Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

         This week I was really able to focus on other’s conversations and see how common these microaggressions occur on a day-to-day basis. I am on a beach volleyball team, and we have been playing for the last four summers, of course, there are some squabbles here and there, but last week it was taken to a whole new level. Being in a recreational league, we are all there to have fun, but this particular team was there for blood. They were vicious players and playing extremely dirty, my best friend finally spoke up and said: “I am a volleyball coach, but you guys keep touching the net for the blocks and the spikes, its illegal moves.” I am so happy he finally spoke up but the other team took this as an attack and began to swear and say many derogatory statements. My best friend has an incredibly high-pitched voice for a male, and many question his sexual orientation. While this is no one's business, one man decided to call him a faggot and took it way to far. Before my friend went off the handle, he decided to be an adult about this and walked off the court, as a team, we followed suit. None of us were going to play this team, and we were gong to discuss this issue with the president of the league. The team kept going on as we are on the sidelines and now started to mimic our teammate. My husband who is so laid back and hates confrontation screamed and said that was enough. I then went to grab the director and spoke about how awful this team was. They were banned from the league because other teams agreed with what they saw and heard and they stood behind us.

            I was truly appalled by this teams actions, and to make matters worse they had a young high school student stepping in, and she saw this whole thing unfold. She should have not heard half the words that were coming from her teammates mouths. Listening to Dr. Sue really made me more observant to these daily microaggressions, I could never be so disrespectful and blunt about my dislikes as this man was, but I do realize that even sarcastic comments that I may make can be potentially harmful to another’s ego.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

            I had the pleasure of interviewing my cousin Mia, who was adopted from China, my best friend Ania, who is a first descendant from Poland, and my neighbor Nan, who is ninety years young. I wanted to interview people with different ages, backgrounds, and who are culturally different from myself.

            Many of them had very similar definitions about culture and diversity, in regards to culture, I heard how culture encompasses religion, language, music, food, what certain individuals believe as right or wrong, and even how our behavior is towards loved one. I was interested in hearing from my cousin since we took classes to understand her traditions and customs while also intertwining our Italian customs. She said she see’s herself as an Italian, her mannerisms, her language, her traditions, and beliefs resemble my own. While we still celebrate Chinese New Year and she loves when grandma and her mother make traditional Chinese food (dumplings, wontons). If you ask Mia what she is, she will say Italian-Chinese, just as I am an Italian-American.

            When asking Nan about diversity, she believed that culture and diversity were the same things. I responded culture is characteristics that are inherited by family and society members whereas diversity is how you can be apart of the same culture but still have very different values and beliefs. I believe that many of us are multicultural in the sense of trying to belong to so many groups. In school, you try and fit in and be friendly with one another, but nowadays many families are not just marrying with in their culture. Within a community there are so many individuals with all different abilities and skill sets, not everyone can do someone’s work, and we should pay recognition to the people we admire.

            Much of what I have learned from this course has been answered by some of responses I received, but not everything was answered so clearly. Mia was confused as well as to what diversity was and Ania nailed everything on the head with her answers. Hearing how other people define culture and diversity allowed me to see a few things. I also asked a nine-year-old for fun and he explained it to me as this. So Chinese people eat with chopstick, Indian people sometimes don’t eat pork, my mommy loves tacos, and my daddy likes bratwursts. We all like and do different things but that’s what makes us, us. Hearing these words from such a wise nine-year-old made me realize that he even understands this world better than some adults. I can only hope that more children can be like him and be open to new and different people.

My Family Culture

            Every year our family hosts a family reunion, and we have always taken a group picture at the end of the day as my grandmother is surrounded by her loved ones. I would take the last picture that was taken in 2016 to travel along side with. I would also take a necklace that was handed down to me by my great grandmother, which has Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelers and children.  Lastly, which sounds pretty trivial, would be my baby blanket. Before my great grandmother passed away and knew her grandson was expecting a daughter, she crocheted a beautiful pink and yellow blanket that still sits on my bed till this day.

            These three items I hold extremely dear to my heart, the picture to keep my family with me by my side, if separated, Patron Saint Christopher to protect me as I take on this adventure in another country, and my blanket which can either keep me warm at night or just have the ability to keep a piece of my childhood.

            Knowing I would have to give up two items upon arrival I would admit I would probably have a mental breakdown, but I would choose to keep my picture. To never forget the faces of my loved ones, a necklace can be replaced, a blanket can be replaced, while they might not have come from family members, those two items are replaceable. A picture is worth a thousand words, and having my family by my side through such a catastrophe would be exactly what I need.

            Thinking about such a think happening, made me scared, I would not be able to handle being separated from my family, I would not be able to put the smile on my face, that is always there, and be strong enough to help others during this difficult time. My family, my culture, my differences from the others in this world, is what makes me, me! I would hope to end up in a country where my differences were respected, but the world we live in now, we are always so quick to judge and just believe that our way is the only right way. Being taken in as a refugee, I must be thankful for the individuals who help my family and me; I must respect their culture and beliefs, and hope that my attitudes and beliefs are respected as well.

When I Think of Research

           As I have come to realize there are many methods to conduct a proper research topic to ensure validly, confidentiality, and ethics. When I first began this course coming up with a topic sounded like a simple task, but deciding on whom, how, and what to perform on possible “participants” can be incredibly overwhelming. What I found most tedious was data collection, having a research question in mind, the amount of information that can be found through observations, evaluations, assessments, and interviews can become overwhelming and hard to decipher to ensure valid points to support your study.

            I found myself infatuated with viewing the works of other research topics and seeing the amount of their hard work and dedication go into a topic that could change the field of early childhood education and development. Having the ability to come up with my stimulation, seeing how I can improve collaboration between educators and specialists, how to involve the family members, and ensure all children gain a high-quality education was utterly fascinating. The work that goes into such a topic is astonishing and having the support of others who see the potential in this topic can become extremely rewarding.

            The challenges I could see that I could encounter working with children with special needs would be ensuring the parent's confidentiality. Having access to student’s medical records, evaluations and assessments are having parents take a big leap in faith in my research topic and me. I am here for one reason, and that is to benefit the child and their family members. Ethics plays a huge part in any research topic, parents having to give me information that they may be uncomfortable sharing, cultural issues can also be a challenge. Parents may not believe in certain studies, and I must agree with their beliefs and concerns. The parents “may misunderstand what is involved in a research project because of language difficulties (in many cases, have a translator is absolutely essential), or because of cultural understandings” (Mac Naughton, Rolfe., & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010, p. 79). Without the parent's permission, I would not continue my study on certain students.

            Even as a preschool teacher we play a substantial role in these young children’s lives. But there could be a day where someone may have a research topic and my class can or will be the participants. It could be difficult to give so much information to these professionals, or difficult for you to get your job done with someone always watching you and your students. I believe we all play a research role, while we may not begin a case study, our ideas, opinions, and responsibilities must all be valued by one another.

            I would also like to thank my colleagues who took this course with me, without your input and ideas I do not believe I would have as been successful in this class. I wish you all success in your future courses! And just remember we are almost there!!

Reference:

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.