Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

The child development program aboard our military installation has a variety of resources available to us to help with all types of classroom challenges.  One in particular is our behavior specialist.  This person assesses classrooms and the children within those classrooms that need additional support.  This is a fairly new position within our organization and we have received little to no guidance on the person’s role and or her jurisdiction when it comes to performance expectations among staff members.  This team member is of equal seniority/ rank as I am the director.  The behavior specialist has a completely separate supervisor, and I have no say in what the behavior specialist implements inside my classroom.  Ideally this is supposed to be a partnership, however micro aggression is slowly tearing this, potentially amazing team, apart.  It’s my experience since accepting a role as an administrator that the most common form of micro aggression I experience is through mass distribution email.  Through these emails statements are made to insinuate that administration does not “have correct staff in classrooms”, “that directors need to learn get rooms under control before progress with children can be made,” and “they do not have a clue what is going on with these classrooms.” All of the emails are copied to all of upper management and never discussed privately with individual director.  It is so hurtful to be lumped together, and I feel like I had no sense of individual center identity.  I have been able to get more clarity on the different forms and the varying degrees of discrimination.  Micro aggression may sound small and insignificant in descriptive term, but its implications are tremendous

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture WK3

Janice Headrick

Culture is where I live and who I am.  Diversity is mixing all of the different cultures in a pot.

 

Crissy  McDonald

I believe that culture is everything around you.  You are your culture.  Culture is more than food, music and language.  It is the way in which we arrive at belonging.  Diversity is merely accepting anything that is different from what we know every day.

 

Christina Dieffenbach

Culture is everything in our world that means something to us.  Our culture defines our everyday lives and sustains our futures.  Diversity is the integrations of multiple cultures and respecting those cultures.

 

I believe both of my answers that I received collectively express what I have learned thus far about culture.  I think that culture is very detailed and specific yet the definitions we have discussed are very similar.  I think that if you really want to define a culture you have to look at its heritage.  Looking at where and why the people are who they are explains and defines their culture.  Defining a small farm boy from Iowa’s culture and the same age child who lives in Brooklyn, New York is very different.  The main components you are looking for are the same.  I believe that by listening to others explanation of culture helps explains people’s ability to accept different levels of diversity.  I understand that if a person can truly understand what and how a culture evolves and the importance of the culture, then the process of accepting and integration diversity will be a natural process not an achievable character

Only Three Things Wk2

I believe that if I lost everything in a disaster that having my three children alive and able to evacuate with me would be the only thing of importance to me.  There are no materialistic items that would be valued more than my babies.  If our family dog had survived and was allowed to come with us, I would choose her because she has been the entity that showed my children how to love and trust again after a horrific divorce and custody battle.  If she was not able to come with us then, I would give each of my three children one of my allotted items.  Understandably some of you are thinking that why would she not bring her bible, her, photos, her recipe book of passed down traditions?  I am thinking all of those memories, beliefs, and tradition are kept deep within my heart always available, and always there to share with my family.  To a child the smallest tokens of childhood, acceptance, and love a treasured in most insignificant items to adults, but to a child means everything.  That ragdoll, special baseball gloves, the weird hair band, or the ragged picture of mom with Easter bunny ears on?  Who knows what these items mean to a child but in a situation where everything that we know is now gone, still may exists in their tiny treasures they take with them.

I really feel like that before this class I had a strong family culture that was lead by our dominant culture.  However, after this week’s discussions and reflection I can feel even a great sense and a need to instill that more of our family culture with my children.  Helping them to learn about our culture, accept it, and help other understand and accept has a greater sense of importance.  I am so proud of my children and my entire extended family. Though we are far from functional or typical we are true to the values and belief that we hold dear.  I am a proud Sothern American but more importantly I hope to have let my mark on this world by mothering the three most beautifully compassionate loving, and human spirited people that I was capable of and they too were able to pass on my true love of family, American pride, and old fashion southern qualities (only the good ones of course!)

Hello! Welcome to my Blog!  Looking forward to an enjoyable class!