Overcoming Cultural Differences

My family origin:

Russia

At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family

1.   Check out some instructional Russian cd’s at my local library, it doesn’t hurt to learn some words in other language.
2.    Learn about traditional Russian family structure, though I know that each family is different, I think it will be a good idea to have some sort of information and take precautions.
3. Visuals will also show the welcoming of other ethnicities, such as having some words posted throughout the classroom on the different languages we have, and definitely flags.
4.    As we get to know each other, I will learn more about the peculiarities of the family and establish trust.
5.  Facilitate the ways of instruction and provide strategies to the child to learn English, just as it happened to me when I learned English in school.
6. I need to be cognizant that language is not the only barrier. My acts and behaviors also influence his optimal development in school and in this country. Therefore a pre-talk with my students need to be arranged so that everyone will be welcoming and enthusiastic.
7.  If possible, look for an interpreter.
8. With the help of technology I think it will be a good idea to get in contact with a Russian teacher so that he/she can instruct me on the academic terms equivalent to English.      

A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family

By doing this I think they will appreciate what I’m doing and they will be more willing to work with me besides language barriers. In an effort to show that we can all adapt, I would actually talk about all the effort I will be doing to provide a secure and welcoming environment for them so that they would also feel held accountable to support me and be more open with me. 

Impotence

I would like to share a very sad story that didn't happenend to me, but definetely impacted me. A friend of mine, who is Mexican-American had a very sad racist incident with an elder Caucasian neighbor. As she was driving to her assigned parking space; the neighbor was going on reverse, she honked at him to make him aware she was there. He got mad and approached her and cursed in her face then proceeded to make racist comments about her nationality. She was in total shock and stiff; as he got closer to her, she warned him: “step back I have pepper spray” so he furiously went back to his car. A neighbor saw the aggression and chased him off. My friend was trembling, because she felt harassed and devalued because of such agression. She called the police and they got both statements, nothing happened because to the police’s point of view she was overreacting and the neighbor never had intentions to physically hurt her. What has to happen then?

She lived by herself and was afraid of her neighbor, she went to the office and the Caucasian administrators told her the same that she was overreacting. She then told them that she wanted to end the contract because she didn’t feel safe but they didn’t let her. She then had to pay to end the contract and leave. When she was telling her story to me she said that at one point she believed everything the neighbor said because she was petrified, she believed in the stereotypes and insults he was communicating to her aggressively. By the end of that day she got sick with high temperature and migraine. She even told me that it took her weeks to mentally recover from the incident.

All the authorities in that scenario seemed to agree with the elder Caucasian male and totally marginalized my friend. The authority figures preferred racial invisibility and didn’t want to dig deeper.  She did everything to defend her cause and even talked to corporate, but nobody wanted to get involved with the racism act.  When I was hearing her story I felt impotent, furious, mad, aggressive, weak, powerless, frantic, sad, etc. I mean, it was a deep issue because she was a woman and was being harassed by a man who deliberately approached her and insulted her. On top of that, the police did nothing, and the complex’s administrators did nothing to protect her. The police and the office manager didn’t act with equity in this case. They took it as an overreaction and not as an act of racist aggression. My friend had a witness and other people also complaint with the manager. It is of my belief that the elder Caucasian was lucky enough to get passed by thanks to the shared ethnicity of the authorities in place.

Microagressions

I remember going to a lady gaga concert in Phoenix and I was having a conversation with a girl sitting next to me and she told me “Where do you guys come from?” and I told her that we were from Douglas,AZ and she told me :  “Really? You have a different accent. You speak English very well though”. I know that she didn’t say it maliciously but it kind of made me feel separated from my own culture.

This week’s readings made me reflect on the actions and behaviors of my own. I’ve not only been the receptor but the perpetrator in conversations as well.  I think it is important to consider somebody else’s feelings and think before we act. During this week, I was aware of any microagression that could be happening around me; I found some jokes on TV about cultural differences and homosexuality as well. I’ve learned and liked the topic about microagression because it has made me grow as a professional and human being. No matter if we think the comment we’ve said can’t be that offensive, in somebody’s heart it is. 

Definition of "Culture" and "Diversity"

Jesus:

Definition of culture would be the difference, is the way each group of people celebrate their customs. Each country has their own culture and defines their way of expressing themselves through customs and traditions.

Diversity would be the variety of a certain something. For example, a town can have a diverse population meaning that there are people from many races, religions and ethnicity.

Aurielle:

Culture is simply the belief system, morals, ethics, traditions, and living automaticity in the way a unit (such as an individual, family or group) functions. Culture can vary within large groups or be quantified among individuals.

Diversity is a range of differences in a contextual circumstance.  In essence, diversity functions as a way to identify personal uniqueness and unit differentiation.

Daniela:

Culture ... Way of living how you were raised sample religion, politics, manners, society your morals.

Diversity: different, variety

Asking different people what their thoughts about culture and diversity were was very interesting and enriching. Some answers I received that were similar to what I’ve studied in this course about culture were: culture as a system of behaviors, beliefs, traditions, morals, ethics,

I was surprised to see that most of them referred to culture as different units that form a whole, though some things were not included such as: identity, abilities, disabilities, gender, language, culture as heritable factor, among many others. To my criteria, the answers presented were very good and reflected a feeling of culture as a composition of influences, not limited to ethnicity.

The definition of the participants made me reflect on my own definition and inclusions related to culture and diversity.  I believe that culture is an identity, and a powerful lens we see the world through.  

My Three Items

If I had to choose 3 items that among my belongings, I would choose items that would help me remember my happy family and something that will give me the strength I needed to start a new life. The first thing that comes to my mind is my family photo album, the second item will be my cross necklace, and the third item will be my iphone.

Each item is important to me in different ways. The photo album is important because I can remember moments full of joy in days of no hope.  The necklace with the cross pendant reminds me that God is my strength and that he will always protect my family. I chose my iphone because it will serve as my communication device in the new country or I can sell it for food or something.

If I had to keep only one item I think it will be my iphone. I have photos of my family, and images and writings about God. Besides I could also type and get wifi to stay communicated in the new country. If things get rough I could sell it or trade it.

Thinking about this whole experience made me be afraid and appreciate where a live, what I have and don’t have.  The first thing that came to my mind was God. He was always in my head and I knew he would have given me hope. My culture has taught me to refuge in God and have hope, he puts the tools and it’s up to me to build a bridge.  

Research Learning

Taking this course has been without a doubt beneficial; I had no knowledge about the types of designs of research that were available to me, such as qualitative and quantitative design. Qualitative design is an approach that involves a collection of text-based data that seeks for an understanding rather than an explanation (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010). On the other hand, quantitative is an approach is a more specific way of collecting data in order to draw conclusions based on the hypothesis (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).I’ve learned that there are different approaches in research, such as: developmentalist, feminist, behavioralist, just to mention a few. Such ontologies and epistemologies that the researcher adopts is the information that would be reflected in the study.  

Throughout this course I’ve gained knowledge about the different stages of the research process and what those stages demand. In planning you have to pose a question about a general topic begin with the “how”, “what”, and “why”; then reduce it to subtopics and analyze the nature of the question. In designing the researcher has to look for the key issues such as validity, which will be achieved through triangulation. Triangulation means using different methods of gathering data so that the researcher has a better understanding to compare and contrast (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

There were also challenges about understanding research design that had me confused. For instance, creating a good research question that is not too broad and that could be researchable. Thanks to the recommendation from Dr. Kien, it is easier for me to create a researchable question. She shared some scripts according to the type of question you are looking for. According to Cresswell (2008):

Descriptive Questions: How frequently do (participants) (variable) at (research site)?
Relationship Questions: How does (independent variable) relate to (dependent variable) for (participants) at (research site)?
Comparison Questions: How does (group 1) differ from (group 2) in terms of (dependent variable) for (participants) at (research site)?

An early childhood professional has to be aware of the different types of research that there are and the bias that it may contain. It is important that as professionals we stay critical about the types of research and be judgemental. For example, look for research that involves mixed methods, heterogenous approaches, consolidation of powers,

Reference
Creswell, J. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

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Early Childhood Australia

Looking at the research index topics from Early Childhood Australia the most recent research were: quality in early childhood programs, pretend play and children with autism, home-school relationships, transition to school for young children with disabilities, supporting literacy through poetry in Greek primary schools, and much more. Not all of the research topics were available for free, only some, but they also had really good information in other free articles.

I read one of the free articles that they had available about defiant behavior in children. The article talked about Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) meaning children who are constantly disobedient and present a defiant behavior.  The study demonstrated that in classrooms where teacher acknowledges good behavior in children, rather focusing in defiant behavior, have a more positive environment for all children specifically ODD children. It was also wisely said that the teacher should model the behavior that she wants to see and find ways to reinforce it. The study also demonstrated that the earlier the intervention the better long term results, “after age eight years, significant changes in oppositional and defiant behavior are difficult to achieve”.

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/australian_journal_of_early_childhood/ajec_index_abstracts/getting-the-balance-rightthe-challenge-of-balancing-praise-and-correction-for-early-school-years-children-who-exhibit-oppositional-and-defiant-behaviour-free-full-text-available.html

I really liked this website because it provided information in raising confident children, early childhood perspectives, international views, advocacy, and much more. The articles are helpful for teachers in guiding children, as well as in guiding parents. They have what they called a “supporting best practice” tab and “ research in practice” tab, I believe these are great because you are given strategies based on research that have demonstrated to be effective, making your practice a competent one.