Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

For week 4 of this course, we began to discuss the topic of microaggressions and the importance of being aware of such instances taking place in the world around you and in your own world and conversations. In order to complete this assignment, we had to discuss an example of an observed microaggression instance taking place that involved us or happened around us in the world.

First of all, let's begin with the concept of microaggression. If you are like me, prior to this week I had never even heard of this term before. However, upon researching this week I have come to understand the meaning and importance of knowing what this term means. Dr. Sue began talking about this concept by stating, "There are times when verbal behaviors create feelings of uncertainty, inferiority, or marginalization, even though no offense was consciously intended. Such behaviors are called microaggressions," (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). The important thing to realize that the majority of the time a microaggression takes place it is unintentional and unconsciously taking place. Dr. Sue continues, "Microaggressions are brief everyday indignities that are verbal, behavioral, or environmental that may be intentional or unintentionally communicated to women, to people of color, to gay and lesbians that have an insulting message behind them that often times causes severe psychological distress and harm," (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).

Understanding what this term meant and the depth of the consequences behind it helped me to be more aware of my own decisions and conversations, as well as those happening around me at work, at home, with friends, at restaurants, at stores, etc. After spending the first part of the week reading and becoming familiar with this concept, I observed an example of microaggression taking place while at dinner with my boyfriend and my dad on Wednesday evening. We were sitting at a pub for dinner and were at a table close to the bar area of the restaurant. There were two groups of people sitting nearby - one group at a table next to us and one group sitting at the bar a few feet away. I couldn't help but overhear the group at the table sharing jokes and using language that was not necessarily appropriate. The group at the table was a mixed group of men and women of various races and ethnicities. The group at the bar was similar but only two men and one woman. The group at the table made comments in a joking or friendly manner in regards to women and African Americans - both of which were in both groups. I felt uncomfortable with the conversation, especially when noticing one person from each of the groups seemed uncomfortable and offended, even though it was evident that was not the intention. This was an eye opening moment for me to witness this first hand taking place in society. I not only was aware of the microaggression, but also the perpetrator and recipient's responses to it, to which I would not have noticed before in the same way.

This observation helped me to understand the gravity of the situation and of the overall concept of microaggression. While we may not realize what we are doing, this can be harmful to the recipient. As people, especially Early Childhood Educators, we need to become aware of our unconscious biases or stereotypes in order to avoid making our children and families feel victim to such encounters. The instance that I had witnessed was a perfect example of the perpetrator feeling oblivious to the potential harm they just enlisted on a friend, as well as on a stranger who overheard the conversation. Our children and families should not be subject to such instances so it is important that we understand this issue and work on overcoming and preventing it, if possible.




References:

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

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Week 3 is upon us! For this week, we needed to examine and analyze the perspective on diversity and culture of others, as well as our own. For this assignment, I contacted several of my colleagues in my building to share their thoughts on this matter and will share their responses below, as well as my own analysis of the findings.

I had asked each of my colleagues to provide their definition  of culture and diversity, the similarities and differences between the two concepts, and why are these concepts important to education. Here are the responses I received:

• Our building ELL teacher:
• "Culture is a community of people, families who share common experiences
  that shape the way they understand the world. Culture is a strong part
  of people's lives. It influences their views, values, their hopes,
  worries and fears. It is no wonder many common cultures tend to stick
  together because they feel comfortable and share a commonality.
  Diversity to me refers to celebrating the many diverse cultures and/or
  communities. In order for people to commit to working on diversity,
  every person needs to feel that they will be included and important.
  Each person needs to know that their cultures is important to others.
  This is the only way I believe will bring the many different cultures
  together and unite. Learning about cultural differences can bring people
  closer together. It can show us just exactly how much we really do have
  in common. As educators, I believe we need to celebrate the many diverse
  cultures we have in our community in order to build an environment that
  feels safe for all."

• Our In Class Support Teacher (K-1): 
• "Two of my favorite things to talk about considering my trip to Africa
  where I saw it all come together. Yes, I had my opinions of each but
  while working in classrooms in Ghana and coming home to student teach, I
  was able to really see the impact both have on myself and my students.
  My personal definition of culture is that it is a way of life. Culture
  is defined by what we wear, what we eat, what we believe in, what we do
  for fun, and what we celebrate. Diversity is how cultures are different.
  It defines the uniqueness of a culture. Diversity is embracing those
  unique differences among cultures and looking at life through the eyes
  of another person. Through that we realize our similarities and our
  differences among people across the world. I feel that culture and
  diversity are important to education because learning about the world
  around us is endless. There is always something new to learn. Not only
  does it shape us academically, but culture and diversity teach us life
  lessons. They make us more appreciative of what we have and who we are.
  It makes us more appreciative of one another."

• Our building principal:
• "I believe culture is a person's background and the experiences they have
  that help to influence their character and identity. 
  Diversity is having a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures. 
  I don't know that they are the same or different.  It is more that they
  are connected because having a range of cultures and nationalities is
  what brings diversity to your school.
  
  It is important to share culture in education because it is a person's
  background, traditions, customs and way of life.  This helps us to
  understand and appreciate our differences.
  
  It is important to have diversity in education because you have that
  first-hand experience and knowledge of other cultures instead of
  vicarious learning.  It becomes more personal and therefore more
  explicit."

• Our district Reading Specialist:
• "Culture is defined as characteristics of people who are categorized together by race, religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity.   Diversity to me is the ability for differences to coexist together, with some type of mutual understanding or acceptance present. Acceptance of different viewpoints is key. Also, diversity means inclusion of everyone and inclusion of everyone's viewpoints and perspectives. Our ability to give every child a chance to succeed in school depends upon our understanding of culture and learning styles. Effective educational practices must derive from an understanding of the ways that individuals learn. Knowing each student, especially his or her culture, is essential preparation for facilitating, structuring, and validating successful learning for all students."

• One of our Preschool Inclusion teachers: 
• "This is fun and so important to instill at such a young age! Culture is the totality of traditions, beliefs, foods, clothes and processes of a certain group of people. Diversity is the differences among the cultures, with a connotation of acceptance and respect for each.These concepts are important to education for teachers and students alike. A mutual respect among peers for each other's cultural differences, makes for an environment more conducive to learning. Teachers must be cognizant of the cultural diversities among students to fully understand certain behaviors as they occur. Actions, or lack thereof are often tied to cultural norms which are different from our own. "

Let me begin by stating I was so impressed and overwhelmed by the responses I received from each of my colleagues. They each took the time to truly consider the meaning of these concepts, as well as their importance. I feel as though we share a common view on such aspects and understand the importance it has for society, as well as for our students, in particular. We learned it's importance in class this and last week but I am glad to see it is understood and appreciated within our building by many wonderful educators and administrators, as well. As Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2010) state, "The word culture refers to how particular groups of people live," (p. 55). As you can see, we all agree with this concept. Diversity refers to the varying types of cultures we encounter in our country and in our classrooms. We must encourage and embrace these concepts within our classrooms to set a positive precedent for the children to follow in being tolerant, accepting, understanding, and willing to learn from and work together with people who are similar and different from you. 

I feel as though the professionals I discussed the concepts with this week had perfectly pieced together the puzzle of culture and diversity, discussing the important meanings of each concept, as well as the reasons why it is important in the world and in education, as we have learned in our readings. Additionally, I feel as though my own viewpoints on these topics are very similar to each of the aforementioned passages. I do not feel as though important interpretations were omitted or neglected as each response embraced the importance of being accepting and learning from one another as our culture defines us and diversity allows us to celebrate and learn from our differences. I strongly believe that hearing these responses from my trusted colleagues has solidified my own understanding, perspective, and passion about this subject. 

Until next week…

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).

My Family Culture

I am embarking on a new journey in my 6th grad class, Perspectives on Diversity and Equity. This week in class we had to post a response to a scenario, discussing key points of our responses to this scenario. The scenario is as follows:

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of the catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country's culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.


In response to this scenario we must answer the following questions…
1. A description of the three items you would choose.
2. How you would explain to others what each of these items mean to you.
3. Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two things
4. Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise.



If I could only choose three items to take with me to my new home, I would choose my ring, an album of family photos, and my softball glove. The ring I am referring to is a ring my best friend bought for each of the girls in our group of friends for Christmas in High School. This ring was purchased for us as a gesture to keep us connected and strong after we discovered one of our best friends was diagnosed with Leukemia. Less than a year later, my best friend who purchased this ring suddenly passed away, shortly followed by the passing of my friend who had Leukemia, all during my senior year of high school. This ring represents my love and friendship with these two angels and without it I do not feel complete. It reminds me of happy times, good memories, love, friends, family. It ties all important things in my life together and I have not gone a day without wearing it for the past 10 years.

The second item I would choose is a photo album filled with pictures of my loved ones, including my boyfriend, my dog, my family, and my friends. This is a treasured item as I would be able to carry them all with me along with the memories to get through the tough road ahead, especially if I had lost any of them in the process of this catastrophe. The third and final item I would choose is my softball glove. The reasoning behind this is that I come from a very sports oriented family and most of my memories growing up are surrounded by this glove. I have fond memories with my dad, brother, mom, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, and grandparents. This is one of my passions and hobbies and would be a great outlet during stressful times.

If I were to be told I could only keep one of the items, I would be completely devastated. It would already be difficult to choose just three items and lose so many loved ones in such a catastrophe. If I had no other option but to keep one item only from the aforementioned list, I would choose my ring. The ring represents so many things in my life and has such a deep meaning that would keep me connected to my loved ones at all times and is something I could keep with me at all times everyday.

After completing the readings and viewings this week, I have taken the concept of culture and diversity into deep consideration. Prior to this week, I had not seriously considered something such as a dynamic culture and family culture. I had not previously taken time to consider where I fall in regards to these cultures. I have gained a better insight and understanding about the meaning of each of these cultures and where I stand within them, as well as how to promote tolerance and acceptance and understanding within early childhood for children who fall within varying cultures.

Until next time...