Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

For this blog entry I was challenged to ask three people to define culture and diversity and analyze their responses. The three people I chose are De'Ana who just finished her Master's degree in Business Administration and works for a major contracting company in Washington, DC. I also selected my husband, McKenna, to get a male perspective on culture and diversity. He is an electrician he works for his uncles residential wiring business in the DMV area. Finally, I asked Michele who was a former co-worker of mine who works in the early childhood field as a educator. 

I asked each of them the following questions: How do you define culture? How do you define diversity?

Here are their responses: 
De'Ana- Culture is the establishment of a person or a group who share a similar background, beliefs, behaviors, and goals. Diversity is differences that are broad and eclectic. 

McKenna- Culture is the belief, teachings, and understandings of a particular group of people within a community or unit that has been past down over time. Diversity is the differences with in each person's culture. 

Michele- Culture guides the things you decide to do, your rituals and effect you behavior. Diversity is the differences in people and things. 


My reflection:
I discovered the all three people I asked to define culture and diversity found it difficult to answer. These two questions made them think deeply and analyze their perspectives on the two topics. As, they would try and answer the questions other people who were around them felt compelled to responded as well and it sparked quite a debate among people. 

Some aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied during this course are included in the answers I received. For example, when defining culture all of them said that culture is includes you beliefs and behaviors and is establish by a group of people. When defining diversity that all agreed that it has to do with differences. 

Some aspects of culture and diversity were omitted. Some of the things that were omitted when defining culture was that it includes every single aspect of your life. "It is the way we eat, sleep, talk, play, care for the sick, relate to one another, think about work, arrange our kitchens, and remember our dead" (Derman-Sparks, 2010) (pg. 55). One of the things that were omitted when defining diversity was that diversity is what makes us unique and is an important part of self identity formation (Laureate Education, 2011). 

Think about the way other people define diversity and culture has influenced my professional development by helping to see how complex it is to understand and define them. I think that there has been a lack of education that has been provided on the topic and thus adults struggle with understanding it's true meaning on larger scale and look beyond aspects like race, religion, and gender. As, an early childhood professional I believe it our responsibility to introduce concepts of culture and diversity into our curriculum to help build understanding and knowledge about culture and diversity to young children. So that when they grow up they become adults who have develop strong self identity and respect the culture, diversity, and identity of others.  


References 

Derman-Sparks, L. & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-Bias Education. Washington, DC. National Association fo the Education of Young Children

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Family cultures: Dynamic interactions [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

My Family Culture

Imagine this...

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 this 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.

Now think about this:

A description of the three items you would choose

If there was a major catastrophic event that caused my family and I to be relocated to another country and I only could bring three items; the three items I would bring are my wedding ring, my bible, and my cell phone. I selected these items because each one is significant to me and will help me share my social identity with others in my new country. My wedding ring is important to me because it symbolizes the everlasting and unconditional love I feel for my husband. My bible is important to me because I rely on it to help me get through some most difficult times in my life and of there is a devastating event I know I will need it to help me get through. My cell phone is important for many different reasons. First, it will help me stay connected to other loves one who may have survived and were sent to a different country from me. I will also be connected to the Internet and have access to social media websites such as Facebook, which is what I tend use a photo album. 

How would you explain to others what each of these items means to you?

To describe what my rings means to me, I would use the cell phone I brought to show my wedding picture off of Facebook and they can see when we exchanged rings and I can find out how to say love in their language so that hopefully they will be able to make a connection that my ring is a symbol of my marriage. Next, if I have to explain my bible it would I would find out what if they had a religious affiliation and if they do I would see if they would try making connections to my own. Finally, my cell would be easy to show what it means to me because I can demonstrate it features, call people, and show pictures. 

Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you.

It would not be too hard get ride of two more items because I do not believe in being too attach to material items. I would keep my bible because it is a staple in my life and would guide my family and I through such hardship. 

This was an interesting challenge because it was hard for me to find things that I have a strong emotional attachment to. I discovered that I am not materialistic and do not make emotional connections with objects but rather people. I would have a hard time being away from family members outside my immediate family and friends. I never knew how much I utlize Facebook to illustrate all the important aspects of my life. I do not know how I would be able to effectively communicate all the things that I value and hold dear to my heart. This was an activity that I will be thinking about for a long time. 

How would you respond?

When I Think of Research...

First, I would like to thank each one of my colleagues who have provided their thoughtful and helpful posts on my blog and the blogs of others. We have truly formed collaborative team that support and challenge each other.

When I think about research, I think about how it has helped to shape our understanding of the human species. Research helps us explain common phenomenon and makes connections (Mac Naughton, 2010). Through the course of this class, I have developed an understanding for the research design process and was able to practice these step through the completion of my research simulation. The process requires researchers to considered their research topic through redefining their question, deciding if the research requires a hypotheses, selecting a research method, designing the research, reviewing it to ensure that all ethical considerations have been met, conducting the research, analyze and review (Mac Naughton, 2010). This was important for me to understand so that when I read research I will have a basic understanding of the process the researchers had to take to conduct the study.

Before taking this class I was unclear on how to conduct research or why it was even done. Now I understand that conducting research is a very natural process that we as humans do everyday without even thinking about it. I was able to reflect back on my experiences as a teacher and identify where I have conducted research unknowingly. Know I can continue to use this natural form of research in my classroom but know I can analyze the data collected with more purpose. This will help develop curriculum, plan activities, and individual academic plans for my students.  

Some of the challenges I faced during this course, was understanding the terminology in the text, Doing Early Childhood Research, to over come this I had to use other articles and information from website to help me understand the meaning of a few words. I even reached out to Dr. Carol Todd who helped me address several misconnections I had developed. Taking these steps help me to build understanding of very complex topics.

Reference

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010).  Equity and research

Design.  Doing early childhood research (2nd ed.) (Pp. 177-191). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Research Around the World

The website that I decided to explore was the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php) because I was able to find a lot of research papers on current topic and issues concerning early childhood development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Some of the research topics include integrated early childhood development, community resources, parental involvement, quality programing, and policy and programming. The website have research articles that were published in different parts of Africa ranging from places like Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia to name a few. 

One of the most surprising research articles I discovered was about the impact father have on the early childhood programs in Nigeria. "In an article titled “Community Mobilization for Sustainable Living", Hua and Johnson (1996) reported that very few fathers participate in most of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs being implemented in Nigeria" (Hua, 2004) (pg.1). In the article they discovered that there were several factors that contributed to reason why father participation rates were low in early childhood programs such as gender roles and cultural expectations.  The research article revealed that father participation in early childhood programs is linked to early childhood development performance.

Another thing that captured my attention was the Generative Curriculum Approach which is an initiative adopted by the ECDVU which includes: focus-leaner approach, an ecological approach, a capacity building approach, co-constructive approach, multicultural approach, cohort approach, and a historical approach (http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/generative.php). I found that the concepts in the Generative Curriculum Approach have many similar qualities to issues and trends in the United States. Some of the tends include child-centered curriculum, parent partnership, corporate investment, collaboration, and government reform.

Check out the video to get an inside view of some of the challenges that the ECDVU has to address in the area of early childhood development.

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

The Marshmallow Test has been around for a long time and recently I became introduced to it as it relates to executive functioning skills. The Marshmallow Test is a research that test young children ability exercise their delayed gratification skills by offering them a chance to earn two marshmallows if they can resist the temptation of eating a marshmallow that is setting in front of them for a period of time. This might seem like an easy tasks but to a small child this can feel like torture.

It was discovered that children who were able to wait for the second marshmallow displayed higher levels of impulse control thus processed better executive functioning skills. These children also performed better in school in areas such as literacy, emotional-social skills, and kindergarten readiness. This research is important in understanding the connections between impulse control, executive functioning, brain development, and school readiness.

Executive functioning is the key to school readiness in young children this part of the brain is immature and is not fully developed until early adulthood. However, children who process  higher executive functioning are able to self regulate emotions, organize logically, and exhibit impulse control. These skills can be nurtured in young children. It is important that we teach the whole child and understand all the components of a whole child and the brain is the most important factor. We have the power to alter the architecture of the brain to make the connections for learning stronger.

Marshmallow Test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L-n8Z7G0ic

Executive Functioning and Young Children
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efCq_vHUMqs#t=289

Your Personal Research Journey

The topic that I have chosen for the simulation is toxic stress effect on the architecture of the brain during prenatal development. I chose this topic because of my fascination with the ability of the brain and how the brain is developed. In my childhood development class, I learned a lot about the importance of prenatal development and its link to future learning. I became passionate about learning about what types of things shape the brain like experiences, stress, relationships, and so much more. I learned about the dangers of toxic stress and how it can cause the actual structure of the brain to change. I want to find all the research on this topic so that I can fully understand to extend of the effects of toxic stress on the brain and it structure. 

Using the research chart and other tools has been really helpful to me because it has helped me to navigate through all the research that is out there and if the most creditable sources on the web. One of piece of useful information I can provide is to look at studies and research done by major universities. I have found valuable and meaningful research from these organization. Another, thing I found helpful was youtube because there are tons of videos and documents that showcase research information. Please ensure you search properly to make sure that the information you are watching is creditable. If you have any helpful tips of insight please feel free to share.

Here is a sample of a great video on youtube that provide great research based information.

Final Blog Assignment

I can't believe how fast this class past! I have learn so much and discovered areas of interest I have never thought of before. Being able to make an international connection so close to home has been an amazing experience. I have bonded with my brother in-law and together we have been able to share about our passion in the education field. He has provided with so much knowledge about the state of early childhood education in Morocco a part of the world I may never visit but have become connected with. 

Some of the consequences that have impacted my personal and professional development in learning about the state of early childhood development in Morocco includes understanding how culture and tradition can impact the how education in valued among a society. In Morocco many people never leave the country and do not feel the need to continue education passed grade school and this is especially true for young girls, who has to quickly take on adult like responsibilities. This made a personal connection for me, being the oldest of three I had to take on many responsibilities to help out at home. I had to watch over my brothers, clean, cook, and many other chores. I know how difficult this could be and I good feel that pain of the little girls who are often the victims of this treatment. I was happy to hear that recently, there has been a push to make a change and encourage girls to continue their education beyond grade school.Professionally, I know how empowering education can be and how it can change the culture in a society. I think that this will be good and create an environment of change and encourage others to invest in the future of the people in Morocco. 

One goal that I have is to keep connected with my brother in-law as he teach in France over the course of the upcoming school year. I'm interested in understanding the issues and trends in France and comparing them to the educational movements here in America. I have enjoyed this process of reaching out with others in the field of education and collaborating, co-learning, and co-planning together. I have learned from each one of my classmates about many different places around the world; this was important for me because it help to me to understand how valuable networking is to the field of early childhood.