Communication

The one person that I would like to emulate as a model for positive communication skills is my mother. I say this because she is a person who can go into any situation and feel confident that she can convey her thoughts aloud to anyone be it a group or one-on-one. She is a secretary for the state, and she communicates with everyone from students, to custodial staff, interns and resident/researching doctors. She has this amazing ability that makes everyone instantly comfortable and willing to talk with her no matter their station. She also has an eloquence about her that allows her to not just be able to speak with but actually carry out intellectual conversations with people with far more "education and status" that she has in the world. However, she can also talk to the "peons" of the world and not make them feel insufficient or uneducated compared to how she speaks! It truly is amazing.
She is also someone who when she asks questions (personal or not) she actually cares and wants to her the answers to what they have to say. She isn't one to just make polite conversation because it is the right thing to do in our society. She actually takes a genuine interest in what is being told to her, even if she doesn't fully understand the context (like some of the research the doctors are doing) but she listens and asks more questions to try to clarify.
My mom also has this ability to speak to people who are angry or unreasonable and help them to see they are being unruly. She speaks to them in a way that she actually drops her voice to a lower octave and speaks slower in a calm soothing manor. She works a personal mediator between my father and I who don't always see eye to eye and can come out in a yelling match. When I was younger and living at home this was a serious problem, but my mom was always able to handle the situation, I have NO idea how she did it. When I am upset or mad I call her and she is somehow able to look at situations from different angles and show me different perspective or talk me through different situations because of this ability. 

YES!! She is someone that I try  to model in my everyday life, and remember how she would feel if I communicated something in a negative way. If she is unhappy with the way I might handle something (communication wise) I would rethink my response or actions.

Professional Hopes and Goals

My hope for when I work with families in the future is that each of us will have the patience to get to know one another and the unique qualities that each side brings to the classroom. I want to be given the chance to get to know the unique traditions, values and beliefs that each child brings with them from their family and communities. I know that it takes a village to raise a child, that is why i feel their culture comes from more than just the immediate family that surrounds them. I want my classroom to feel welcoming and a place of acceptance for those to come in, share, and be a part of our classroom community.

One professional goal that I have for myself is to become more thoroughly acquainted with the idea of Microaggressions which we learned about in week 6. I want to know enough about this topic and the research behind it to compile a mini course specifically designed for all students to take at a college/professional level. I would make a case to the board that this is not just a course for teachers, or social workers, but for all students. We are all subjected to some sort of microaggression no matter who we are, but we also all give out microaggressions. Most of us are not aware we are making such a transgression, and knowledge is power. Giving people the self mindedness that comes from learning about microaggressions can help to create a more harmonious society and takes us further away from the ideas of discrimination as it should be.
I would have to say that the topic on microaggressions is one area that I would want to expand my knowledge about in a professional way. Seeing how I would like to one day teach a course on this topic, I should gain as much knowledge as possible about it. This is a topic that I knew nothing about for the first 27 years of my life, and I don’t like to think about how many indiscretions in this area I may have made in those years and not have had any idea. To me this is such a vital part of how humans function and categorize/empathize/sympathize that we are not even aware how it might be completely inappropriate. 

I wanted to thank all of my class mates for helping to expand my realm of thinking and push my limits to expand in the knowledge of this topic. Through our blogs and discussions, I have really had the opportunities to look at the world through your experiences and perspectives and that is something that I truly value! I wish you luck throughout the rest of your semesters and also your journey in the early childhood field, wherever you may go. 

Families from around the world

I would be teaching a UPK classroom and I decided to look up the country of Tonga.

First I would look up what language they speak so I know if I will need to get an interpreter somehow, or if we will be able to communicate. In Tonga, they speak both Tongan, which is an Austronesian language of the Oceanic subgroup, as well as English.

 I would look up information on the place/history of where they live.

• Tonga is a small island in the middle of the South Pacific. This is a country that is still ruled by a Polynesian monarchy, and where most Tongans live in small villages not big towns or cities.  This is the only pacific island that was NEVER colonized by a bigger nation or power.

Next I would look up information on their education system to see where that falls into their list of priorities.

• Tonga provides for its citizens free and mandatory education for all. Secondary education with only nominal fees and foreign-funded scholarships for post-secondary education! Tongans enjoy a relatively high level of education, with a 98.9% literacy rate, and higher education up to and including medical and graduate degrees (pursued mostly overseas).

Then I would look at religious belief or customs.

•  Everyday life is heavily influenced by Polynesian traditions and especially by the Christian faith; for example, all commerce and entertainment activities cease from midnight on Saturday until midnight on Sunday, and the constitution declares the Sabbath sacred forever. 

After religion, I would look up any cultural "hobbies"(for lack of a better word).

• the most famous local craft is the making of Tapa, a decorative bark cloth painted with traditional symbols and designs. Tapa is usually offered as a gift of respect at weddings, births and funerals. Tongan arts and handicrafts, including bone carving, wood carving, basket making and fine weaving made using techniques passed down through generations of Tongan craftspeople.

Finally I would look at their traditions.

•  Food is the occasion for a family gathering only at the end of the day. But they can eat freely during the course of the day. The ritual of kava drinking characterizes both formal and daily events. It is nonalcoholic but slightly narcotic. People sit cross-legged in an elliptical pattern whose long axis is headed by the bowl on one side and by the highest-ranked participant on the other.
• People shake hands when they meet, and relatives kiss by pressing each other's noses against their faces and soundly inhaling through the nose.
• Most food is eaten with the hands, although silverware also is used. It is customary to wash one's hands at the beginning and end of a meal.  
• The gesture of raising the eyebrows in conversation expresses one's understanding of the speaker's speech and is an invitation to continue. It is difficult for people to admit failure in understanding or to respond negatively to requests.

  
  I would know that I should be able to at least communicate with them to a certain point because we would speak the same language. Although depending on how frequently they used English they might not have as much vocabulary, but we could work through it together! I would also know how to greet them when we met, some cultures don't like to touch while others are very touchy/feely. Also the child might not use utensils often, so they might eat with their hands when we get lunch/snack in the classroom.

  
  Reference:

http://www.thekingdomoftonga.com/

Personal Side

One very strong memory I have that still effects me to this day is from when I was a little girl I was taking out of my first grade class and held back on the reasoning that I was not teachable, and not intelligent enough to move forward. Granted my parents were informed of this during open house (3^rd week of school). I was placed in remedial reading, and when I was in school that was a separate classroom where the kids who wore helmets and bibs would go during the day. Talk about a blow to self-esteem! This is an absolute time that I felt powerless. Of course I realize it more now as an adult reflecting on how I felt back then, than when I was living it. I felt as if I didn’t really matter and they just swept me under the rug because they didn’t want to deal with the “problem”. That’s how this assertion of power made me feel, like a problematic outcast.

Equity was completely and totally demolished and power was taken away from me by those who made me feel so low.  It wasn't until recent years that I would even talk about this situation, let alone how I felt because I always felt that I would be judged by those who knew the "truth" .

Microaggression

So just this last week my husband and I went out for dinner with a few team mates of our from softball. We decided that we wanted to go to the Mexican restaurant in town, as it is one of our favorite (my husband and I). It was the first time both of our team mates have ever been. My husband and I are most likely considered regulars to their establishment, and as such I like to think we have developed a positive rapport with the staff (3 people). I have even started to remember some Spanish from back in my high school days and I use as much as I can when interacting with them, and the always smile approvingly at me even though I am sure to be butchering the dialect.  After we had another delicious dinner, we were walking out the door when one person in our company yelled "Adios, Mi AMIGOS!" and just started laughing. I turned right around to the hostess and apologized for their behavior and said we would be coming alone next time. I was completely mortified for his behavior and I found out quickly that he didn't even realize what he did. After we got out of the restaurant, I got a little hostile with him, and asked him what his problem was. He did not have a good enough excuse for me and I said that was not only embarrassing to my husband and I, but I am sure that they took offense towards the action. I told them that it was out of line, and they said they only wanted to communicate with them. I said then you do it in a more respectable manor, because that just looked like you were mocking them instead. My friend felt terrible, but not enough to go back in and apologize for his error.

I think that this week's readings really helped to affirm my belief that he did something wrong that could be construed as offensive, and next time I am in a situation like this I will be more vocal about my feelings, and make people be aware that what they say DOES matter to someone!

Definitions of culture/diversity

Friend #1

"My definition of culture would be everything that I see around me. My own personal culture is the family that I surround myself with. We all are a little different when it comes to our families and no matter how different we may seem that is where we come from, that is our culture. It doesn't have to be the same as everyone else.  As a teacher I would say that diversity is the differences that we hold on to from our culture is what helps to make up diversity. It is not just the color of your skin or your religious beliefs, while that is an important part, diversity is much more than just what is on the outside much like that of culture."

Friend#2:

"Culture is the beliefs that people hold dear to themselves. They might be religious beliefs, they might be traditional beliefs passed down by your family. Culture means different things to different people. Diversity is understanding that you are different from the people around you, but also respecting the differences you see in other people."

Friend #3:

"An upbringing. The way you are raised, and culture has to do with what you are exposed to throughout your lifetime. Having culture is respecting things like are and music, and looking at the other intelligences of the world and appreciating what is around you. Diversity is the difference between cultures. Although I am a liberal i do agree it has been taken to an extreme. People don't understand that other people's cultures do not need to be forced upon others. All that is needed is simple recognition."

My friends all had an idea what culture and diversity are about but many of them had to take classes of diversity in college as it is a requirement. I did not have the opportunity to ask someone I knew who did not go to college so I do now know if their answers would be similar or different. 

Relocation

       First of all I would be taking my dog Chad with me. I know that he isn't a "small item" but I feel he is note worthy as my immediate family and would have survived the catastrophic event. I say this because he is more than my dog, in my family culture he is my child. My parents treat him as a grand child, and the family treats him as any other member of the family. My husband and I do not want children of our own except that our child is our pup Chad. I would explain that even though he isn't from my physical body, Chad holds a piece of my soul that can not be replaced as a assume a mother feels about their child.

       The next that I would have to take with me is the last picture of my family all together. I think that it is important to have a visual reminder of those we have lost. If I can't take them with me because they have long since past, and will be unable to visit their grave I want to be able to always remember what they look like. Memories fade over time and sometimes those memories are not as crisp as they once were.
    
      Other than what I mentioned above, as long as I have my family with me then nothing of material value really matters. I can start from scratch and build up our lives again even if it is in a strange country. My family means more to me than anything else could so there is not much that I would run back into a burning building to get as long as I have them. My grandma's recipes that she will never cook again would be nice to have in her writing but to be honest, they were taught without writing it down so they are in my head. There is no telling we would even be able to get the supplies to make them where we are going.