6165 Week 8. Preparing ourselves to move on

When I just started this program degree almost a year ago, I thought there would not be any kind of interaction with colleagues or instructors. As the courses went by, I learned that I was completely wrong. Now I know that my colleagues and instructors have been important part of my journey. Through their posts and comments I have had endless opportunities to learn from their unique experiences and perspectives. Without establishing relationships with my colleagues and Dr. Johnna, my professional and personal growth would not be as huge and fundamental as it has been.  

Being just few weeks away from starting our specializations, my best wishes are for all my colleagues and instructor Dr. Johnna. I would like to also thank everyone for being important part of this passionate, challenging, but always rewarding journey: our Master’s Degree.

Please feel free to contact me at catalina.duran@waldenu.edu, we will be just an email away.

6164 Week 8. Professional Hopes and Goals

I found incredible the fact that I have learned so much about who I am in only 8 weeks. I learned the importance of knowing myself in order to better work with others in my personal and professional fields.

When working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds in the early childhood field, I hope to be able to identify the uniqueness of their culture, value it, and include it in my practices every day. I also wish to be the bridge families and co-workers require getting the resources they need in order to thrive, and not being the barrier that makes them feel excluded with my wrong attitudes and practices.

A goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that everyone accepts others who are different from oneself, with an open mind that helps people to learn from one another at the time it enriches the own culture.

I would like to thank to all my colleagues and Dr. Shephard for being important part of my journey throughout this course, which has changed my life not only at the professional but also at the personal level. Without the insights I got from my colleagues and professor, my growth could not be as tremendous as it has been. Again, thanks to everyone and I wish you all the best in future personal and professional projects.

6164 Week 7. Welcoming a family from Montenegro

Being a teacher in an early childhood program, the child who is coming to my class is from Montenegro and in order to prepare myself to better work with him and his family I would research the different languages that are spoken in their native country. It needed, I would look for an interpreter or in the internet for ways to communicate with them.  I would also research traditions that are culturally representative, as well as some other practices that are common in Montenegro. Learning about the possible hierarchy that families in the country may have would help me avoid unintentional offenses or misunderstandings with the family. I would look for some posters or images related to Montenegro and post them around the classroom, explaining to other children that a new child is coming and those images are related to his native country. Adding some books and other materials –like musical instruments or alike traditional toys-related to their traditions and country, would make the child and his family feel represented at and more valued by the program. Learning about the way people dress in Montenegro would help me find some representative garments that can be added to the house area, in order for the child to wear.

My preparation would be like a broad overview that helps me better comprehend the new family. At the time, it may make the family feel valued and welcomed to the program. In addition, if the family sees how I prepared the environment and myself, this would help us build a more solid relationship that will benefit the not only the child, but the whole family, myself, and the program.

6165 Week 6. Adjourning

The first year I taught in Mexico, Ms. Claudia, a co-worker, shared her concern about the lack of participation some mothers and fathers showed about their children’s education. We knew these parents were not working, because they used to spend some part of the morning just talking to each other right in front of the school. Ms. Claudia suggested to organize some parenting classes, as well as a group in which the parents could share their strengths and knowledge with others. The school’s principal approved and supported Ms. Claudia’s project, while some teachers -including myself- got voluntarily involved in one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had.

In our first meetings with parents and teachers we heard the interest and challenges parents had, as well as their plans for them and their family. Based on this information, all teachers organized in a team developed a program that served as our foundation. Despite the fact that professionals and parents used to meet only on Fridays after school, we all were a team in which the professionals were not the only ones who knew everything; the parents’ stories allowed us to learn from them too, and thus helped us to get more conscious about our students’ situations and needs.

By the end of our school year, each of us shared the most significant gain this experience provided to our lives. It was rewarding to hear that our efforts had produced varied and positive changes in the life of each person involved. Some parents shared they did not think they would be able to even talk in public as they were doing it while expressing their comments; being this one of the contributions we wanted to do: help parents realize they all had everything they needed, they just needed to make extra efforts in order to find support in themselves and those around them. Because I had the opportunity to see parents not only as the students’ parents but also as partners and friends, and my co-workers not only as professionals but as friends, this has been one of the groups that I have participated in that was hardest to leave.

Almost a year ago, I used to thing about this on-line program as just interacting with my computer. Nowadays, I am amazed with the continuous and varied interaction that has been possible through this program. Keeping in mind this is the last course before each one starts the specialization, I would like to maintain friendship with my colleagues, and hopefully we all have the opportunity to meet one another in person… in our graduation ceremony. J

6164 Week 6. The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

My last year working as a Head Start teacher, another teacher had 16 Latino children and only one Caucasian girl – this teacher was Caucasian too and non-bilingual. (I am going to call the teacher Ms. R. and the girl Margaret). When I was playing outdoors with my children, I observed that most of the time Margaret wanted to play with Ms. R. or children from other rooms, but never with her classmates. I asked Ms. R’s assistant –Ms. G.- the reason why Margaret did not play with children from her own room, and I sadly found out that no one wanted to play with her because the children say they did not like Margaret. Ms. G. also shared with me she was worried about Margaret because Ms. R. used to tell the girl she did not have to worry about playing only with children, because she –Ms. R.- would always be there to play with her. The way Ms. R. talked to and behaved with Margaret was completely different than how she did it with the Latino children: letting Margaret be the line leader every day and every time they needed to be in line; letting her pick the toys she wanted to use before everyone else could pick; calling Margaret sweetie or honey, and the other children by their name.

Every time I saw Margaret walking around the park by herself or begging children from other rooms to let her play with them, it was heartbreaking. I still think Ms. R. deprived Margaret from one of the most precious learning children can get in their early childhood years: the opportunity to play with other children of their age and gain all the knowledge their playing provides.

Despite the fact that other teachers, as well as my assistant and I organized games that let Ms. R’s children -including Margaret- play with other students, these opportunities were not enough to let all children feel they all had the same opportunities to play with anybody, the games or ways they wanted to.

I never knew, either understood the reasons that led Ms. R to make those distinctions among her students, but now I understand she made them because of her own biases. Sadly Margaret, the other 16 children, and all those who have been Ms. R’s students, were and have been the ones who paid for Ms. R’s lack of awareness of her own biases. Ms. R gave me an important lesson about the influence each teacher has on a whole group of children, for the positive, as well as for the negative things. I wonder how many other Ms. Rs are out there planting in children the seed of bias, prejudices, and oppression.