MY ROLE AS AN EARLY CHILDHOOD ADVOCATE

            There are many reasons why I chose this specialization. Children and their families need someone to stand up for them. I want to be an individual that children can count on for support, opportunities, and reach out to resources to help children. I used to be in positions where I did not know what to do to help or how to do them. I am in a better position now to learn more about resources I can use to help children.

            Advocates are essential in the lives of children in order to give them the best needed opportunities to develop and succeed in life. Creation of awareness by starting children on strong foundation can prevent some delays that each child might exhibit later. I want to be involved in being part of an organization that will bring resources, find funders, and help in making things happens for children.

            I have a lot I want to learn about public policy and advocacy, for instance learning about policies, who makes them, their implementation and how children can benefit from the policy. I would like to learn ways of supporting children and protecting them from    things which will get in ways of their development. I would also like to have skills that would enable me be an equipped and informed role model, mentor, or someone children can look up to protect them from hurt or harm and surround them with positive influential people.

Reflecting on Communication in the Early Childhood Field

This semester has been loaded with many new experiences and learning opportunities for me. It has been a wonderful 8 weeks journey sharing information and resources throughout the course. Now is the time for us to enter into our different specialties, with the skills and knowledge to bring about positive changes. I hope we are undergoing positive changes within ourselves as well. The knowledge that I have gained in this class will help me throughout my life personally as well as my professional career. In this field it takes collaboration between the parents, community, and the educators to achieve the same goal. I considered myself to be a very observant and conscious communicator, paying close attention with my eyes and ears.

            I want to thank everyone for your words of wisdom and your support throughout this course. I am looking forward to the next transition and wish everyone much luck and success in the future. It has been a pleasure working with all of you and I hope we can stay in touch (my personal email is danfav32@yahoo.com).

Team Building and Collaboration

This week we have been discussing about team work and the ones we have been involved with as a leader or a follower. We as educators need to work in groups as we partner with families, communities and others around us. As a daughter when I came to America to stay with my dad and step mother, I had to say goodbye to my mother, sisters, cousins and other family members that I have grown to love and share some connections. It was difficult on both sides because we all felt that if it were possible we would have loved to travel together.

            The closing ritual I wish to experience is seeing my father alive again, beaming with smiles and happy that I finally graduated and got my masters degree. He used to remind and challenge his children that whatever others can do we can do better. He finds a way to motivate us any chance he got so that we can aim higher.

            It is important to have closure when working with any team or in a relationship because when a relationship is over or when a task is accomplished, you would like to know why it ended and ask yourself if you achieved your desired goal.

            I appreciate my colleagues for helping me understand that we are all unique individuals with different cultures, backgrounds, developments and goals. So adjourning will not be difficult because it is the time to reflect on what we know about each other from our discussions and blogs. It is important in a team to recognize our achievements, failures, relationships we have formed and goals we have accomplished, all these are important when a team is departing. In the adjourning stage the teams are coming to an end and the team members are moving off into different directions (Abudi, 2010).

Reference

Abudi, G. (2010). The Five Stages of Team Development:  A Case Study.  Retrieved from http:www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

Conflict Resolution

Reading the information on the center for Nonviolence communication website has opened my understanding to conflict resolution. Recently, I found out that my younger brother pulled out from school and started hanging around with friends. I was so furious when I found out the school situation and I was talking to him in a very loud voice on how he wanted to waste his life. It seems to him that there is no need to have zeal and hope for the future since my father passed last year. He feels that he is a grown up person and knows what he wants for his life and that is not school. He finally came back home because if he does not, he would loose everything that the family had worked very hard to put together for him. Unresolved conflict escalates because no one is paying attention to the conflict or, even if someone is, because no one sets limits on the fighting, or, lastly, because no one intervenes to provide protection (www.thirdeye.org).

            I could have used the escapist strategy and let him wander around and see where he will end up. It is good that I reached out to him.  The strategy I would use in resolving conflict is creating a conducsive atmosphere that would lead to an open effortless conversation. Another strategy I would use is the cooperative strategy to benefit relationship, serve mutual rather than individual goals, and strive to produce solutions (problem solving approach) that benefit both parties. (O’Hair & Weimann 2009).

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

The Third Side. (n.d.). The third side. Retrieved from http://www.thirdside.org/

Who Am I as a Communicator

                   When I think about myself as a communicator compared to what others think about me, I know that I am a good communicator and I am always conscious of how people (friends, colleagues and family members) are perceiving the message that I send to them. I recognize that I have weaknesses in my communication, verbal expression and listening ability but knowing that others have and are aware of individual weaknesses imply that I am not alone and have the chance to improve. This week's assignment has taught me that I should always be aware of how I am communicating with others either personally or professionally.
                    My reality is that I pay attention and listen carefully to people to make sure their values and principles are heard and implemented. I was surprised that my listening style profile was considered as a people  -oriented listener for all the three profiles. I am glad that my empathetic nature shows through my listening skills in both the personal, friend, and colleague's assessment.
                    The insight I gained this week is to continue to show respect, compassion and not to pass judgment on people based on my first impressions. I need to be more confident in myself, be comfortable in speaking in public, develop a communication skill that is clear as well as build relationships with people who are my listeners so they can receive my message clearly.

COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE

Communication is the process by which individuals use symbols, signs, and behaviors to exchange information (O'Hair & Wiemann (2009). The most interactive relationship I have developed all my life is with my family, friends and my colleagues. In a setting with colleagues or professionals I use eye contact, proper hand shake and proper English. We communicate differently with people from different cultures and settings. When we educate ourselves to know more about people’s culture and their unique nature we would appreciate them for who they are.

I find myself communicating differently with people from different cultures. Since I took the culture and diversity course I have been cautious of my communication with people from different cultures.

I communicate differently with people from different settings but the strategies I use in communicating better is by listening to others, showing respect to others so that when a child grows up seeing people helping others, they too become helpers” (Gonzalez-Mena 2010). And finally we need to be empathic with others by improving the lives of people when creating problem solving environment.

 References

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010). 50 strategies for communicating and working with diverse families. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

 O'- Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

          I always watch people's body language whenever they talk to me but this course has awakened my subconsciousness to always watch people's body language, facial expression and other gestures when they are talking to me. I found out that sometimes the body language and the verbal communication do not always match in a conversation.
           I watched a scene of the program on the television Castle when the lady detective was hanging on the edge of a wall and was about to fall, that was so scary looking from the expression on her face, it appeared as if she was stirring death in the face. The other detectives were suspicious of the lady but her body language and speech showed that she was innocent.
           The body language and facial expression of a person tell alot about the intention of the speaker (communicator) who might be misunderstood. We really understand people better by their non verbal communication. People need to be aware of how they present themselves to others because actions speak louder than words.
           

Competent Communicator

One of the competent and effective communicators in my life is Oprah. As I have watched her shows over the years she has made talking to people appear easy. I would like to model some of her communication behaviors because she finds a way to address people with sincerity and makes sure she leaves the individual with something to contemplate for discussion. It is necessary that we display good communication skills to our parents as well as to our children. It is important to show respect to colleagues and accept their opinions as well. Oprah communicates effectively with others by preparing and practicing to discuss every aspect of how to overcome your short comings and equally focus discussion on the past experiences that highlight your strengths. 

Professional Hopes and Goals

            I hope to work with children and their families from diverse backgrounds to celebrate the richness of their cultures and seek ways and means by which the local, state, and federal governments can help early childhood development programs have access to the implementation of quality education. I also want to create hope and make everyone come together as one and not to judge ourselves because of age, size, class, and color.

            As an educator, I would like diversity to be celebrated, to help each child have an equal opportunity for their values and beliefs to be acknowledged. When we teach and have activities of diversity among children this will help them eliminate the biases of discrimination and marginalization which they have experienced.  So we as educators need to reflect on our biases, behaviors, values, beliefs and attitudes to sort out how these affect the ways we interact with others.

            As we conclude this course I want to thank all my colleagues for sharing their inspirations with me, it is a great opportunity and I appreciate it. This course has opened my eyes to see my biases and know more about myself to see ways I can be better to help others. I have also learned from all your experiences and understand that we all have biases that we are working on resolving and it is a journey. Diversity helps us to understand ourselves and the world. I hope to see you in the future and I wish you all the best.  

Welcoming Families from Around the World

I am a director of a child care center and a family from Ivory Coast just migrated to the United States and would like their young children to be registered in my program. I will find out more about the family and their culture because I have the information that they do not speak English, they only speak French.

                I would prepare myself to be culturally responsive to this family by:

         (I)                Gathering all the enrollment paper works to a translator who can help me translate them to French and I would make sure that we (myself and staff) learn some French words to help the family and their children.

         (II)               Finding out on the internet or the library about the family’s cultural traditions, their values, beliefs, food, their ways of communicating (greetings) and also the cultural events they celebrate.

(III)             Having an interpreter come to the school on the day of their registration to interpret and give them a tour of the school.

(IV)             Finding out a local Ivory Coast organization to help the family adjust and have someone call and speak to them about their new environment and how to go about getting some necessary things (resources) they need to survive.

(V)               Helping the children adjust to the new school through combined effort of my staff and I in learning more of their language with flash card, so that we can bring the home and school together to help their children adjust to their new school.  The use of relevant books, pictures, and television programs in French would enhance our collective success.

My hope and aim is to help the new family and my staff to make the change an easy task on their parts. Every family would appreciate and understand that we always adjust to take care of families’ needs knowing that people’s rich culture is hard to part with. With our help, every family would understand that their cultural diversity is part of their identity and we are here to help them believe in and preserve what they know.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

In what way(s) did the specific prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?

            When I came to the United States and was eager to finish up my University undergraduate education that I started in my country someone people recommended a particular school to my parents and they decided for me to be part of that school. The school was predominantly white (90%) and few minority (10%) students. Some white students approached me during one of the school days, we engaged in friendly conversations and they were asking me many questions like; what is the capital of Africa?, is it true that you people live on trees?, and how did you come to the States? I wondered how they do not know that Africa is a continent and not a country and it is made up of regions and countries with their respective capitals. I know that Africans are not animals to live on trees. By what means did they think we came to the States, did we swim or paddle through across the oceans?. I do not know how people can still think like that in this modern 21^st century. I responded by explaining that Africa is a continent with countries, and that we have buildings built with blocks just like the ones in the United States and we flew from my country to the States. I was polite in responding to their questions but I felt belittled and degraded by their questioning. They did not show me how their questions affected me.

What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

If it were today I would have responded the same way, explaining and educating them on what Africa is about

What and/or who will change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity?

My classmates should have educated themselves about Africa and its resources to enable them correct their views of degrading and emotionally challenging someone or African to react negatively. 

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

      Recently, a prospective parent/client stopped by my facility to make inquiries regarding my school operations, I told her what she needed to know and do, in response she said "good, that's interesting but you have an accent, where did you come from?" I told her that I was born in Nigeria and also asked her if she understood me or needed more explanations. I repeated the highlights of my operations to her and asked her if she has questions. She said she understood me and will decide and get back with me. She left.


     I decided to focus on the issue being the operations of my facility instead of accent. I am aware of the fact that accent is a relative term. Instances of accents abound in the United States from the eastern, western, northern, southern and central regions which have different accents. Therefore, operation of my facility was the focus of our discussion and not accent. The way she presented the issue of accent was very belittling to me. While reflecting on microarression this week I was able to learn that they happen more often than we think and in many forms of settings. So I need to be aware of my words and actions toward others.

PERSPECTIVE ON DIVERSITY AND CULTURE

For this week’s blog assignment I asked three (3) of my friends what they understand by culture and diversity.

Chinese Friend: She said their culture has a lot to celebrate from Chinese New Year which they cherish, and to the art. People use different signs and gestures to communicate but in another culture they convey different meanings. For instance Chinese people cross their hands to mean they are paying attention but in another culture it might mean being rigid.

Indian Friend: She said she liked to see the uniqueness in every individual. Most of her people have different religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, or Christianity and they love their music, silk sari, and bright colorful clothes for wedding. They have different types of dances that make them different from other people.

Jamaican Friend: She said they have rich culture in their history, music and food. They have multi-racial group and people from different nations.

Diversity can be described as groups of people from different backgrounds, races, cultures, and religions.

Diversity can also include experiences and circumstances amongst human beings such as economic and social statuses and creates classification to social identification that helps us recognize similarities and difference within a group.

Listening and understanding more about people’s culture and diversity make me eager to learn more about other people. Now I understand more about the unique differences which we a ll possess in our own ways. After the evaluation I realized that everyone has similar idea about what culture or diversity meant. So culture is our way of life, the way we raise our children, tradition, religion, and what we eat.

MY FAMILY CULTURE

If I were to be evacuated to another country and I could only take three representatives of myself and my family I would be so devastated. Most of the things that I hold dear are not physical things, but traditions, my beliefs, practices and my religion. They are with you no matter where you are. The three things that would represent my culture are:

1. My family album that represents our culture with memorable moments like holidays, festivals, family weddings, birthdays, graduations and other memorable events that would help remind and strengthen me of the family I have.
2. My laptop that has downloads of cultural music, some family pictures, scanned documents and stored family recipes.
3. My documents: I will put all my important documents together like birth certificates, and marriage license.

If upon arrival at this new destination and I am told that I can only keep one of these items, this would be the hardest thing I would ever have to do because it is so disappointing to leave a part of oneself and history behind but if I have to choose I would choose my computer because as much as I love my family album which shows my family culture and our family over generations and my documents, my computer has all my documents, and family album which will help prove who I am. 

The insights I have gained about myself include realizing how important  my family, and family culture are less about material things but more about what I stand for, believe about my heritage which are very important to preserve the memories and life history to  be passed down from generation to generation. These are the things that I pass on to my children and they can not be taken away from them. It is absolutely clear that the culture I am passing on to the next generations will make them have a sense of empowerment by their rich culture.

This exercise has led me to think about people who are forced to leave their homes, communities, and counties to start a new life in a foreign country.  They have to learn to adapt to cultural changes, shocks, and adopt new cultural opportunities that are not similar to their own while trying to preserve their own cultures. 

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).

Video: “Family Cultures: Dynamic Interactions”
 In this program, three early childhood professionals discuss culture, its nature and scope, including family culture diversity, and introduce ways to provide respect, support, and empowerment when working with Family Diversity.

When I think of Research

As we come to the end of this session, this course has taught me more in-depth about research and the terminologies associated with the research.  This course has helped me to know how to conduct an authentic research.

            The idea about research has changed and broadened thereby elevating the helpful need to have more access to a wide range of information. With enough information children’s advocates will know the areas that need the help of the government and organizations in order to know what resources to allocate to develop early childhood education.

            The method of supporting a research study to answer a particular question or solve a problem is a means to achieve validity in a research. In designing the research there should be a topic of interest, indication of how the researcher would study the participants (such as through observation or interview or both), determination of the settings of the research, like defining the participants, and identifying the type of design that would be used (e.g. qualitative, quantitative and the mixed method).   We need to find out ways to collect research data.

            The challenges that I encountered in this course are to know that learning and development of a child in acquiring new skills, abilities, and knowledge are challenging for the researcher to meet as she targets the goal for the research. Parents who need translators of English to other languages present linguistic barriers especially in consenting for their children.

This course has specifically taught me that no matter what situation children or families find themselves in we need to find out solutions to their problems and establish ways to make differences and update laws that need changes. I have conditioned myself to listening and paying close attention to the needs of parents and their children because when those problems are solved  I feel fulfilled about helping an individual or a family in need. Research enables professionals to find out ways of helping children, their parents and family members to get evidence- based service programs to benefit people of diverse culture and background thereby enabling them to become educated, trained, and upright citizens of a community.        

            I have enjoyed this class and I am looking forward to the rest of my college experience.

Reference

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj - Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing Early Childhood Research: International Perspectives on Theory & Practice (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw – Hills

INTERNATIONAL EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH ORGANIZATION

           The international early childhood research I chose was Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub Sahara Africa (SSA). The information on this site is educational, and helpful in developing the worth of children, their families and the community’s well being.

            I have not heard about the ECDVU program before now. The program is unique and contains articles that address the concerns related to children on enhancing early childhood development, promoting regional early childhood development capacity and advancing early childhood development (ECD) leadership from leaders and students in the program. The program enables leaders to speak with confident when advocating for children in their communities.

            The noteworthy information that I read about the site is the involvement of the participants in the program both the leaders and students to educate people about the need of early childhood education. The Sub-Saharan African (SSA) has a community of learners with platform of course materials, and ongoing participatory discussions and assignments.  

Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php

RESEARCH THAT BENEFITS CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

         I know this family with an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) child, the parents observed that the child’s academic and social performances were very low compared to the other children in the same class and that he would need special services or tutoring.  The child participated in a research where they used standardized achievement testing (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-WISC-IV and Wechsler Individual Achievement Test second edition-WIATII subset) for him.
          As found by the OHRP regulation that the risk is justified by the anticipated benefits to the subjects; and the relation of the anticipated benefit to the risk presented by the study is at least as favorable to the subjects as that provided by available alternative approaches. The research benefited the child by indicating individualized instructions and interventions to bring his academic and social performances up to his peer’s level.  


             REFERENCE:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). (n.d.) Special protections for children as research subjects. HHS.gov. Retrieved on from http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/policy/populations/children.html 

Your Personal Research Journey

     My simulation topic is the importance of learning through manipulation of objects and plays. It is important because it will enable children to explore, discover facts, and translate their imaginations as their play have bearing on exploration and proper brain and mental development.
       I became aware of the need to bridge achievement gap in children during my course of study, clinical (speech clinic), interactions with parents, and families who desperately need help with their children to bring them up to standard levels of academic performance. Additionally, I am aware of schools who are facing extra challenges to prop up unprepared children to meet up with prepared children. I would appreciate information from colleagues that can be used to help this group of children in bridging their academic achievement gap.
       I would recommend the article by Brendtro, L.K., (1999). Maria Montessori:Teacher of Unteachable Children. Reclaiming Children and youth, Vol.7, Iss.4; P. 201. to interested parties who will like to make positive difference in improving and promoting the academic achievement of students.
        The insight I gained from the research chart is that children who manipulate objects while they learn a particular skill also control their emotions.  Therefore, the application of integrated teaching techniques which involve the manipulation of objects and plays enable children to advance from the realm of abstraction to the realm of practice.

FINAL BLOG

      I learned from the international early childhood education that every child deserves the right to a quality education. By giving children a basic education this will aid a balanced developmental growth and also helps the population to eradicate poverty. We as educators need to make sure that every child no matter the gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background has access to available resources to meet her educational needs. I would like to create a school where children would have access to play and learn at the same time and make it available to my community. No matter the location of a child (both in my community and internationally) she needs access to education.
     The knowledge of early childhood quality of education has been of great value around the world and should be available, accessible, and affordable to all. A quality educational attainment helps children to transition to primary school as a result of properly laid background and holistic development of a child's potentials.
     Most of the international early childhood teachers have low qualification compared with the teachers here in the United States so most children receive poor or substandard education but with some organization helping out in training and directing the teachers the field is now having more qualified teachers.
     The Harlem children's zone addressed the project pipeline to equip a child in her developmental process to attend, excel, and graduate from college no matter her challenges or background. The children would overcome obstacles through collective efforts of families, friends, and the community. Teaching parents about reading, singing, and playing with their children will help the development of their children. When children are redirected and/or given time out, it is a way of teaching the children discipline. The staff teach parenting skills, child development and language skills to enhance the development of children in their program. The program assists after school children in creative reading and writing, playing chess, and others. They provide medical, behavioral, dental, nutrition and fitness care for children and also for the kids without insurance.
      The early childhood professionals need to come together to tackle the necessary issues that affect children and their families such as food, water, education and health care for all are necessary for survival and functioning effectively.Let us come together as a body both here in the United States or internationally to invest our time and resources for play and creativity regardless of the children's social status for opportunities to develop.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

   In getting to know what happens in the developing countries, I found out that UNESCO is helping a lot to see about the education of children from 0-8 and 10.5 million children under 5 years old die from preventable disease every year.
    UNESCO has a mission to protect and promote the development of young children and to allow a smooth transition from home to early childhood services and later to primary education. They also have a mission to build a solid foundation for a child's lifelong learning. Countries that are involved with UNESCO realized that it was important to expand and improve early childhood care and education for those children who are disadvantaged or vulnerable. UNESCO advocates for early childhood care and education (ECCE) that attend to health, nutrition, security and learning to provide holistic development for the promotion of inclusive education.
    In addressing the high quality of excellence and equity of care and education for young children and their families we need to look into the holistic need of children because they are our future leaders. Early childhood education starts at birth and should involve children, their families, communities and the government.  Children's 85% brain structure are formed by age 3, so early education care should reach every child regardless of their background. Children learn through child centered learning or  inclusive education that would motivate and make the feel enthusiastic to learn. Children, families ad teachers should have time to plat with each other to give children something to look up for.