Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope I have, is for people to become more understanding of other cultures. This goes way beyond educators; it would be wonderful for everyone to be willing to embrace other cultures instead of holding bias feelings.  As well, I hope more people educate themselves on different cultures. I realize ignorance is the key reason why biases take place.

One goal I am very passionate about reaching is becoming an advocate for young children and their families. I realize my background is so crucial to having a relationship with these children and their families. In order for everyone to feel comfortable it’s important to find similarities between cultures.

I would like to thank all of my colleagues for their continued support. It is very helpful to see positive feedback and to know that other people can identify with your experiences. I have enjoyed reading everyone’s blog and have learned much from you all. Thank you again for everything! I wish you all well in the courses to come!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

At the child care center where I work I have a family who recently emigrated from Morocco. First I will research the location of Morocco. Morocco is located in North Africa, to understand the origin. Secondly, I will search the type of government they have which is a constitutional monarchy; this helps me understand the level of power in their country. They have a King in Morocco who holds a lot of power.  Thirdly, I would like to be familiar with the language they speak which is either Berber or Moroccan Arabic. Fourthly, I will research the dominant religion which Islamic. Lastly, I will look to see what offends them. For instance, during the month of Ramadan, I never knew it is considered rude to eat and drink in front of them while they are fasting.

My goal in preparing for this family is to make the transition as smooth as possible. I want the family to feel comfortable. I understand many things will be different.  The last thing I want to do is offend them. I am aware the smallest thing such as a hand shake can be disrespectful. Hopefully all of my research will make the family feel more relaxed. 

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107800.html

http://www.traveltaboo.com/morocco-travel-tips-dos-and-donts/

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

During the 2010-2011 school year, I spent majority of my time working with special education children. Some of the children do not have physical or mental problems but are just extremely slow learners. For instance a few of the seventh graders were reading at a third or fourth grade level. Many people choose not to work with special education children (SPED) because they fear it will take too much patience and it is difficult. Indeed, SPED children do require a different kind of attention but they learn just like everyone else nevertheless. I have overheard other teachers in the building expressing negative remarks about SPED children “saying there is no way I could deal with those children”. I confronted one of the teachers and asked why she would say that. She told me she could not deal with children like that climbing all up and down the walls. Already there is a bias basically saying SPED children are just unbearable to teach; anytime someone categorizes a group, biases are produced. Saying that they are climbing up and down the wall makes it seem as if they are not even human. I remember talking with another SPED teacher who was furious with another teacher because of his remarks about SPED children. The SPED teacher told me a teacher asked what on earth made her want to teach SPED children, it just seems like you are babysitting all day. I was enraged with the comment as well because this teacher was acting as if SPED teachers are ranked lower and less important. SPED teachers are just as important as any other teacher. Dealing with the situation I experienced multiple biases; teachers holding biases against SPED children as well as SPED teachers. I guess I was shocked with the actions of some teachers. I feel teacher should have bond and be looked as one unit and should never put another educator down. For incidence such as this one to decrease people have to put their biases aside and not speculate. It is easy to guess about a situation but if you have not personal experienced a situation you should not be so willing to pass your opinion.