As this course draws to a close, I have
revisited my original goals chosen during the start of our reflective journal
as well as those I wrote during the end of the reflective journal
assignment.
Professionally as well as personally my
hopes and goals for the future include, but not limited to: continuing finding ways to further my understanding
of diversity; continuing finding ways to better understand the role that our
social identity plays in our lives; and to put this acquired knowledge (both
from this course and what I learn in the future) into practice (i.e.
professionally and personally).
These are categories that I know I need
to continuously work on in regards to changing demographics and diversity. It is so important to make sure everyone
feels respected and included in their community and with their child’s
education. I say this because as the
demographics and diversity change in my child care and community, so must
I. Fortunately, working with exchange
students has really opened my eyes to this issue and allowed me to understand
that I can keep growing and learning along with the families/students/community. The students are always willing to educate me
on their cultures, customs, etc… All I
have to do is ask. If I do not know
something I make sure I ask the families to educate me.
According to Santamaria (2009),
challenges inherent in serving multiple students with diverse needs (i.e.
academic, cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, etc.) have been the
preoccupation of educators since the identification of academic achievement
gaps in research studies and by school districts (Santamaria, 2009). In order to be an effective educator, regardless
of what field of education we are working in, we need to be culturally
competent communicators. According to Le
Roux (2002), education is not just about understanding the curriculum and
achieving good grades. It is also about
teaching and learning about values, assumptions, feelings, perceptions and
relationships (Le Roux, 2002).
The goal I would like to see set for the
early childhood field in general is that each educator/administrator/politician
involved in the early childhood field be exposed to mandatory courses/workshops
in order to address diversity, equity, and social justice. I also would like to see some type of plan
put in place when each of us has to take the time to look at our own
biases. It is very important to look at
our own biases as we have learned in order to make sure we can ask the
questions needed to educate ourselves as well as make our classrooms, child
cares, etc… the best environments for learning that we can. If we do not address these attitudes/biases,
we will not be able to establish an environment that is welcoming for everyone. Educators, as stated above, must genuinely
examine their attitudes and assumptions not only about diverse cultures but
also about the diverse types of families the children live in. These attitudes and assumptions will not
allow us, as educators, to reach the point of genuine openness to others and
therefore, not make our classrooms/child cares an inviting place for others to
want to become involved. Also, once we
examine our attitudes and assumptions, it allows us, as individuals as well as
educators, to feel comfortable in asking questions and finding out answers from
others in how to improve our programs, curriculums, etc… (Gestwicki, 2007).
References
Gestwicki, C.
(2007). Home, school, and community relations. Clifton Park,
NY: Thomson
Delmar Learning.
Le Roux, J.
(2002). Effective educators are culturally competent
communicators. Intercultural
Education, 13(1), 37-48.
doi:10.1080/14675980120112922
Santamaria, L.
J. (2009). Culturally Responsive Differentiated Instruction:
Narrowing Gaps between Best Pedagogical Practices Benefiting
All Learners. Teachers
College Record, 111(1), 214-247.