Week 2 Blog Assignment

For this week’s blog assignment, we were asked to watch a television show once with the sound off and again with the sound on. Since I am not an avid television viewer, it was fairly easy to find a show that I do not frequently watch. The show I chose to view is “Keeping up with the Kardashians”. This is a reality tv-show about a large glamorous family in Los Angeles. While watching the show with the televisions volume turned off, this is what I observed:

•What do you think the characters’ relationships are based on the ways in which they are communicating? Just by watching the family members communicate without any sound, I could definitely tell that the people on the show were family. There seemed to be a sense of closeness as well as some bickering going on.

 •What are they feeling and expressing based on the nonverbal behavior you are observing? I observed a lot of tension between some members of the family and lots of non-verbal facial expressions.

This is what I observed with the sound turned on:

 •What assumptions did you make about the characters and plot based on the ways in which you interpreted the communication you observed? I assumed that they were family members who were close and experienced lots of arguments on a regular basis.

 •Would your assumptions have been more correct if you had been watching a show you know well? I think my assumptions would have been the same. While I do not what this show on a regular basis, I know somewhat about the dynamic.

This was a very interesting assignment that I never would have thought to do on my own. What was particularly interesting is that I grasped what was happening fairly accurately without having the sound on. That just goes to show you how critical non-verbal communication is and how one can be affected by it.

Week 1 Blog Assignment

For this week’s blog assignment, we were asked to think of someone who demonstrates competent communication within a particular context. I chose to think about the youth who come to my Youth Center. They range in age from 9 to 12 and they have some of the best communication skills I have ever encountered. They are always so honest with me as well as with one another. They are able to solve problems among one another before having to get a staff involved. I feel that as adults we have a tendency to become less honest because of the worry that comes with offending someone or hurting their feelings. It seems that children just want to be honest in communicating with others and this is very refreshing. Sometimes I do wish I could communicate as well as they do.

Week 8 Blog Assignment- Professional Hopes & Goals

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that I hope to make a life lasting impression on their lives by making them feel comfortable and wanted. Often times when people come to a new country, they feel shunned or unwanted. It is my hope that I can make them feel welcomed and allow them to see the true possibilities of being in our country. 

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field in relation to issues of diversity, equity and social justice is to give every child and family the same opportunity. After all, we are one world.

For this last blog assignment, I would like to take the time to thank Dr. Dartt and my fellow colleagues for making this course one of the most enjoyable ones I have taken so far. I have learned so much about myself as well as my peers and for that I am forever thankful. This has been such a great journey and I hope to have future courses with you all! Good luck and best wishes!

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I can distinctly remember when I was ten years old and my family moved to Hawaii. It was definitely a different environment than what I was used to. I had spent my ten year prior in Germany where there are also a variety of cultures, however that acceptance of diversity is far greater. On my first day of school, I was ridiculed by my peers who were considered “locals”. The local kids had many names for my kind and I became known as “whitey”. While I knew what prejudice was, I had never experienced firsthand, and I certainly was never a victim of if before. I can remember feeling so miserable and pretending to be sick so I could stay home from school. I did not have any friends and I was criticized daily because of the color of my skin. Luckily my parents only wanted to stay a year and we moved back to Germany. Although at the time it seemed like an awful experience, I am grateful that I went through it. I see prejudice in such a different light and I have become more appreciative of cultural and ethnic diversity. While my experience was not as awful as what others have gone through, I can understand the importance of equity.

Week 4 Blog Assignment

It was coincidental that we were learning about microaggressions this week. We were discussing which staff were going to attend next week’s field trip and work and one of my employees mentioned that she did not want to go on the swimming pool field trip. She is an African American and one of our Latino staff responded with a microagression. She asked “why don’t you want to go, are you worried about your hair”? While everyone giggled with one another, I thought to myself how insulted I would feel if I were in the shoes of the gal who didn’t want to go to the pool. In thinking about microagressions, there were so many things that I learned about the environment I work in as well as myself. The fact is that we are constantly surrounded by these prejudices and we don’t even realize it some of the time.

Blog Assignment – Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

For this week’s assignment, I spoke to three different friends regarding culture and diversity. I asked them what their definitions of culture and diversity. All three of them had the same response for the definition of culture. They said they thought of culture as something that a person displays because of where they come from. As for diversity, they all had similar ideas but described diversity as a term in differences in how someone looks, where they come from, their language, place of birth, and their ethnicity. All three of my friends that I spoke with are different than me in some way. I asked an African American, one is in a wheelchair, and the other is Jewish. This was great because it gave me a different perspective from all angles and what is encouraging is that we all sort of see things similar.

I think all of my friends did a great job including the major differences in culture and diversity in relation to what I have studied so far in the course. For example, diversity can be something the physically seen whereas culture is something that is an action of display.

Week 2, Assignment 3

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 I would choose in this scenario are:

A photo album full of photos of my family and friends

My bodhran, which is an Irish drum that represents both my culture and my love of music. I would take this with me because I believe that music makes the world come together regardless of cultural difference.

I would lastly bring my Seattle Seahawks Pillow Pet. American football is a huge part of my culture and the pillow is extremely comfortable. I may end up in a country where there are no beds or pillows so this would come in handy.  

 I would discuss in detail why all of these items are dear to me. I would be able to discuss many aspects of my culture and teach others about it. I would be upset and angry if I had to give up two items upon my arrival since I already had to leave everything behind and only choose three items. I would probably be pretty stubborn and argue my way out of giving anything up. However, my photo album is something that is irreplaceable so giving up my drum and pillow would be a little easier. I can make those things, I can’t remake memories.

This exercise was interesting because I think it would be extremely difficult to only choose three things. I do think that the items I chose are practical, heart-felt and slightly superficial.