Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Microaggressions are everywhere in our society.  We can see and hear microaggressions in our everyday living, television, movies, at work, or at the store.  One microaggression I can remember from a movie is in Boomerang.  Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence and David Allen Grier, who are all African-American, were in a high end men's suit store.  The white clerk came over and instead of asking them if they needed help he made a remark as if they were going to steal instead of buy a suit.  This is an example of racial microaggression.  When watching the movie I was upset at what the clerk implied.  All three men were already well dressed and successful but because of their skin color the clerk expected them to steal.

When I was in college I had a male friend, African-American just as I am, who made a comment to me that I have never forgotten.  Where I am from girls who have a lighter complexion are said to be stuck up and think they are more than others and the girls who are darker are said to be cooler, nicer.  My friend at the time told me "You act like you are  brown skinned are something cause you are real cool."  I asked him what he meant and he said you know light skinned girls are stuck up but you are cool.  I did't know how to take that because I didn't think skin color mattered when it came to your attitude.  I was somewhat offended but also thought it was kind of a compliment.  I think this was an example of racial microaggression but between two people of the same race.

This week I have noticed many microaggressions on television and walking around in stores.  I also was able to remember things that happened in the past and put a name to what happened.  I found that I encounter racial microaggression more than any other.  Prejudice and discrimination still happens way too often in our society.  I also think gestures could fall under microaggressions also.  Many times while walking in a store I have experienced someone moving out of my way when they really did not need to. When walking through a store many white women move their purse closer to them when my boyfriend passes them.  These gestures hurt just as bad as some comments.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Finding out other peoples definition of culture and diversity was very interesting.  My boyfriend said culture is a mixture of different things you learned from your ancestors.  He said diversity is taking the different lessons from all different backgrounds and combine them into one society.  My sister-in-law said culture and diversity go hand in hand.  Culture is the way of life, a tradition or practice.  She said diversity is many choices.  Diversity can be a variety of different things.  For example we can be diverse with race.  My mother said she thinks of different cultures when she thinks of diversity.  Diversity is many different things.  She said culture is different races and how they carry out their various traditions.

The answers I received for culture and diversity was not what I expected.  I got very general answers to the questions.  "Surface" culture was brought up, for example, race, traditions, practices.  These things are all very general but good points.  I think race is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about culture and diversity.  Although the answers were general and not detailed, I think they were good answers because they are their own definitions.  It is what they believe these things are.

As I said above only things that would be considered "surface" culture were mentioned, mainly race.  They did not mention anything that went deeper into someones culture.  Gender, profession, and relationship to someone was not brought up.

Listening to other peoples point of view has widened my point of view.  I am learning more and more about myself and others by being in this class.  I feel that children learn best from their peers and in this class I feel like we are learning a lot from each other.  Having to ask people for their view on culture and diversity was interesting to watch and listen to.  They had to take a minute and think about it before they could answer.  I thought it was interesting how they all worded things differently.  Before this class I would have said culture was all about race and also included religion and the way people do things.  Now I see things a little differently.  I see deeper into what culture is.

My Family Culture

My family is very important to me.  We don't have things that have been passed down from one to another but we are very close and love each other unconditionally.  The first thing I would grab would be my photo album.  My family lost a lot of photos during Hurricane Katrina, which means we lost a lot of memories.  I would not want to lose anymore memories.  The second thing I would grab is my laptop.  My laptop contains many things that would help me survive in a foreign country.  I would have my music, additional pictures, hopefully the internet!  The last thing I would grab would be my St. Jude Novena book.  This would keep me uplifted through the troubling times.

Having to give up two of the items I brought with me would be a difficult decision.  I do not know how I would choose.  I can always to speak to God from my heart so I may give up the Novena book.  If I were in a country where there was no electricity it would not make any sense to keep the laptop.  So I guess I would keep my family photos.  I already know how it feels to lose a lot of belongings and it does not feel good.  Fleeing a hurricane is similar to this assignment.  You bring what you can and hope you have something when you return.

Doing this assignment made me really appreciate my family and what we have.  It brought up very painful memories of Hurricane Katrina but I'm glad.  Is still feel a lot of pain from it because I never really talked about it.  It took me a year just to return to New Orleans.  This assignment made me remember how important my family my family is to me.

When I Think of Research...

First I would like to thank my classmates for all the great posts and comments throughout the course.  I think we learn so much from each other and I appreciate all that I have learned from each and every one of you.

What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?
Before this course I had little knowledge about research and was not interested in research.  I assumed it was a lot of boring reading.  This course has shown me the actual steps and stages that a researcher must take before a research study can take place.  By understanding this, I am now more interested in research.

In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?
As I stated above I was previously not interested in research but now I am because I have a better understanding of the research process.  Research was somewhat intimidating to me before and now I think I can handle reading or even conducting research.

What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?
This question would have made no sense to me before this course.  I learned about the different types of studies, how to choose participants, and the biggest thing that sticks out for me is the ethical issues that exists.

What were some of the challenges you encountered--and in what ways did you meet them?
My biggest challenge was learning how to think as a researcher.  In the beginning of the course I think I was over thinking things instead of going with what came to mind.  Once I relaxed in the class and just went with the flow, I realized that I could be a researcher one day if I put my mind to it.

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?
I now realize how important research is to the early childhood profession.  I didn't realize that some researchers of the early childhood field are early childhood professionals who want to find out more about young children.  Early childhood professionals have many issues to deal with on a daily basis and should appreciate the research that is done.

Research Around the World

I chose to research the website for European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA).  This website included many resourceful things.  Some of the research issues are Professionalism in Early Childhood Education and Care, Outdoor Play and Learning, and Children's and Parent's Perspectives on Diversity in Early Childhood Education.  The European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (EECERJ) is where I found these articles.  This journal is one of the most prestigious early childhood journals in the world.

Something interesting about this website is that it has Special Interest Groups (SIG).  There are currently eleven active special interest groups.  These groups cover a variety of topics.  Each group has its own purpose of why it exists and also provides contact information of the persons who run the groups.

I found it interesting that the EECERA is a voluntary association wholly owned by its membership.  There were areas on the site that only members could enter so I could not get all the information that I was looking for.

Research That Benefits Children and Families: Uplifting Story

There are many topics that came to mind when thinking about what I would research.  When thinking about children in my class I came to the conclusion that would like to research children who are adopted and if it has any affects on their academics or behavior.  This comes to mind because I have one student who is adopted.  I don't know if he knows but in the beginning he was BIG trouble in the classroom.  As the year went on his father tried many different medicines because he was diagnosed with ADHD.  Well one finally worked but after a while he started hallucinating and acting weird.  He now sees a child psychologist every other week but he still has other issues.  He has anger issues and can't seem to let things go.  So I wonder if being adopted has anything to do with his issues.

My Personal Research Journey

The general topic play.  I am a firm believer in play in early childhood classrooms.  The subtopic I chose to use in the simulation for this course is how play can encourage the different developmental areas, social, cognitive, and language.  Play is a vital part of a young child's development.  Children learn many things, good and bad, from interacting with their peers.  Play is being pushed out of early childhood programs and I can see first hand the effect it is having on children.  I believe that many behavior problems would not exist if the proper amount of play was still incorporated into early childhood programs.  For example, the reading program my district has adopted has my kindergarteners sitting on the carpet for at least an hour everyday.  I was always taught to keep carpet time less than twenty minutes.  I do a lot of correcting behavior because they get very restless and I can't blame them.

So far the simulation process has been interesting to me.  I came into the course not sure what to expect.  I saw the word research and thought lots of boring reading.  But so far I have to say it has been quite interesting.  Filling in the charts have taught me how to go about reading research and how to better understand research.

Does anyone have any advice and/or insight that might help with the process?