Fathers in Early Childhood Care and Development and Assessment of Interaction and Stimulation in Single-Mother Low-Income Families were two more research studies that I was able to read. Again, this common issue is not just here in your hometown, but internationally we are all struggling trying to overcome the same issues and trends. I believe this further confirms that together we can help one another come up with different solutions that will ensure the success of the children in early childhood development.

·         What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from

exploring this international early childhood website?

I was intrigued by their generative curriculum approach. I appreciate first that this approach is a curriculum that expects results and starts from the beginning. The historical approach discusses “how we came to be here”.  I feel this is important for early childhood in order to know how to expand on education and care we must know where they started, where they currently stand, and then ultimately the goal we look to work toward. You can read further into this approach by linking to this page http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/generative.php.

·         What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

Promoting ripple effects and networking activities was noteworthy as well. When researching ways to improve on any issue; you would like to get as much information as possible while also reaching those that would benefit from the information. When researchers network their information the ripple effect can travel pretty far. The internet abilities have grown and even though some might see this as a negative, there are many positive outcomes we can gain from sharing information internationally and gaining as much support and knowledge that we can in order to improve the development and growth of early childhood.

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Option 2:

Imagine that you possess the means and the knowledge to conduct research studies about any topic in the early childhood field. Imagine further that you are not restricted by the reality of the present. Imagine that your study will make a major positive contribution to the well-being of children and/or their families. What topic would you choose? What can you imagine the positive contribution(s) would be?

For a few years, I worked in a preschool classroom for children with special needs. These classrooms were integrated consisting of 6 typical children and 6 children with developmental disabilities. The topic I would choose to research is the benefits of inclusion beginning in early childhood. The reason I would choose this topic is because it not only benefits the child with developmental disabilities, but also the typical child. My two older children were enrolled in this program. One child was considered typical while the other was present because of being on an IEP. Both of my children benefited in many ways. The research that I would implement would include the students, teachers, and families of all of the students in the classroom.

There are not many preschool classrooms that are set up in this manner, however I feel the trend is growing and with proper research and knowledge it can become more accepted. The main advertisement that I see for these classrooms is the need for peer models. This would be addressing the typical children. Most schools that serve those individuals with developmental disabilities are looking to benefit the children who are currently on an IEP and receiving early interventions. However, I believe that it needs to be stated how the typical child would benefit just as well.

Recently, at a school conference for my oldest daughter, the English teacher’s first statement to me was about my daughter’s patience and compassion. He further explained to me how he has her sitting with another student who has Autism along with several other diagnoses. This student, at times, needs more attention and patience from teachers and students. He stated that my daughter was the only one in his classroom that held the ability to work with this student. I then explained to him how she was raised in an environment to respect others no matter if they had a disability or not. She was taught while in this integrated preschool program, patience, compassion, humility, and how to view a person without seeing their disability to define them.

My son was on the other side of this coin. He was in the classroom on an IEP and receiving early interventions for a speech delay. He was able to observe, listen, and work with other children and gain valuable knowledge through firsthand experience. He never felt out of place and was treated by the teachers and other students with respect. He was allowed the opportunity to have interventions without feeling different. The Speech Therapist came to the room and did group therapy with all of the children and then did individual therapies outside of the room. This practice I feel helped the children not feel as if they were different; they did not have to feel uncomfortable.

The positive contribution that would come from this research would be to advocate for these programs and showcase the benefits for both children with disabilities and children without. Together the children can learn compassion for one another, respect, social acceptance, and carry those qualities on with them in their future. Families will see how their children benefit now and in the future.