Week 8

Professional Hopes and Goals

I hope that I have gained the knowledge and skills that would prepare me professionally   to provide a positive environment where each child and family feels respected and welcome regardless of their culture, gender, race, etc. I also hope to build an effective classroom that would allow each child to have the opportunity to thrive and excel.

One goal I would like to set for early childhood field is to advocate for families and their children by helping them understanding that differences make us unique in our experiences, and allow us to learn and benefit from each other. I would seek to raise awareness about how bias and discrimination can hamper people progress and limit their capacities, without being open to other differences, we would not be able to embrace and celebrate diversity.

   Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to my professor, and all my colleagues for their feedback, and their valuable insights. I really learned so much from this class and hope to see you next course so we can continuing our journey. Best wishes for all and have a great winter break.

Blog Assignment- Week 7

Welcoming Families From Around the World

TThe country of origin I chose is Malaysia

TThe five ways in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family

1.      I would research the country, and learning about the culture, traditions, customs and what is acceptable and not acceptable to this family.

2.      Understanding their language so that I can communicate with families about their children and how we can work together towards better future for the children

3.      I would create a healthy environment by providing the classroom with pictures, posters, and items of this country to help the child feel that his language and culture is respected and valued.

4.      I would build reciprocal and effective relationships with families to learn more about their needs, and the best ways to respond to them.

5.      I would celebrate the child and the family holidays so that no family or child would feel left out or marginalized.

I hope that these preparations will make me qualified enough to help families and their children flourishing in a nurturing environment that encourage differences and embrace diversity. I would like each child and family feel welcome and included in the classroom. Learning about this country would definitely increase my understanding and knowledge of how to create strategies and activities that meets children’s’ needs and provide them with potential opportunities to thrive and excel.

 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression 

An ancient that I can recall is the one that   happened to one of my friends when we were working in a charity organization. The people I worked with are from different backgrounds and cultures, so it was a very beautiful diverse environment. My friend invited all the employees for a lunch because her daughter got her master degree. When we were sitting and eating together, one of the employees whispered something to his friend who is sitting next to him and smile. I bet they made a comment regarding the food because they did not eat anything. My friend noticed them smiling, she understood that they would not like her food. She felt embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Indeed, this incident made me feel sad and angry because all of us are coming from different backgrounds, so we have at least respect each other, and stop making comments that hurt people feelings and make them sense inferior. People should educate themselves about others culture, and learn that each one is different in his traditions, foods, background, and perspectives. I really feel that my responsibility is to raise awareness that these differences help us to learn from each other and expand our knowledge rather than passing prejudices and bias views. I would like to teach people whether in the workplace or school to embrace diversity and deepening their perceptions about the fact  that bias, discrimination, and prejudice do nothing except demeaning individual’s  experience and capacities.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

    An example of a micro aggression act that I remember is happening to my son while he was in the day care center. When my son turned four, I celebrated his birthday at the center with his friends and teachers. By the time we were about to put out the candles, his teacher made a comment regarding the colors of cake which were one of them is pink. So, his teacher said, Are you girl? My son was about to burst into tears when he heard that comment. Because the teacher noticed that this comment has bothered him, she tried to fix situation by saying that she was just joking.  Upon arriving home, my son told me that he does not want to go to that place again because he believed that his friends would make fun of him. I do believe that his teacher intentionally harm him, and demean his identity in front of his friends.

      This week has really made me realize that microagrressions whether intentionally or unintentionally can hurt people feelings and demean their identity and heritage. I have learned that I need to be more aware when I speak and deal with children and families .Thus, I see that how important is to build strong and effective relationships with families and their children so we can exchange our experiences together and learned from each other. These relationships can play an effective role in helping us not to judge people based on their race, class, religion, or ability.

Definition of culture and diversity

The people I conversed to define the culture and diversity as follow:

First person

1-Culture is the beliefs, costumes of a society or an ethnic group. En example is like the tradition or a common language in a group of people or common religion or common foods all make up the culture of a group of people.

1-Diversity is the differences of a society or an ethnic group; this could include cultural differences, economic differences, and racial differences among others.

Second person

2- Culture is anything that you inherited through tradition whether it is from your family, or from your surroundings. It can be from the way you eat, the way you speak or how you do things in your everyday life. It can also be from the clothes you where, what beliefs you practice, it is an identity that defines who we are as individuals as well as who we are as a collective people.

2-Diversity is anything that makes us unique from one another. I may be from the same country, speak the same language and have the same skin color as one person but my actions, my beliefs and my motives for living the way I live are all diverse from one person from the next. It is not just how I look that makes me unique or different, but it is also how I live, practice my beliefs and my personality that identities me as well.

Third person

3-Culture is the combination of language, faith belief, way of living, style of dressing, as well as type of music, art that people follow.

3-Diversity means having differences, recognizing it, accept and respect them, deeply understanding that we all are different in its own way but at the same time we embrace the differences creating an environment where all can assist each other, learn from each other and develop.

 

The aspect of Culture and diversity that I have studied in this course are included in all three of answers. Each one defined culture and diversity in a good way and refers that culture, diversity defines who are, and that we have to accept each other no matter what are the differences. In fact, these three definitions influenced my own thinking in way that I now become more conscious about how culture influences people’s lives, and how it shapes individuals’ identity.  These differences can create an environment that is effectively unique and beautiful. Thus, it is highly important t o go deeply and understand people’s feeling, emotions, perspectives, and their experiences without  put much thoughts  on the  external part that make us missing many important aspects of individual’s life.

 

 

 

Week 2

MY FAMILY CULTURE

 

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.

The three items that I would choose to bring along are:

1. Quran

2. My Family album

3. My children’s baby book

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

I would explain to others that each of these items are very dear to me and represents my family culture. Quran is important to me, it represents my faith, and the guidance during my new journey.

My family album is also means a lot to me, it includes all my memories that I have spent with my family and my friends. I want my children understanding their family traditions and culture, and not feel separated from that part of their life.

My children’s baby book will show them the importance of each stage of their development and growth.

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

If, upon arrival, Iam told that I could only keep one personal item, I would choose my Quran because it will guide me, and protect me throughout my new life. I would tell my kids that God is with us all the time and he will give us the best if we stay close to him.  I would be unhappy and upset to leave the other two items because each one is valuable and reminds me of special moments of my life.

Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise.

 

This assignment has made me realize that Iam very blessed to have my family around. It really shows me how it is so important to preserve family culture that play a huge role in  shaping our identity and makes us who we are today.

When I Think of Research

Throughout this course, I have gained new insights about how to conduct a research. One major insight that I gleaned from taken this course is that the principles for high- quality research should be ethical, purposeful, well designed, credible, and equitable.  I also learned that the issues of ethics and equity are highly important in doing any research .Additionally, I understand that in research, we can used both qualitative, and quantitative methods to strengthen the research study ,and to improve the validity  of the findings.

Planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood  requires a well laid plan , In addition, one  needs to consider what is to be researched and how, when and where the research is to take place, who will participate, what data will be collected and how these will be analyzed. I learned that planning a research study involves to informed consent of participation as well as confidentiality. On the other hand, I understand that utilizing different methods of triangulation increase the validity of the research.

The challenge that I encountered  during my course was how to write the terms that I  have to choose them from my reading  and define them using my own words . At the beginning, I found the process is difficult, but with more practice, I learned how to define and explain them by using my own words.

During this course, I understand that research is beneficial in early childhood field; it can solve many problems and finds solution for many issues that might affect children’s lives. I truly learned that research could make a positive change in education, and help us to be better educators.

Research around the World

 

This week I decided to research Early Childhood Australia website. Early Childhood Australia advocates for the best interests of young children from birth to eight years. While going through their website, I found some current topics from their website that of interest like child health and child obesity. These two related topics attracted a lot of attention as they directly influence child’s health and well- being. There are many risk factors that lead to obesity, including unhealthy eating style, lack of fitness and exercise, and lack of access to nutrition information; thus, encouraging healthy  style is the effective way to prevent obesity in young children. Early childhood Australia promotes children’s social, spiritual, and moral as well as their physical and mental health. The website offers quality resources that deal with childhood obesity and Child health.

 

Some of the surprising insights that I gained from exploring the website was from Australian Journal of Early Childhood: Young school-aged children’s behavior and their participation in extra-curricular activities. Extra-curricular activities afford children opportunities for development and can influence their behavior. Children’s behavior is an important predictor of their future successes or failures. This study investigated the relationship between behavior and participation in extra-curricular activities in children aged between five and eight years. Children who participated in extra-curricular activities had lower behavior scores than those who did not. The results suggest that children benefit from participating in two or more activities for 80–90 minutes per week.

 

One last noteworthy information piece that I found on their website was Australia’s code of ethics for the early childhood field. I noted that Australia’s code of ethics seems to be comparable to United State code. This Code of Ethics provides a framework for reflection about the ethical responsibilities of early childhood professionals.

References

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

 

Research that Benefits Children and Families

Research enhances the quality of education by generating new ideas, solutions, and insights on a subject matter. Hence, I believe that my research on the play-based learning during early childhood education would help me to better advocate and raise awareness about how play could provide children with an abundance of opportunities to learn about themselves, and others. By conducting  this research, I hope that I can contribute positively in changing  others views about how they believe that play is a waste of time, and children  should be learning specific academic skills, forgetting the facts that play is  the most efficient, powerful, and productive way to learn the information young children need. Actually, research on play based- learning can underpin teachers, professionals, and  policy makers to work together so that they can contribute hugely to stem eliminating play from the formal education of young children. When children play they not only learn, but also develop a passion for learning and exploring their world.

Thus, I believe that my research on play would help on planning diverse strategies for designing rich play environment that reinforce children’s physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development, and provide age-appropriate levels of challenge. By doing this research, I hope that everyone can have better understanding about the fact that children’s play experience  has a direct impact on their ability to learn and develop.

My Personal Reserach Journey

The topic I have chosen for my research simulation is using play-based curriculum to support children’s learning. From my teaching experience, I realized that many teachers, parents, and school administrators reckon play as a waste of time, and children learn nothing but   have only fun from spending their time in playing with their peers. In some cases, I find myself helpless to convince parents, and others that in a play- based curriculum children are learning new experiences, attitudes, habits, skills, and important knowledge that will aid them to be successful in school and later life. Additionally, during my journey in early childhood field, I have come to understand that play is a crucial part of making learning fun, and enjoyable, and  helping children to explore, and  discover their uniqueness. I also have come to realize that because of new emphasis on state standards and school accountability, many early childhood programs are trying to cut down recess time, and eliminating play from programs. For this  reasons, I felt it is highly important to further my research using this topic so that I can find, and gather information, and  gain the knowledge that would help me  as professional  in supporting children’s development and their well being, and  in  advocating for their right of having time to play.

The research chart will be very beneficial to narrow down my information, and focus on the area that I need to execute my research project. IF anyone has insights, sources, and information about the importance of play, I would love to hear it. I am open to any positive ideas in pertaining  to my topic that can help us be better educators who can positively contributing in supporting children, and their families.

 

Week 8- Final blog Assignment

Throughout this course, I have learned valuable information about major issues that affected children in United States, and countries around. During the past weeks, there have been consequences of learning about the international early childhood professional on my professional development.

The first consequence I have learned through international websites is that poverty is a very major issue that stricken many countries around the world. I have come to realize that many children are deprived from their basic needs of food, clothing, health, and shelters. I really surprised to discover that even in America, there is poverty, but many programs are available to help families of low income, such as food stamps, healthcare, and other programs, which can contribute in reducing poverty, and the outcomes of this issue. Most importantly, I come to understand that poverty could directly impeding children from having good opportunities to learn and develop like their wealthier peers, as well impairing their overall health. 

The second consequence is that I had the chance to learn about numerous international organizations that focus most of their efforts to improve   the quality of early childhood care, and education.  By going through their website, I gained a lot of knowledge and resources that could help me as professional during my journey.

The last consequence that I have gleaned is that education in many countries are not providing the children with the best opportunities to excel due to the lack of funding, lack of awareness of the importance of quality programs in  enhancing children’s development ,  and lack of resources that many teachers deprived from obtain.

My goal for the field is to advocate for children and their families to have   the best education, especially those who are culturally, and linguistically diverse  and whom I believe they need  much more support from school, and educators to develop, and learn in healthy environment that affirms to them their language, and culture is honored and respected. I now feel more committed to work earnestly and to my best to help children, reaching their potential and gaining the experiences that would assist them to be better individuals in their society.

  UNESCO

The United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) was founded on 16 November 1945.UNESCO works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values. UNESCO’s mission is to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information. After exploring their website, I was exposed to some information that is educative and insightful.

The first insight that caught my attention from the website Early childhood Care and Education is that Central governments must ensure an equitable distribution of resources among different populations and especially those who live in the most disadvantaged regions. This approach aims to expand access without creating serious regional inequities. However, where there is universal provision for a certain age group while the overall enrolment in other age groups is low, this policy can create inequity.

The second insight that I gained is that active involvement from parents and communities and relevant play and learning materials ensure that early childhood services remain relevant to the needs of the children and all other stakeholders and increases sustainability.

While the third issue that I found insightful is that investment and financing through mobilization of resources seem to be the greatest difficulty faced by countries in their efforts to expand and improve the quality of early childhood care and education. This is particularly daunting in developing countries, where early childhood may be over shadowed by other pressing priorities, such as universal primary education.

References

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Sharing Web Resources

The outside link that I explored this week is Early Head Start National Resource Center. This resource is directly linked to Zero to three organization. The Early Head Start National Resource Center (EHS NRC) serves the Early Head Start community by creating new resources and sharing information related to the unique needs of infants, toddlers, and expectant families and EHS and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Programs. The EHS NRC delivers training and professional development activities to staff and sites nationwide. The EHS NRC focuses on three areas, which are Communication Systems & People Networks, Knowledge Building, and Program Development

While going through Zero to Three website, I explored new area that was in School Readiness Interactive Birth to three section under Care and Education.  It is a web-based, interactive learning tool designed to help parents and caregivers support their young children’s early learning. It has a lot of information on how children develop the four key skills—language and literacy skills, thinking skills, self-confidence and self-control—that are critical to later school success.

This week I have received my first an e-newsletter and one of the issues that have been  focused on is Helping Your Child Learn Persistence. It focuses on how children cope with frustrations and stick with a difficult task. While children are born with a motivation to explore and learn, it is persistence helps them accomplish their goals.

The new insight that I gained during exploring Early Head Start National Resource is that many immigrant parents mistakenly believe that in order to succeed in school, it is better for children to abandon their home language and concentrates on English.

 

References

http://www.ehsnrc.org/

http://www.zerotothree.org/

http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=FromBabyToBigKid_Month27

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

For this week, I chose to explore the center for developing child, Harvard University. The center for developing child at Harvard University was founded in 2006 on the belief that the vitalityand sustainability of any society depends on the extent to which it expands opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship. The Center generates, translates, and applies knowledge in the service of improving life outcomes for children in the United States and throughout the world. (Center on the developing Child at Harvard Unversity, 2010). While going through their website I really gained three informative insights.

The first insight is about Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância, which is a program in Brazil that aims to use the science of child health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and their families in Brazil.

 

The second insight that caught my attention is on their Science of Health and Development Initiative. The mission of the Science of Health and Development Initiative is to advance the scientific understanding of how genes, experiences, and environmental influences interact during prenatal, child, and adolescent development to affect brain development and lifelong outcomes in health, learning, and behavior. It also represents an intersection of the biological and social sciences at the Center on the Developing Child and encompasses research efforts and applied work related to the biology of adversity, the early origins of racial disparities, and toxic stress.

The third insight that I gained is on their student, education and leadership development. The Center’s Education and Leadership Development (ELD) agenda is a full suite of formal and informal opportunities committed to enhancing the growth of the next generation during the critical early stages of their intellectual development. They focused on building the capacity of career professionals to translate research into policy and action.

References

(http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/)

Sharing Web Resources

Zero to three is a very great and beneficial website that has lots of information about the importance of the early three years of child’s development. While going to the site, I found the section under behavior and development is very relevant to my current professional development, and would be very useful for me during my journey. .This section has many links about various   issues that affect children and their growth such as health and nutrition, brain development, early language and literacy, play, sleep, and other links that are extremely crucial for me as a teacher and as pregnant woman. By going to this section, we can gather variety of information, interactive tools, parent handouts, articles and other resources that are designed to help the educators and parents in nurturing the health and development of babies and toddlers.

As I have been looking to zero to three site, I did not come across anything that is controversial. I notice that their website is amazing and beneficial for anyone who cares about supporting children in their early stage, and assisting their parents to provide their children with a healthy environment that allow them to flourish and develop

Zero to three has also offers many resources for policy makers, advocates and Professionals  about early childhood field, as well provides many tools, current  research, ideas, and articles that could help parents to look for the best ways to foster their children’s intellectual, social and emotional development.

The insight that I gained from exploring the site is that the three early years from child’s life is very crucial and lays the foundation for later success. Thus, it is very imperative that all babies and toddler should develop in a safe, responsive and a positive early learning experience that allow them to enhance their capacities and skills.

 

http://www.zerotothree.org

Poverty in China

Since my effort to make a contact with professional from another country was failed, so I decided to have a look and research poverty in China. Even though China has a very sustain and strong economic growth, the rate of poverty is very high and still persistent, particularly in remote rural areas. I truly gained some insight about poverty in china while going through the website. The first thing that I amazed to realize is, 4.2 million Chinese children live in absolute poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantaged conditions. Indeed this huge percentage shows how children and their families are suffering to have their basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, health and education. Likewise, China's transition from a centrally planned to a globalised market economy has helped reduce chronic poverty and disadvantage, but also created new forms of vulnerability and poverty.

 From other side, I also recognized that In China the income inqualities between the eastern and western has risen, and the income gap between rural and urban residents has extremely broadened. Beside, Restrictions on rural-urban migration, all  these reasons  have limited opportunities for rural population to have access to the education and health, and  increased the poverty which influence people and chilren directly

 In fact, all insights that I gained from researching China helped me to understand that poverty is a serious problem that threat many countries and affect the society outcomes. Poverty denies opportunities to people of all ages. Lost opportunities in childhood cannot always be regained later - childhood is a one-off window of opportunity and development.  (CHIP). It is fully important to recognize that children who experience poverty during their early years are more likely to exhibit delay in their cognitive, emotional, and social skills. Thus, I strongly believe that early intervention could play a significant part in reducing poverty’s impact on children.

You can find more information at http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/

Sharing Web Resources

Last week I decided to chose and explore zero to three organizations, and I have registered for their monthly newsletter. This week I will have the opportunity to find out the issues that influencing the infants, toddler, their family, and the early childhood field. Zero to three organization concentrates on fostering the health and development for children. It provides real issues that are related to children's behavior and development and a clear message about maltreatment to babies such as child abuse and trauma, and at the same time offers strategies of care and education to children who live with unique family situations.

The issue that caught my attention while going through their website is an article under maltreatment section called Mobilizing Trauma Resources for children. The article focuses on exploring child trauma and provides definitions, statistics, protective and risk factors, and assessment evaluation strategies and issues. It   emphasizes that Children who are exposing to the neglect, abuse, domestic violent or anything that disrupts their sense of safety and security are more likely to experience psychological and biological problems that can persist far into adulthood. In fact, traumatized children can be manifesting different forms of delay in school, performance, cognitive and emotional abilities. Additonally, The article stresses on the importance of the early intervention, and the way we respond to that risk. When family, school, and community respond to that risk in a timely fashion, the result would be completely positive, it would have huge role in mitigating the harmful effects of stressful experience that children may have during their childhood.

 By reading this article, I have come to realized that the role of family, school, and the community is fully immense, their support can be the major reason toward creating a safe and security environment for children, and assisting them to cope and recover from traumatic experiences. . Thus, is very essential that family should strive to build a strong relationship with their children and assure them their ideas and perspectives are respected and valued. In fact, The reciprocal relation is tend to be the treatment for many issues that children might experiencing during their early years of development.  

References

http://www.zerotothree.org/

Establishing professional contacts and Expanding resources

When I read the assignment for this week that is required to establish a professional contact with other from outside the united state, I initiate to send emails to UNICEF Iraq and UNICEF Syria and to some other website. I preferred to expand my knowledge about these two countries because children in these two countries are suffering from lack of all kinds of services. In Iraq, children are undergoing through a tough time due to the wars, sectarian tension, and the economic instability, thus many children are left their school to help their families affording the burden of lives. In Syria, because of the current revolution, many children are deprived from care, education, and health. For these reasons, I decided to explore and learn about what the Uncief is doing in these two countries in regards of children’s issues, and in which way there are contributing to the child wellbeing. Hence, I sent them emails, willing to understand from them how they are addressing children’s challenges, the issues that touch their lives every day, and what in particular can they do to improve children’s lives. Until now, I did not get any response from them, but I will not give up, I will maintain my correspondence with them to understand much more about children’s situation in these two countries. As I went searching UNICEF Iraq website, I read by the press release that 5.3 million children are still deprived from many rights. That is sad and break the heart to hear that in a rich country like Iraq, children are still cannot have access to many services like education, health, water, and other basic needs.

 

 The organization that I have decided to explore is   Zero to three. I have chosen this organization because I have found it as a great resource of information that would definitely broaden my knowledge about all aspect of children’s development. Zero to three is a national, nonprofit organization that trains, and supports professionals, policymakers, and parents in their efforts to improve the lives of infants and toddlers. I also registered for their newsletter in order to have it on my personal email. This newsletter would be monthly, and I cannot wait to receive it and learn about the issues that would address during this month.

In fact, the assignment of this week arouse my curiosity to go through many website and organization to discover who the children around the world are developed based on what type of the services are render there, and what can we do as professional to assist children to thrive and develop normally.

Resources

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

http://www.zerotothree.org/