When it comes to working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds, I hope that I can continue to expand my knowledge as far as learning all that I need to effectively reach and teach. Children and their families will remain a top priority for me. I will continue to be open when it comes to learning new things about diverse children and families so that I can do all that I can to ensure that these children and their families receive the best in an educational setting. One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related issues of equity, diversity and social justice is to always treat people with respect and equality. I will never treat one differently because he or she has a different background. I will also always teach the importance of treating individuals equally within the educational setting as a professional. I truly think that if the importance of treating others equal is introduced at a young age, it will reduce the number of people being mistreated and or discriminated against in life. I would like to thank each and every one of my classmates as well as my instructor for such interesting and informative discussions. I have truly learned a lot from you all throughout this course. I look forward to collaborating with you all in future courses. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

I am working as a social service agent and I have been informed that there will be a child whose family recently emigrated from Afghanistan. Five ways in which I would prepare for this child and family would be to learn and familiarize myself with ways in which things are done in Afghanistan such as common identities, culture, language, ways in which they conduct/ celebrate holidays and their normal family structures. I think that familiarizing myself with all that I can about this child’s country will benefit me tremendously as far as educating is concerned. I am a true believer in making children and their families feel comfortable as to increase success in the learning environment. Reference Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. (2010). Anti- Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves.

I can remember an incident where a homosexual was beaten almost to death because of his sexual preference and choice of dress. I consider this an example of a hate crime that displays prejudice and microassult. This prejudice act diminished equity by making individuals that chose to live a homosexual lifestyle fear being jumped on and or killed. This incident brought feelings of sadness and disappointment because I feel that all individuals deserve to make choices that fit them without being judged and or harmed. People should learn to respect the wishes of others whether they agree with them or not. Ignorance that people tend to have when it comes to respecting the differences of today’s society would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity. At some point in life individuals should make it their business to get educated about other individuals that life and do things differently from them. It is better if this is learned at an early age so that acceptance would be easier.

The microagression that I remember from this week is microassult. This particular microagression took place when an openly gay individual was assumed by a friend that because he was gay, he knew how to decorate. I felt that if an individual allows themselves to think that others are capable of certain tasks due to their backgrounds, proves ignorance on their part. For example, it was ignorant for a person to assume that just because an individual is gay, they know how to decorate. If people would take time out to make intimate contact with people that are different from themselves, they would have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with those that are different and/ or alike them. I think that becoming familiar with the differences and sameness will enable one to better understand the “how’s” and “why’s” of other’s actions. A better understanding allows one to appreciate these sameness or difference that individuals have. The way in which I observation experiences from this week affected my perception of the effects of discrimination, prejudice and/ or stereotypes on people by giving me better understanding of the importance of why people should not assume that a person is suppose to act a certain way just because their background is different from others. Reference Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. (2010). Anti- Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves.

The one person that I thought was culturally different from me was my next door neighbor Carol. The aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied during this course that were included in their answers were food, language and religion. I ask about their food often because they have family gatherings and the aroma from the food filled the air and smells so good! They eat grilled pork served over rice, seafood, vegetables, etc. One dish that caught my attention was the squid. The squid was rolled up and put on a skewer. They then based with a juice or sauce of their choice and grill it. Carol explained that Khmer is the original language that she speaks. She also speaks English as a second language. I have to really listen to her as she speaks because of her accent. Buddhism is her religion. Thinking about another person’s definition of culture and diversity influenced my thinking by gaining a better understanding of how culture and diversity differs yet is the same. For example, every culture and diversity uses food, language and religion as some examples to describe their backgrounds, however, their foods, languages and religions differ according to background. Speaking with Carol made me realize the importance of incorporating cultural sameness and difference into everyday classroom activities. It is always good if children are introduced to new things at a young age so that they know how to accept the differences as they get older. Being exposed to the sameness and differences at a young age also decreases difficulties in understanding things they cannot touch, taste or experience. Experiencing sameness and difference gives a child that foundation they need to enter this culturally world that we live in (Sparks & Edwards, 2010). References Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. (2010). Anti- Bias Education.

When I think about catastrophic event and only being able to take three small items with me, immediately, I think of the fact that memories are the best things that to have when being separated from the one’s you love. Thinking further, I think of pictures, a jewelry box and my college diploma. The pictures represent family members that have passed away as well as relatives that are still living but could not take this journey with me. The jewelry box is a gift from my mother. This is a very special gift that I cherish and will forever be protective of just because it came from my mother. My college diploma is something I earned in rememberence of my grandmother. Shortly after I began college, my grandmother took ill all of a sudden and passed away. I took this very hard due to the fact that she was my heart and we had a very close relationship. After her passing, my grades began to fall as well as my interest in continuing this particular journey without her. After I began to mentally get myself back together, I decided that I was going to do whatever I had to do in order to complete this degree and dedicate it to her. As a result of this exercise, I learned the importance of getting and keeping a close relatyionship with the one’s you love. Family is very important and I feel so blessed to have the closeness that I have with my family. We may have our differences here and there, but at the end of the day, we still love and support one another.

I have learned the importance of ethics when conducting research that involves children. It is very important that consent is given by a parent or guardian before a child participates in any research or study. It is also important that the researcher does not include anything that will be damaging to the child in their research. The researcher should also be sure that their research in age appropriate for the children participating. I have gained a sense of how important it is to be organized before and during research. The researcher should gather some information about his or her topic prior to researching. The type of research should also be known so that the researcher knows what direction to go as far as gathering the necessary information. This includes knowing rather the study is quantitative or qualitative. When it comes to planning, designing and conducting research, I learned that research design sets the tone for the research. Research designs are procedures that the research should develop that will guide them throughout their study. If the research design is not in order, there is a great possibility that their research will not be in order. All information and or data must fit together when conducting research. A challenge that I encountered was choosing the right research question. At first, my question was too broad. I met my challenge by narrowing my question down. My perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course by becoming familiar with the importance of ethics. Ethics is a vital part of protecting children who participate in any research. Consent must be given for a parent or guardian prior to the child participating in the research. As we have come to the close of this course, I would like to thank each and every one of you for the collaboration and input you have contributed to furthering my education on the “how” and “why” aspects of conduction research. Although, this has been a challenging course for me, I am proud to say that I am leaving with much more information than I came with! Again, thank you all I you the best in your future endeavors(!