Week 1 Blog
When I was asked to think of a person who demonstrates competent communication within a particular context, I am reminded of a dear friend of mine, Alliet. She is my friend from church and belongs to the same discipleship group I do. Despite being much older than me, I always felt like I was talking to a peer. But when she talks with the other older members of our group, she adjusts very well to them too. What I admire in her is her excellent use of the English language. She is very fluent and can clearly communicate her ideas and thoughts through speaking, writing and even through the use of pictures. Aside from that she uses the appropriate tone and language for each situation we are in. She can also express even her innermost thoughts and feelings very well that I can feel what she feels just by listening to her. Aside from being a good speaker and writer, she is also a great listener. She pays close attention when other people are talking and remembers much of what we have said. In fact, she would often follow-up on us by asking questions even weeks after we/I have shared something in the group. She makes us all feel so important when she talks and listens to us, that I can see that most of the members of the group immediately gravitate towards her. She seems to be able to maintain close relationship to all of the members of our quite huge group.
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| This is our church group (not complete though). Alliet is the 2nd from the left, 2nd row. |
I would like to be as eloquent as Alliet, but I would also like to be as good a listener as she is. I often find myself easily distracted when I listen to other people and often times suddenly realize that I have not understood or remembered a single thing someone else said. I would also like to make people feel valued and important like she does.
Professional Hope and Goal
I enjoyed the 8 whole weeks of Perspectives on Diversity and Equity. I it such a bittersweet ending as I truly enjoy this class yet am glad that I have was able to finish another.
When asked if I could give one hope that I have about working with children and families who come from diverse background, it would be that I hope that I will always strive to learn about each individual child and family I work with and be able to make each one feel welcomed and respected.
If I were to give one goal that that should be set for the early childhood field related to issues on diversity it will be that all early childhood educators be provided with continuous/regular faculty development programs focused on helping them appreciate diversity and provide for children and families from diverse backgrounds.
It has truly been a wonderful two months working with each of my colleagues. I would like to thank each one of you for all your inputs, personal stories, opinions and ideas. I learned a great deal from all of you. I would also like to extend my gratitude to our Professor, Dr. Dartt, for being so involved with all the discussions and helping us maximize our experience in this course. I hope to cross paths with each of you one day... God bless, everyone!
Welcoming Families Around the World
The name of the country Iknow nothing about - Belarus
Five ways I can prepare to be culturally responsive to a family from Belarus
1. I can read about the country of Belarus from encyclopedias and the Internet.
2. I can find out what their language in Belarus is and perhaps learn a few words that I can use to welcome them.
3. If possible I will ask colleagues of mine from all my networks to find out if any of them have had or still have contact with an individual or family from Belarus. Then I can ask them for tips and if possible I hope to set a meeting or interview with the individual or family that they work/ed with. This individual or family will be the best way for me to learn about the intricacies of their culture.
4. If able, I can have my forms in school translated to the language used in Belarus just in case they are English language learners.
5. Maybe I can look for a restaurant or store that sells products/food from Belarus and serve it during our parent teacher conference or orientation.
6. I can also specifically search for the communication patterns, styles and dos and don'ts from the Internet. This will help me in communicating with them.
7. I can try to make my classroom as cool as possible since I have just learned that Belarus is very cold. The Philippine heat will surely make them uncomfortable.
A statement describing how I think these preparations will benefit me and the family.
These may be very small things that I can do but I think a family from a different country will appreciate it if they see that a teacher is trying to find out more about their culture and have prepared even in little ways for their arrival. Preparing before hand and trying to learn as much as I can about the country a family is from will not only help me to be more comfortable but will help me understand them more as well as prevent me from doing anything that may offend or oppress them.
The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression
The incident of bias, prejudice and oppression that I experienced and remember the most happened when I was in first grade. It was during this age (7 years old) that I started to exhibit great difficulty with reading, writing and spelling and was diagnosed to have Dyslexia. My teacher then got really frustrated with me because I could not read and spell as well, could not write as neat and as fast like the other kids. She kept asking me why I could not seem to learn. Because of her frustration, she became very negative towards me. She would slap my hands, shout at me, make me stay overtime or throughout recess to write or copy her lessons from the board. On one occasion, she made me copy the complete lyrics of the song 'supercalifragilisticexpialidosious' (I am not even sure if I spelled it correctly now as an adult, imagine how difficult it was for a 7 year old to get it copied correctly) from the board and did not allow me to leave until I finished copying the 3 boards full lyrics perfectly! She also tore quite a lot of my work in front of the class. She also, on a couple of instances, pulled my chair back that I would fall and at times hit my head on the floor.
She scared me tremendously that I did not want to go to school. But because I was too afraid of her, I did not tell my parents about what has been happening to me at school. So, every morning, they had to deal with a child who would hang on to the dining table, crying that she did not want to go school. I did not learn to my maximum potential then. I did not get the same quality of education my classmates received. Moreover, I began to change. From a very active and enthusiastic learner, I withdrew. I dropped from being second in class during the previous to being 2nd to the last during that year. I hardly recited in school even until my high school years and was very scared of speaking in front of the class. I was not allowed or given some privileges that my peers enjoyed by my 1st grade teacher too. For example, she did not allow me to join the girl scouts and even tore my application form. I was not allowed to play outside at times and was not given the same attention (like when I had an injury, she did not even clean me up or bring me to the clinic).
My experience with this teacher made me feel insignificant, unloved and a failure. She traumatized me so much that I changed and it took such a long time (years) before I could recover from it. Nonetheless, I believe that this experience made me who I am today. It was because of this horrible time that I wanted to be a teacher. This is the reason why I am in this field and why I train future teachers. This was the source of my passion... I did not want any other child to go through what I went through.
For this inequity, I believe that the teacher needed to change to transform this experience into an opportunity. She had to be more knowledgeable about differing abilities and learn to provide for individual needs to be able to provide equity in the classroom. All children, of any race, or ability, has equal right to quality education and freedom from harm.
