Microaggression

I can remember observing an occasion that classifies as a microaggression.  I witnessed a director speaking with a parent who was fluent in spanish and spoke very little English. The parent was speaking little a mix of English and Spanish, the director was saying I do not understand with clear frustration.  The parent had a look of defeat and confusion with trying to explain. The parent walked away from the conversation.  As I watched this situation I felt bad for the parent because she clearly felt degraded for not being able to speak English as well.  The director had power over her in this situation. This is a clear example of bias and discrimination. The director feels that because this is America the parent should be fluent in English.  Discrimination is very evident in our everyday life.

Perspective on Culture and Diversity

After asking several individuals in my life what is their definition of culture and diversity I learned that every one has their own opinion for each of these words.  I also learned that many people really do not know exactly how to separate the two.  One of my friends said that culture is traditions, beliefs and vales passed down generation to generation. Which is some of what we have been learning in this class.    Others see diversity just as differences among individuals, which is true but really their culture is what makes them different.  This assignment really helped me see how unaware others are of what culture and diversity are.  Though people have a general idea, when asked it makes you look at the things you see in your life as cultural or not.  My awareness for determining differences in others as well as knowing what part of my culture that I feel should be carried on to the next generation.

MY FAMILY CULTURE

1. Picture frame from my house that has several pictures that were taken over time with my family members in it.

2.  Representation of my sorority family

3. Bible

Family photos to represent memories of family events, an item of my sorority as a remembrance of my sisterhood family and my bible to represent my beliefs and faith of the family. I would not want to part with any of the items if someone told be I had to choose, they are all of equal importance to me.  But by studying diversity I have learned that taking away all material items from a family does not change or take away from your culture. Individuals make the family, the roles they play, the traditions that are built and the characteristics the family possesses.  The important aspect would be to keep all of these traditions, beliefs and characteristics no matter what country we would be sent to.

Final International Contacts Blog

With any experiences there is consequences; with this assignment the consequences where learning information about other countries but not having the time to do in depth research on some of the discoveries I made, knowing that in some countries early childhood education is almost non existent, and discovering programs that could be helpful in our country that we do not have.


My goal for the future is to stay informed as a country, though we in the United States need more development in the field of Early Childhood education.  Continue to support other countries by supporting organizations that are involved already in providing assistance to other countries.

International Contacts Part 3

Still have not received any contact back from the professional contacts that I made. So I decided to explore the website http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/access-and-equity/. The section I chose to explore was the access and equity section due to the fact that we have been focusing on this in class.  I found the following information:

The 1990 Jomtien Declaration for Education for All stated that learning begins at birth. A decade later, the 2000 Dakar Framework for Action reaffirmed the importance of early childhood by including the development of early childhood care and education as the first of its six main goals.

Participating countries committed themselves to “expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.” Governments were particularly urged to expand equitable access to quality early childhood services underscoring the importance of instituting policy in favour of the poor.

Countries often promote alternative services for poor children with limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services which can be cost-effective and pedagogically innovative, but often raise concerns about sustainability and quality.  In cases where the government has limited resources, a pro-poor policy can redistribute resources by reducing state support for the more privileged.

I also found that central governments must provide equitable resources even to those in poor living conditions.  A universal system would help eliminate that the poorer areas are receiving less funding and reduce and inequity that remains.

This situation is much like the United States.

Continuing to Explore National Black Child Development Institute

As I continue to explore I found a downloadable document that is published three times a year entitled Child Health Talk. Child Health Talk gives parents and providers information on children's health and well-being.  As well as the NBCDI's publications their is a section where the organizations they have partnered with provide information as well.  For example the Flamboyan Foundation provided a document that was a rubric on Classroom Family Engagement. The rubric provides teachers with three steps to help them build the necessary skills to create a classroom that engages the family.  Another section of the site lists upcoming events/ conferences that professionals can attend. I believe that all the information provided on the HBCDI is focused on creating equity for African American children.

Global Children's Initiative

I have yet to hear back from the professionals I contacted. So I chose to take the alternate assignment and  review the website http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/. 
The priorities of the initiative is in this area is to adapt the successful work the Center has conducted in the United States for a broader range of strategically selected audiences, in an effort to energize and reframe the global dialogue around investments in the earliest years of life. To this end, we plan to educate the leadership of key international agencies, publish and disseminate papers to establish a strong scientific framework for global work, and conduct systematic communications research to identify the most effective ways to translate the science of child development for global policymakers.The second priority is to generate and apply new knowledge that addresses the health and developmental needs of young children in a variety of settings.  In this effort, the Center is pleased to operate the Özyegin Family - AÇEV Global Early Childhood Research Fund, which supports cutting-edge research conducted by Harvard scholars and their collaborators across a variety of fields and disciplines related to early childhood development. With this fund, the Center and AÇEV seek to advance global understanding of the early childhood roots of disparities in learning, health and behavior to have an impact on policy and practice in countries around the world.

I specifically took a look at a program entitled "A Good Start" in Chile where the goal is to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development.   The program also focuses on health of children to improve school attendance. Not only is Chile the only country receiving aid the imitative is also active in other countries as well.