My Hopes and Goals...

• One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds (any format and any length)

I hope that I get the opportunity to work with many children from all different backgrounds. I enjoy working with and learning about new people and hope to influence all of the children that I work with positively. I hope that someday I will even get the opportunity to work in another country with children and families. I think that would be such an enriching experience.

• One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice (any format and any length)

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field is to create a program that would offer preschool to all children and not be based on income, poverty level, needs, or place of residence that will prepare children for school. Head Start, and State funded preschools are good and enriching for children, but they are not available to all children. They are only available to low income children who qualify. This means that the "poor" children do not attend school with more children whose parents have a higher income. This is something that has always bothered me and had been hard for me to understand.

• A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

I would like to thank all of my classmates for the shared knowledge and personal experiences that they have shared during this last semester. I have had the opportunity to read a lot of personal stories about things that they have gone through throughout their lifetime, and had many genuine comments regarding stories that I have shared. It has truly been a great learning experience.

Ireland

You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

I am a teacher of a toddler classroom, and I have received word that I will be having a new child start in my classroom. I am going to have a two year old girl from Ireland. They are new to the country and this will be the first time that the child has been cared for outside of the family.

In order to prepare for this family I would want to familiarize myself with the Irish culture. I would also like to incorporate some things from their culture into the classroom. I can do this by doing some research, but also by speaking with the family. I could ask them what kinds of things would be representative of their specific culture, as well as ask them to possibly bring in some items to help the child feel more at home. This could be things such as clothing, music, books, or foods. I would need to be careful though as to not be stereotypical with the types of items that would be brought into the classroom. This is why I would like to ask the family for specific items related to their family's culture.

When have I encountered bias?

I have on occasion experienced bias in my life, but the time that I experienced the most bias was while I was pregnant, and during the first year that I had my first child. I got pregnant at 17 and had my first child when I was 18. I constantly heard people mumble under their breath about kids having kids, and how I would never amount to anything because I was so young. When I heard these things it was very hurtful because I already knew that I had made a mistake, and it was hard knowing that everyone else could see that I had made a mistake. The people who were talking about me made me feel like I was beneath them for what I had done, and that I was not equal with them. I have worked very hard to provide for my children and give them the best that I possibly could. I have also proved a lot of people wrong by getting an education and holding down a decent job.

Now I am proud to tell people that I had my first child while I was still a teenager. I hope to be a positive role model for teenagers who have children to prove to them that their life is not over, and they can still make something of themselves. I know getting pregnant or having children early in life is not the best option, but it is in no way the end. There is still time to fulfill your hopes and dreams.

Awareness of Microagressions

• 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? What did you think and feel when you observed the microaggression or when you found yourself as the target of a microaggression?

There were a few examples of microaggressions throughout this last week, but the first one that comes to mind was when one of my coworkers asked another one of my coworkers to make her taco's because she wanted some good mexican food. It was all in good intentions, but the one that was asking for taco's pretty much just assumed that the other one was good at cooking mexican food because she was a mexican woman. The first thing that came to mind when I witnessed this was - wow, I just saw a micro aggression happen. The other coworker was not offended by the statement, but she very well could have been.

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

My observations this last week did not really change my perception about the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes about people, but it did make me much more aware of the little things people say during day to day conversations that could be possibly offensive to other, but it is completely unintentional.