Welcoming Families from around the world

1. The name of the family’s country of origin

Sri Lanka – The reason why I chose this country is because I wanted to pick something I had no idea about. I did not know this country existed and how much they actually produce (for being an island).

• Full name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
• Population: 20.4 million (UN, 2010)
• Capital: Colombo (commercial), Sri Jayawardenepura (administrative)
• Largest city: Colombo
• Area: 65,610 sq km (25,332 sq miles)
• Major languages: Sinhala, Tamil, English
• Major religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity
• Life expectancy: 72 years (men), 78 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: Sri Lankan rupee
• Main exports: Clothing and textiles, tea, gems, rubber, coconuts

2. Ways in which I would prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family
• Learn the country’s culture
• Study the family’s language
• Research the country’s learning style (schooling)
• The beliefs and values of the country

 

                      

A Sri Lankan mahout and a
temple elephant take part in
a ceremony

Reference
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11999611

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

• Describe at least one example of a microaggression which you detected this week or remember from another time. In what context did the microaggression happen?

I have seen microaggression in many times of my life, it has happened directly to me or to someone I know. One example I have comes from my brother in law, he was driving one day with my younger brother and the cops stopped them. They asked for my brother in laws license and registration, well my brother in law did not have his wallet with him that day and because he looks “mexican” they wanted to deport him. When they finally realized that he was Puertorican and legal they felt stupid, and began to apologize for the mistake they had made.

Another time I have seen it is with my youngest son godmother, her first language is Spanish and she has always had a hard time with her English. But the hardest time came when she was trying to speak English with a parent and the parent could not and did not try to understand what she was trying to say, the parent told her to go back to school and learn English. After that day my son’s godmother tries not to speak English if she does not have to for the fear of people making fun of her.

My first example I believe is microinvalidations because the cops did not validate that my brother in law was telling the truth about being legal in this country. My second example is microinsult because the lady insulted my son’s godmother with her comment about learning English, not knowing that my son’s godmother is a very educated person and does speak English just with an accent.

• In what ways did your observation experiences this week affect your perception of the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people

I have always been on the edge about this type of issue, because I know a lot of people that are directly affected with it. My husband is American from Ecuadorian parents, in reality if you just look at him (without talking to him) he looks like an illegal Hispanic. If you talk to him you would think he is puertorican, you have to sit and really have a conversation with him to know where he is originally from. And this is just one example of many that I have been a witness to.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

 Both of the friends I asked answered the same thing, culture; customs that are learned and that are repeated from generation to generations, Diversity; coming together from different cultures. The people I asked are completely different from me; they both live in different parts of the United States and see diversity and culture differently than I do.  Because both words are so strong both of my participants did not go into detail of what it meant for them, they both gave me a basic definition of what it means to them without a reasoning behind it.

Culture for me is everything a person is, things that are carried throughout each generation.  Food, language, expressions, body movements, traditions, holidays, religion, values, costumes, gender roles, and many more things that can define a person. Diversity is how different one person is from the next, even within the same culture.

Blog Assignment: My Family Culture

This is hard for me to choose three items that represent my family culture, because for me there is nothing physical that says what my culture is. For me culture is carried in; believes, our traditions, our customs, our language, our family expectations. This is really self explanatory, I am from Puerto Rico and my husband is from Ecuador, both of our family traditions, believes, customs, language, and everything else that I mentioned are imprinted in our personal identities.

When I was a child it was hard for my personal identity trying to keep who I am because we moved from Puerto Rico to Florida. The transition was hard because of the language barrier, believes, and tradition changes. I was not allowed to speak my own language in class, and some of our traditions began to fade because they are not practiced in the U.S. For example; The Three Kings Celebration, where the children gathered grass placed it in a shoe box and put it under the bed with a bowl of water for the camels, the three kings will leave a gift for each child.

Blog Assignment: When I Think of Research...

Blog Assignment: When I Think of Research...

We did it!! Another course down, almost done! Hope to see you all again down the road.

What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?

This class has been a challenge for me in every way. I have done my best to understand the weekly topics but it was too much for a small amount of time. The one thing that I can say about research and early childhood education is that it is necessary to have. Without proper research and researchers our field would not have upgraded throughout the years.

What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

I have learned that performing a correct research is not an easy task. The planning has to be done with a precise objective in mind, what you want to gain from the research. The designing is also tough, prior research has to be done to find out if the topic was researched before and if it was what the results were. The conducting has to be well organized, how is the observation going to be (interview, observation, or both) and how the information is going to be collected.

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

The professionals that have dedicated their careers to research have my admiration, this is not easy but it is definitely necessary. Research is a very detailed task that for it to be considered valid it has to be done to precision.

Research Around the World

I love to do these types of research; it gives me the opportunity to learn about organizations that are trying to do something to better children’s life in other parts of the world. For this particular blog I have decided to look in to European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (EECERJ). EECERA is an independent, self-governing, international association which promotes and disseminates multi-disciplinary research on early childhood and its applications to policy and practice (http://www.eecera.org/ 2010).

Some of the topics that have been published in their journal are; Teaching to learn and learning to teach (in Volume 19, Issue 1, 2011), Hearing voices: participatory research with preschool children with and without disabilities (in Volume 19, Issue 3, 2011),  Signs of knowledge: the appropriation of a symbolic skill in a five-year-old (in Volume 19, Issue 3, 2011) (http://www.eecera.org/ 2010).

Other than the journals offered through this website, there is not very much information on early childhood research. So, me loving to research international organizations, found the website for The NZ Early Childhood Research Network. They bring fresh thinking to early childcare and education.  Research, policy, and practice is brought together to inform, educate, and assist (http://www.childforum.com/ 2010).

Although the articles and journals are for members only, this is an organization in New Zealand that is doing everything to bring new ideas on early childhood education.

References

http://www.childforum.com/

http://www.eecera.org/countrycoordinators/

Blog Assignment: Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Before my son “graduated” from Head Start he was asked to participate in a study that was being done by Florida State University. It was directed with to Hispanic students and their education; they asked questions every few months concerning what the child was learning. They went to see him a few times at the Head Start and at the elementary school he attended after Head Start. They had him read and comprehend stories; after he was able to “conquer” his age appropriate stories they began to give him harder and harder stories.  I am unsure of what the results of the study were because we moved from town and lost track of the researchers.  I went on the website trying to find the study that we participated in but it’s not there, I can’t remember what the study is called.