Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

For this assignment I spoke with my sister-in-law Renae. Although Renae is a Caucasian female, she is legally deaf. As a result of this disability, she is often perceived as being different and falls victim to many negative stereotypes. 

According to Renae, culture is part of an individuals personality which is reflected through their beliefs, environment, experiences, and customs. Renae defines diversity as being being different from other individuals within a group, community, are environment. Being deaf, this is something that Renae knows a lot about. 

After reviewing Renae’s responses, I believe that there are a couple aspects of diversity and culture that coincide with the information being discussed so far in the course. The first aspect is having one’s culture embedded in their behaviors and personality. For examples, one’s beliefs and values, traditions, religion, and ethnic/racial background, etc. collectively make up one’s culture. The second aspect is diversity being compromised one individual and collective differences. In addition to gender, race/ethnicity, abilities/disabilities, etc. can influence diversity. 

There is a one thing that is omitted from Renae’s definition of diversity. That is that diversity can only be experienced when individuals encompass characteristics that are not accepted within a dominant population. For example, there is little diversity in a group of 4 Hispanic males that are considered to be Republican. However, if there was a Hispanic, female, democrat in the mix, there would be some degree of diversity. 

There are a couple ways that thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity have influenced my understanding of the topic. The first way is that no matter one’s educational or cultural background, everyone tends to have similar definitions of these two terms.  The second way is that although similar, individual definitions are influenced by their perceptions and experiences. 

My Family Culture

If I were to leave the United States, there are three items that I would bring with me that I believe best represents my family culture. The first item would be photo albums of all of the pictures that have been taken of my family and the special events that we have experienced. The second would be a cookbook of all of my family’s favorite recipes. The final items would be the knitted and hand-made gifts that we have made each other in our family.

There are a few different ways that I would explain to others what these items mean to me. One way is to tell stories about these items and directly explain to these individuals the personal meaning that they hold. The second way is to demonstrate or share these items to these individuals. The final ways is to always keep these items close to me and keep them in a safe location.

If upon my arrival, I would be told that I could only keep one item and give up the other two I would be heartbroken and devastated. This is mostly because these items have sentimental value to me and are the only items that I could keep with me that would remind me of my family and our family culture.

After participating in this exercise I have gained insight about myself and my family culture. That is, the things that I hold most dear about my family and our culture is the events that we participate in and the things that we create together and for each other. At the same time, it can be argued that our family culture is centered around togetherness and our creativities. 

Final Blog Assignment

I must stay that I was thrilled to speak with my international contacts during this course in order to find out about issues and trends that they experience in early childhood. Looking back, I couldn’t have picked individuals from two countries that were so opposite of each other-Sweden and Mexico.

Even though these contacts with my international early childhood professionals were very informative, there were some consequences associated with learning more in terms of my professional development. The first consequence was questioning whether we are not on the right track in the United States. For example, it appears that in the country of Sweden, they have early childhood programs that are much stronger and organized than in our country. Maybe we should learn from the Swedes and model some of our early childhood programs after theirs. A second consequence that was experienced was wishing that the United States could somehow get more involved with assisting early childhood professionals in Mexico. It is not like we are worlds away from each other. Mexico is our next door neighbor so to speak. However, it is sad and very frustrating that many Mexican children are deprived of learning opportunities and a healthy growth and development because of a lack of resources and the concern of their government. A final consequence was that I was inspired to learn more about the field of early childhood in other countries around the world. With this knowledge, I can not only appreciate the systems we have in the United States, but also learn how our systems and early childhood professionals can become better at their jobs.

One goal that I have is to conduct more research on the field of early childhood in other countries around the world. It is also a goal of mine to conduct more research in the role that culture and cultural differences play in disabilities.

Thanks everyone for a good class and I look forward to working with all of you in the future.

Mary

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

As mentioned my international contacts that I have established are Jenny Eljas from Sweden and Andrea Paulula in Mexico.  This week, our assignment consisted of asking these international EC professionals a variety of questions. Here are their responses.

Jenny

1. What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work?

Jenny responded that one of the biggest quality related issues that are being discussed right now where she lives is gender equality. Until recently, it was believed that male students had access to and were treated differently in early childhood environments, all educational environments, and in the job market. It is a priority of the Swedish government, EC professionals, and Jenny to ensure that female students receive the same quality of education that their male counterparts receive. Another quality issues is funding for EC in Sweden. Although EC programs are available for most young children in Sweden, they still struggle to provide access to all children within the country. At times, EC professionals believe that they are also limited to funds which can impact the quality of education.

2. What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?

There are many opportunities for professional development in Sweden. Almost all early childhood professionals have access to pre-service educational and vocational training when working with children. Additionally, all educators have access to ongoing in-service training in the form of educational and vocational training.

3. What are some of your professional goals?

Some of Jenny’s professional goals include treating all of her children like her own, providing the best quality of service to all of her students, and continuing to learn and grow in an educational and vocational manner.

4. What are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges?

Some of Jenny’s professional goals and dreams include having her students succeed academically throughout their life, to establish solid relationships with children and parents, and to provide her services to all of the young children that live in Sweden. The biggest challenge faced by Jenny is becoming too emotionally attached to the children that does not allow her to be unbiased or objective in her services. Working with limited resources can also be a challenge at time. However, Jenny insists creativity is the key to overcoming this challenge.

Andrea

1. What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work?

According to Andrea, there are many issues that she has encountered in Mexico regarding quality in the early childhood. One of the biggest challenges that she faces is a lack of funding by the governments. Because funding is limited, EC professions including Andrea does believe that it compromises the quality of services that they provide. Additionally the amount of poverty in her city in Mexico and access to early childhood services other issues commonly experienced.

2. What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?

Andrea insists that not many opportunities or requirements exist for professional development. Many of those working in early childhood are not even required to have a formal education. For the most part, EC childhood educators in Mexico are responsible for establishing their own standard and developing on a personal and professional level.

3. What are some of your professional goals?

According to Andrea, some of her professional goals consist of obtaining a formal education for EC, developing skills that will help improve the quality of education she is providing to the children, and to remain passionate about her profession.

4. What are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges?

Some of Andrea’s professional hopes and dreams include receiving adequate funding for EC programs in Mexico, becoming more educated and skilled in her work, and having the government realize the importance of EC education.  As mentioned, Andrea constantly experiences challenges caring for student stricken by poverty, funding the financial and non-financial resources to provide her services, and getting the community involved in the EC process.

Sharing Web Resources

As mentioned, the organization that I selected to analyze further is the Learning Disabilities Association of America. This organization can be accessed at http://www.ldanatl.org/. Although I have explored the website completely, I am yet to explore the external links that are provided by this organization. One section of the website that provides external links is the “Free Guides and Booklets” section. Some external links included in this section include A Parent’s Guide to Response to Intervention (RTI), A Guide to the Individualized Education Program, and the guides Helping Your Children Become a Reader and Helping Your Children with Homework. Several other helpful guides and booklets are also contained in this section. Another section that provides external links is the “State Resources Section”. This section provides a link to the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities website. This resource provides users with a complete list of disability related resources that are available to each state in the United States. This resource also provides users with organizations located within their state that pertain to learning disabilities and other disabilities.

Because the “Resources” area is so extensive for this organization, it was selected for further analysis. When searching and analyzing this area further, it was found that the Learning Disabilities Association of America also provides users and early childhood professionals with a comprehensive resource list of professions and organizations that offer parents, educators, and professionals with information pertaining to ADHD and learning disorders. This area also provides users and early childhood professionals with resources that can be utilized at home and in the classroom for teaching and learning, information on disability rights and advocacy, information and resources from government agencies and resource centers, and additional learning disability and ADHD learning resource information (LDA, 2011).

Sadly, this organization does not provide users with a newsletter or e-newsletter. Therefore,   not new information can be retrieved from this source. However, the website does provide me and other users with information that adds to my understanding of equity and excellence. Simply, equity stems far beyond cultural, socio-economic, and demographic differences. It also applies to children with ADHD, learning disabilities, and other disabilities. Like these other factors, children that suffer from disabilities are often discriminated against and do not receive equality or equity in the community or the learning environment. In order to ensure excellence, early childhood educators need to become more educated on the impact that disabilities have on children and the community and ensure that these individuals receive the quality education that they deserve.

Some additional insights that were gained by visiting this website is that efforts are being made by this organization and others to ensure that children that suffer from disabilities obtain the resources that they need in order to receive a quality education and learn and grow in a healthy manner. Another insight that was gained was that learning disabilities and other disabilities need to be subject to further research in order to determine its causes and to generate strategies and laws that protect these children.

References

LDA. (2011). Learning Disabilities Association. Retrieved from http://www.ldanatl.org/

Getting to Know Your International Contacts: Part 2

M Ruple Blog Assignment Week 5

Sadly, I was only able to connect with Jenny this week in regards to the topic of excellence and equity in the classroom. Jenny is my early childhood contact from Sweden. Ironically, this is a topic that is almost perfect from her and her country. Sweden does reality well in terms of academic performance, equity, and excellence. Much of this may be attributed to the strong focus that they place on other factors than academics in the early childhood environment. According to Jenny, one challenge that have always faced in all levels of the Swedish school systems is achieving equality in excellence and academic performance in terms of gender. That is why the school system has placed a strong focus on gender equality inside and outside of the classroom. Some of you may recall reading an article or two about the new gender equality programs that the Swedish schools have implemented. If not, you can read about it here at this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14038419. Jenny believes that this program and new focus will eliminate gender gaps inside and outside of the classroom. She also believes that this program and new focus will improve academic performance, excellence, and equity for all levels and ages of children. By changing the mindset of children of what they should and should not wear, should grow up to be, and what they can accomplish inside and outside of the classroom; this program has great promise. Jenny also believes that parents will put aside their gender stereotypes encouraging a healthy growth and development for their children.

Jenny also provided me with a couple of excellent resources to share in regards to this topic and others that we may encounter in the class.

The first is for the Swedish school system. That can be accessed at http://www.skolverket.se/2.3894/in_english.

The second is for the pre-school program. That can be accessed at http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Work/The-Swedish-system/The-Swedish-education-system/.

Sharing Web Resources

The organization that I chose to analyze more completely is the Learning Disabilities Association of America. This organization can be located at http://www.ldanatl.org/. After reviewing this website, I have determined that there were many sections that were extremely relevant to my current professional development. As a children’s book writer and a professional social story writer for children with disabilities I am always interested in learning more about disabilities and treatment or rehabilitation methods for children with disabilities. This is information that is contained within the “Professional” section of the organization’s website.  Not only is there basic information about learning disabilities, but there are also articles included in this section to help to explain correlations between disabilities and other disorders and treatment strategies. Another section of this website, another section that has proven to be very relevant to my current professional development is the “Teacher” section. This section contains information that has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding about the challenges that children with disabilities and instructors face in an educational environment.

There were a few items on the websites that could be perceived as being controversial by some. However, this was not the case for me. I am always open to new research ideas and claims. These items that could be perceived as being controversial include current research attempting to find a correlation between pesticides and childhood disabilities (LDA, 2011). The impact of medications used during pregnancy on the brain of young children could also be perceived as being controversial by some (LDA, 2011). The research section also provided insight into the commitment of neuroscientists, government agencies, and politicians have to the field of early childhood. Many of the research studies that were being conducted by the organization were performed by leading neuroscientists in the industry and funded by government agencies and politicians. Examples of this include  research studies on neurodevelopment testing  of drugs on children and infants, behavioral and chemical toxins and their impact, brain imaging and learning disabilities, food substances and their effect, and more (LDA, 2011).

There were also some insights that were gained from further analyzing this website. One insight was that most learning disabilities occur as a result of AD/HD (LDA, 2011). A second insight is that many of the times, disabilities and learning disabilities can be prevented (LDA, 2011). A final insight is that today’s environment plays a significant role in the increased prevalence of learning disabilities in young children.

References

LDA. (2011). Research. Retrieved from http://www.ldanatl.org/.