HOPES, GOALS, and THANK YOUS

HOPES 

I hope that when I work with children and families from diverse backgrounds I can provide an environment that represents their culture and cultural needs.  I want my words and my actions to express interest, respect and appreciation for who they are and encourage open dialogue and participation in the education of the children.  We are building bridges not providing one way tickets to the dominant culture.  Our differences are assets not deficiencies.

GOALS

It must be a goal of the early childhood field to include anti-bias education for teachers in training.  With diversity steadily growing in the classroom we need to equip teachers with the skills and tools to work effectively with diversity.  We need to move beyond the superficial multicultural curriculum that provides posters of people of color and an occasional book that represents ethnic and racial diversity.  

It is my personal goal to continue to look for and recognize examples of bias in education and my daily life in order to expose them and work with others for change.

THANK YOU

I would like to give a special thank you to Dr. Parrish and my colleagues for sharing their personal stories and challenges when dealing with issues of diversity, equity, and social justice.  Having an open forum to honestly discuss our bias, prejudice, and stereotypes allowed me to grow and make a move towards change.  Without the support of others this can be a lonely and fearful journey.  Thank you for your thoughtful, inspirational, and insightful posts and comments.

HONDURAS

HONDURAS

With the recent surge of women and children crossing the southern United States and Mexico border I thought it would be practical to focus on one of the countries of origin, Honduras.

• Free education is only provided for children through 6th grade.  Many children do not continue on with education even though there are some financial supports that pay partial tuition for continuing students.  It is common for boys to go and work in the farm fields and it is not uncommon for girls to marry as early as 12-14 years of age.                                       

It is important to keep the education of parents in mind so as to not make them feel like they are less than others.  I would work to make sure that all home communications are provided in a variety of ways in case there are some parents that are still illiterate.  As well as invite parents to engage in the classroom through multiple means of storytelling, music, crafts, or dance.

• Spanish is the national language although some schools are bilingual.  93% of the population are considered mestizo (a mix of native and European descent) however, there are still some native ethnic groups (Lencas, Chortís, Tolupanes, Pech, Tawahkas, and Miskitos) as well as a group of people who descend from African slaves from the Caribbean islands called the Garífunas, as well as many people of Afro-Caribbean ascent.

To ensure that my early childhood program is inclusive of all people of Honduras I would inquire about their ethnic group before making assumptions in classroom.  It would be a pretty safe bet however, that they speak Spanish even if they are able to speak English as well.  The classroom as well as the center communications should be bilingual.  Labeling in Spanish would provide comfort and familiarity to students as well as families.  I would also work with parents and children to learn common Spanish words and phrases in order to make the transition to English more harmonious.  I would also encourage parents and families to continue Spanish at home in order to encourage the development of both languages.

• Catholicism is the major religion in Honduras with Christian holidays being a major event for many people.  Christmas for instance, in Honduras, begins at midnight on the 24th and are celebrated for weeks before and after with fireworks.   At New Years the Honduras people make a doll called Año Viejo to symbolize all the bad things that happened during the year and then they burn the doll to burn away the bad memories.  At Easter there are elaborate parades and people decorate the streets with "carpets" of a thin layer of pre-painted saw dust.  Children celebrate their birthdays with candy/prize filled piñatas. 

 

Año Viejo

Easter Parades

Easter "Carpets"

Piñatas

The easiest way to make a family feel valued and appreciated is to celebrate their traditions.  For a Christmas it would be fun to include families in helping to make a traditional Honduras Christmas feast which includes: tamales, torrejas, sweet potato puree, eggnog, roasted pork ham, roasted turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.  If it is not possible to include religious celebrations at your center then it is good to know about these traditions so that you can inquire about and have a conversation with children and their families about their celebrations.  It shows that you value their beliefs and culture.

• I believe that it is very important to show respect and acknowledgement for famous people of Honduras.  This shows children that we value role models from their country as well as our own.  

In my classroom or program I would like to provide posters, books, homemade books as well as non-fiction books, art, and music of successful and notable people from Honduras. There are many internet sites that can provide names of people, but it would be best to ask families and children about famous people that they know to add a personal relativity.

• Finally, I learned that respect is a key concept in Honduras.  It is rude to begin any conversation without making a proper greeting and asking about a families' night or weekend.  Children are required to show respect for their elders and stop and listen when spoken to.  Honduras society also show respect for special needs.  For example the bank has a special line for retired people, people with disabilities, and pregnant women.

Knowing how to greet people and their expectations of children is important to valuing a family's culture.  

I would hope that by preparing for a family from a different culture they would make an easy transition into the dominant culture while maintaining their own culture.  My primary goal would be to show that I value their culture and traditions and encourage them to share their unique experiences with the classroom environment.  It is always best when children can feel a continuity between home and school.  Children should never be made to feel like they have to choose one culture over another.   

References

Farah, D. (2014, August 8). Five myths about the border crisis. In The Washington Post. Retrieved August 15, 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-the-border-crisis/2014/08/08/1ec90bea-1ce3-11e4-ab7b-696c295ddfd1_story.html

Honduran people and culture (2014). In This is Honduras. Retrieved August 15, 2014, from http://thisishonduras.com/People_and_Culture.htm

Honduras (n.d.). In Fact Monster. Retrieved August 15, 2014, from http://www.factmonster.com/country/honduras.html

Living in Honduras (n.d.). In International Living. Retrieved August 15, 2014, from http://internationalliving.com/countries/honduras/live-in-honduras/

Problems with education in Honduras (n.d.). In Honduras Good Works. Retrieved August 15, 2014, from http://hondurasgoodworks.org/education/problems-with-education-in-honduras/

AN INCIDENT OF BIAS, PREJUDICE, and OPPRESSION

During the 2012 republican primary, presidential candidate Rick Santorum was talking about welfare and was caught making a microaggression against African Americans. He said "I don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them other people's money, I want to make them better by giving them the opportunity to earn their own money."  Being a member of the dominant culture as a white male Santorum tries to be politically correct, but his hidden bias slip out.  He would never intentionally try to marginalize a potential voting demographic, but he was caught in a moment when he wasn't guarding everything he said.  Whether it was intentional or not, it is important to look for these microaggressions when deciding whom to vote for. 

This incident diminishes equity by enforcing the stereotypes that say all African Americans are poor, on welfare, and not working.  It also leaves out the fact that most people on welfare are white.  This message says because all African Americans are on welfare there is something wrong with them and they need to be fixed.   

I am always angered when conservatives start attacking the public assistance programs, but I was shocked to hear someone in the public eye make a statement that singled out and stereotyped a group of people.  After learning about microaggressions I realize now that our bias and prejudice are not always very conscious and they sneak out even when we have good intentions,not that I think Santorum has good intentions (Laureate Education Inc., 2011).   I am angry that public assistance programs are made to look like handouts to lazy people with no desire to work.  When in fact many people receiving assistance are children and elderly.  And many people working these days are on some kind of public assistance.   

I think in order to ensure equity people who make mistakes like this should accept them as mistakes and correct the information.  We need to address the hidden privileges that we have in the dominant culture and how that affects our political decisions (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).  In this particular situation Santorum could not admit to possible voters that he obviously has some prejudice that he needs to work on in regards to people of color.  Instead he explains how he isn't a bigot because he supports African American colleges in Washington and how he didn't actually say "black people" he said, "blah," because he usually says "African American."  We need to change how we look at public assistance and people of color.  

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

One more microaggression I saw on my Facebook feed...