TV Show Experience

I chose to record the show "Haters." This was the first time I watched the show and I actually hadn't even heard of it before. When looking at it with no sound I saw Snooky from Jersey Shore on there. I thought she was going on a date with this guy and it looked like she was saying nice things to him because she didn't make any frowns or scrunced up faces or anything. After looking at it with sound I found out she was saying some ugly things to him. She wasn't there to go out with him either. She was there because the guy was telling everyone she was a drunk and she was crazy and she wanted him to get to know her better. I also noticed when I watched it with sound that the sound effects they were playing emphasized the point the characters were making. I learned that I would like to be able to have that face that snooky had when she was talking. It wasn't a face that went either way. I want to be able to remain neutral when communicating so that people won't feel like I am judging or choosing sides. An aha moment I had was when watching one of the characters on the show who was the mother of the guy. I noticed that I do raise my eyebrows and make faces when someone is trying to hold a conversation with me if I question what they are telling me. I also wrinkle my nose when someone is asking me to do something that I don't really want to do. They don't even have to ask me anything because my body language is saying it all. Watching the mother reminded me of myself when I talk to people.

Competent Communication

If I think about a person who demonstrates competent communication it would have to be my pastor. I see him in group settings and sometimes individually one on one and he is always the same. He listens as people are speaking, he doesn't interupt and when its time to respond he speaks slowly and carefully. I have seen him remain completely neutral during meetings. This has even made me wonder which side is he on? He is excellent communicating even with my two children ages 11 and 5. I like the fact that he listens first and foremost. That is one behavior he exhibits that makes him effective. The second thing he does is maintain constant eye contact. This is important to me when I am talking to someone because even if they are not paying attention, it makes me think they are. The third thing I like is he is a mediator. You can't ever seem to see him take any one side. This is an important behavior in communication because you want someone to be able to hear all sides of an issue and discuss the information without forcing their opinion down your throat. I especially would like to model these behaviors after him. I think of people that I have come across in my lifetime that were pushy and when you hold a conversation with them it was their way or no way, and people talk about them. It was in a negative way that people were talking about them. I don't want to be talked about in that way and sure wouldn't want my parents and families that I serve feel like I was that way. I want to be able to help support and encourage my families in their own beliefs and way of thinking not conform them to my world!

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come fromw diverse backgrounds is that I make them feel comfortable. I don't ever want them to feel that I don;t like them or care about them because of their ethnicity, race, etc.

The goal I would like to set for the early childhood field is to be able to have enough respect, and consideration for a person's diversity to stand up for them even if I am the only one.

Thanks to all my colleagues who have shared their personal thoughts, experiences, trials, and stories as I have benefited so much from their real life instances. It truly has been wonderful and life changing taking this course. May you continue to better our profession by being so willing to share such personal and heartfelt experiences.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Opression

The memory I have of an incident when I experienced prejudice was when my youngest brother was dating a white girl from a nearby area. We are Native American and his parents weren't going for her dating anyone other than white. I remember her parents coming to our house and telling her that she had to leave. They told her that she wasn't dating any "so called Indians" They were very rude and it hurt my feelings. I was justa little girl maybe about 10 or 11 years old and I felt like we were dirt. I felt like we weren't really Native American! I doubted who I was. My parents werent home and my brother was about 20 or 21 years old at the time. He didn't argue with them because my parents taught us to be respectful of older adults. I cried and he told me don't worry it would be ok. He said they will never come back and we will be ok. My parents were angry that they treated us like that but they let it go. They didn't want to stir anything up. I still feel that feeling as I talk about it. It definitely had a lasting effect.
This prejudice made me doubt who I was. It diminished equity because it made me wonder if I was truly a Native American. It made me think that I wouldn't really be a Native American if they said I wasn't. I was just a child so I didn't know they couldn't take that away from me.
This incident brought feelings of self-doubt, fear, and was demeaning. Just talking of it again and thinking back to that day has really made me feel funny inside. I never want to make anyone feel like that or scar them for life as this incident has done me.
In order for this incident to change for greater equity, people would have to stand up and recognize Natives for who we are. These people who treated us so badly need to realize that all people are equal and no one should be subject to demeaning remarks. Those people should realize that we are human too. It didn't make us any less of human being because we are Native and as long as my brother wasn't mistreating her they should have left them alone. Their remarks to us and their tone of voice used with us would have to change.

microagressions

One example of microagression that I experienced was this week was our Head Start program has hired a new director. When discussing with a member of management (The whole management team is white and our previous director was white)what the new director was like, This is how she decribed her. Well its a woman and she worked in northern Virginia with a non-profit. She was the director there and had been there for a good while and she is black. What difference does that make in how she will perform her duties with us? I am not black but my husband is and I took offense to that. She may not have meant anything by it, but when discussing her as a person and professional why did she mention her race?
This observation made me take a second look at my own actions. I have been really aware of how I am saying things when talking too family and friends since this happened. I keep asking myself, "Do I do that?" It has made me want to scrutinize my language and actions when talking about people. Even if the person is my same race and don't intentionally offend them, I still want to make sure I think about it before I say it. This observation has made me look at everything I say and the way I say it. I don't want to belittle or offend anyone. Whether it is unintentional or intentional I don't want it to happen.

My Family Culture

I would take with me 1. Bible 2. picture of my family 3. my wedding ring

i would let people know that the most important things were with me. The Bible would be the most important thing then the picture of my family and then the wedding ring. My family is what means alot to me and God is the most important. If I had to choose between the three and only keep the one it would really hurt but I would have to choose my Bible over all because God is my everything and his word is whats important in my life and essential for my survival.

This assignment has made me really think about who I really am. It also had made me really see that it isn't the material things that are most important to me but my creator is my everything. This is a part of my culture and my family culture because this has been passed from generation to generation in my family.

When I Think of Research

The insights I have gained about research from taking this course are the facts of importance of validity, having an independent and dependent variable, and having equity in research.

My ideas have changed about the nature of doing research by me learning the steps to take for conducting research. I always thought you just went out and collected data. I didn't realize that you needed an outline or a timetable for research. This was a new idea for me.

The lesson I learned are basically as I said in the previous statement. I learned that it was important to plan an outline and design how you will gather data, how you will select participants, who will participate, etc. This was all new for me. I just thought it was an issue to research and you went out and did what you had to do to find it. The timetable thing makes sense because if you drag it on a long time, it could change results.

Some of the challenges I encountered were the aspect of remaining neutral and putting aside biases. WHen you come into a research topic, you kind of start thinking about how you feel about the subject or what your take is on it. I faced these challenges by reminding myself the research hadn;t been conducted yet so I needed to put the opinions to the back of my head and concentrate on the facts that I gather. This is easier said than done. Way easier said than done!

My perceptions of an EC professional have been modified by raising the awareness of the importance of our profession to children. It also raised awareness of the importance of our future. We have an amazing task ahead of us that requires us to be dedicated to the children of today, tomorrow as they are our future. Research is something that is really needed to ensure that we offer our children the best opprtunities possible. Research is also important to the fact that we need to offer those opportinites in the best way available.