6164 Microagressions2

Yeah so I totally missed the ball on this assignment but now I understand it a little better.

So I would like to say that when people don't like something or disagree with the way other people do things it can turn into angry bias feelings.

I used to work at a center with primarily African American teachers. The children were a mix of cultures. In the infant room though the children were all "white". (Humans are not white in color but i can't spell causcasion) ANYWAYS......the infant teacher an older woman in her 50's always had something to say about "these white children." She would complain that the children don't wear undershirts, that they were held on the time, that the parents ignore the children's health....anything and everything and it was always because "there all white". It drove me BONKERS. and I wasn't brave enough to say anything to her, I wanted to be polite and "respect" older people. it was awful. One thing that really got to me was there was on baby who M would ignore. M would say her parents hold her all the time and she needs to learn...I do not believe in "spoiling" babies. Spoiling implies something is wrong. There is nothing wrong with comforting crying infant in my opinion. I would ignore the other teachers and love on the baby until her parents came to get her. *Deep Breath*

Another thing that relates is when I meet African American's, male or female, 9 out of 10 times the first thing they say to me is , "Are you Indian"?As Dr. Sue says it feels like I go to hold out my hand to say hello and  it is not taken in return. (Laureate Media Inc 2012)  It still bothers me a little because to my interpretation, to ask a question of race without saying Hi or other pleasantry first is rude. However, as I've gotten older I have decided it's because they like my hair. I watched Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair and that helped me understand the fascination with my hair. Granted I also know that may not be the truth but is a truth I've invented to make myself feel more comfortable.

Ok so this feels more to the assignment. Thanks for Listening. ~Koni

6164 - Isms

This week was pretty heavy. Lots of thoughts and things to sort through and reconcile.

As for personal experiences with micro-aggressions I am sure I have been both the perpetrator and receiver throughout my life. When you’re doing it, there is a tiny nugget in the back of your head letting you know this is wrong but you do it anyway to cave to the social pressure. Being the receiver is awful because it hurts your feelings in a deep way but as Dr. Sue says it puts you in a tough spot because you can’t react the way you want.

I’ve definitely been on hyper alert about what I say, hear, read, etc.  Allrighty lets lighten things up a bit.

Ok so I don’t know if you can tell but I watch a fair amount of television. And this week I was thinking about the shows I’ve seen that relate to the various “isms” we’ve discussed this week.  An episode of Go On features micro-aggressions about Latin Americans being overly emotional thus making the white protagonist uncomfortable. (it is never specified what country the characters are from so perhaps I shouldn’t even be saying Latin Americans. The show shows the characters as having accents and speaking Spanish and caring for the dead character. Hmm.)  The New Normal is all about pointing out culture clashes. This week related to the Margles’ article, interpersonal oppression (Margles 2010) in that the characters realize they only have white friends.  

Lastly I will leave you with a clip from the 2004 Tony Award Winner, Avenue Q. It is a little twisted – you may want to google the show before you watch so you don’t think I’m bonkers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RovF1zsDoeM

References 

Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (2012). Microaggressions in everyday life.[video podcast] Retrieved from: https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1373729_1%26url%3D

Margles, S., & Margles, R. M. (2010). Inverting racism's distortions. Our Schools/Our Selves, 19(3), 137—149

6164 - Diversity means....?

Ok so I have talked to people and have given some thought and have come to the conclusion that culture and diversity are very big concepts.

We’ve come to some agreement amongst all of us. We agree that culture and diversity can become empty terms that mean everything and nothing. Sometimes people throw the words around without any consideration – scapegoat words. I think that comes from surface culture we’ve talked about. We are taught about surface culture our whole lives that in a way it becomes a joke. Instead of being things to lead us into deeper conversation they become jump off points for jokes , stereotypes, and dislike. Not OK.

Another agreement we reached is there are many kinds of diversity.  In addition to the “traditional” ideas of diversity, skin color, religion, there are also other kinds, educational, family, economic. I have mentioned in my old center there were people there who only had GED’s, some had associate’s, a handful had BA’s and very few had master’s. Before working there I had only been around people with my same educational level. It is amazing how education shapes us: the words we use, the way we process information. They seem like small things but it isn’t.

Family diversity is important too. There are many kinds of family. Families in my center range from children being raised by their grandparents, to single mothers by choice, to same sex families. All of whom are treated with respect and kindness. Thankfully, the world is changing and if media is an indicator of social trends [acceptance] then family diversity is going to be just another “normal” thing in our lives.  Materials and literature need to reflect this shift.

I am fortunate that my friends, though we are different, all work with children. We understand culture and diversity in a specific way. 

6163 - Positive Research

First off I am so thankful for everyone’s positive responses – it really made me feel good. Thank you all.

However I am sad to say I am not going to pursue the issue of teacher pay and all the issues that come with it. It made too stressed out and I would get all panicky trying to figure it out. It was just awful. So I decided to opt for sanity and I decided to do my lit review with the focus of teacher education.  Hopefully the coming weeks will be less intense.

Ok SO Positive examples of research…..well there is the “Back is Best” movement. There are always new things coming out about babies. And one of the more recent items is for children to sleep on their backs. Since parents have started putting babies on their backs the SIDS rate has been cut in half. I am so sorry I cannot remember where I learned that. 

Another example would be all the research done on the benefits of breastfeeding.  Or smoking. For years smoking was everywhere. It was like shoes – something that is so  apart of life you don’t even think about it. However through research and LOTS of social change – smoking is now considered deviant. It is known to be bad for health and people no longer smoke the way they used to. It is banned in many places like outside hospitals and in restaurants.  

Oooo! seatbelt laws! Research must have been done to show how important seat belts and car seats are to the lives of children. [and adults too] and now in many states, maybe all of them, seat belts and car seats are mandatory and if people are caught without them – they can go to jail.

I am sure that research will always have a positive impact on our lives because through research we learn new things and our lives can become better.

How will my research of education levels and teachers affect people? I don’t know. I know it came from a 

place of experience. I used to work in a center with so much variation in education it was difficult to find any commonality between teachers. There was disagreement about how to run a classroom, theories about discipline, there was resentment – frankly it was a mess. I had a  co teacher who had an associate’s degree and the little things like my vocabulary would get in the way of us communicating because she hadn’t heard certain words before. While that may sound simple – the repercussions are real. If teachers don’t communicate well with one another then it creates a separation within the classroom. The children are affected, the families are too. Again it was a bit of a mess.

My hope is that with improved education, classroom environments and relationships with families and children will improve. 

6163 - deciding and how awful it is

After much deliberation and a mini breakdown I have decided to stick with the idea of researching teacher pay. While I recognize that is super vauge. I figure that is the purpose of our literature review. Plus the book said research is a process and that made me feel better…I don’t have to know my super specific idea yet. Now next week I may be in a full state of panic. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. ;)

What began as a personal grudge against low wages has slowly been channeled into a healthy feeling that early childhood teachers are just as deserving of fair wages as anyone else, especially when they have the education. I have been talking to other people who work in daycare and they have reported the same thing – four year degree, lead teacher, makes $9 or $10 an hour. However I was enraged when I learned a part timer I know makes $12 an hour. (Complaining about not having any money no less) Anyways….finances are often shrouded in secrecy and that may hamper my research design because I may not receive participants but I mustn’t dwell on that.

This has been a very difficult process choosing a topic and finding literature and forming a question. Because every time I think of a thought I think of a million other factors that relate to the original thought thus making it impossible to decide anything. My brain runs off in bunch of directions and it’s a mess.

Thankfully I did some searching and I found some articles on what I was looking for and I hope that after reading the information I can pick one specific question I would like to research. 

6164 - Three Items

OK so lets journey together – A horrible event as occurred and as a surviving citizen I will be evacuated to a new world.  I may have to remain in the new world FOREVER.  I am only allowed to take three items with me. Oh goodness.

These exercises are always so hard. Because frankly I want to take everything even though I realize how impractical that would be. I am going to reiterate this is a fantasy world so some of my answers will be fantastical.

Item one: The Harry Potter Series. I count this as one item and not seven because it is several things in one. I would take these because Harry Potter is one of the most important books in my life (so far). It represents my cohort as the Potter Generation. I could share the books with my new community, although I’m fairly certain they’ll be familiar with harry Potter as it has been published in like thousands of languages.

Item two: Family photo album. This should be obvious. I want to be able to look at pictures and have memories. I could also use them to explain 21^st century United States culture to my new world. Although vacation photos often put friends to sleep so perhaps this theory needs to be tested.

Deep Breath. Final item. What will it be? My pillow? Bear? Magazines? My phone? My journal and pen? My computer? Or something super practical like toiletries?  

Item three: Ok so I’ve decided on two items. Think of them as Item 3a and 3b. I will bring my bible and my ipod. Yes these seem to conflicting items but they aren’t. Plus I have a skinny ipod touch so I can slip it inside my bible. I will need my Bible because it is God’s message to me and I will want it. Scripture has gotten through some of the worst times in my life. I will need it. My ipod is a spiritual partner because I have a lot of Christian music on my ipod and music is one of those things that can reach my soul in my like 30 seconds. Also my iPod has a few movies to entertain me. It has two games. It has over 4,000 songs to share with my new community. I will teach them about Disney, Eminem, Glee, Madonna, Taylor Swift, Motown, and other musical styling of my time.

If upon arrival in the new world (I am beginning to imagine it as an a mix of old west and Cambodian village) I am told there was a space problem and I only allowed one item and I must leave the other two items I would go through all the stages of grief and then I would stew in my emotions before picking one. Once the dust has settled I would choose my Bible and iPod. It would kind of be cheating because my iPod has 4 out of 7 Harry Potter audiobooks and it has pictures of my family on it. (maniacal laugh at scamming the system)

So what have I learned from all this? I am a semi materialistic person who is excited about the prospect of teaching a new world about my culture. 

Start of Something New

Another step on the path to my degree.

                 I can do it!

Research Competencies and Perspectives on Diversity 

Here I come.