Communicating with Bilinguals

When I worked as a teacher at Child Development Association I had to really pay attention to how I communicated with parents who spoke English as a second language. I had to use simple words with them so they could understand me. I slowed down my speech because I wanted to make sure that they were understanding and processing the information correctly. When they spoke I had to closely listen to what they had to say and have patience when they had to think about the right words to say to get their message across. I had a co-worker that needed help with her English writing. I had to proofread her writing to make sure she was grammatically correct. I also had to be patient with her because her Puerto Rican accent would get in the way of me understanding the English word she was trying to say. She may even ask me what something meant and I would have to find a synonym that she understood.

 I communicate differently with my son than I do with the children in my childcare center. I can keep separate how I deal with my child versus someone else’s child. When I answer the phone I sound my most professional. My voice changes and if it is a potential parent then I go into a sales mode. There are many ways I communicate with different people and different situations. Am I being just me all the time? I think I am, but in different ways.
 

Speak Like Dr. Umar Johnson

     One of today's speakers I like to listen to is Dr. Umar Johnson. Dr. Johnson is a Certified School Psychologist of Pennsylvania and speaks nationally and internationally about the predicament of African and African American people across the world. He is planning to open up a school for black children to learn the skills they need to economically compete with other races in the world (Dr. Umar Johnson, n.d.).
     I love how he speaks because he speaks with authority and urgency of his cause. He sometimes dresses casually or in a professional suit depending on his audience. He speaks intellectually and knows how to respond instantly to someone that disagrees with him. I wish I could speak like he does in front of an audience so smoothly. If I could speak like him I would have probably been more effective building my non-profit organization because I would be able to speak with authority and urgency about my community (Dr. Umar Johnson, n.d.).

Dr. Umar Johnson. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.drumarjohnson.com

Revolutionizing ECE

I desire when I work with children and families from multifarious backgrounds that I understand their differences and remove my own biases from the relationship. I hope to subsume their culture into the center and their child’s classroom. I love history but I do find it arduous to be intrigued in someone else’s ethnicity if it does not relate to me subjectively.

The mission I would like to attain in the early childhood field related to equity is building an ECE program in low income neighborhoods that has all of the assets of high income ECE centers. I have seen there is a big variation between centers who are low income versus high income. It should be a level “playing ground” when it comes to education and it is not. I think educating our children under five and continues through to high school will help to mend the social injustices.

I would like to thank the professor and my fellow classmates for their perspectives and inputs into my perspectives. I have really grown in this class and have learn about subjects that matter to people that I never really thought of.

Family from Benin Africa

I actually did have a family that is from Benin, Africa. We noticed that he may not know much English and knew his home language only. We tried to find out what language his family spoke. Mom would not tell us but Dad told us it was benin. I tried to look it up but the main language spoken there is French. Benin may be an almost lost language (Benin). I would try to get some common benin phrases such as, lunch time, sit down on the carpet, nap time, outside time, etc. I would try to research the culture of Benin and include pictures in the classroom. I would also try to talk to his pictures and have them bring in family pictures. Lastly, I would teach his classmates about Benin as well so they can learn a different culture. These suggestions will benefit me because I will understand how to teach appropriately. Also it is beneficial to the family because they feel included and important as well as the child.

Benin. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ethnologue.com/country/BJ

"Big Momma"

I remember working for an afterschool program where I cared for children ages 4 to 12 years old. There was a heavy set dark-skinned girl who was crying on the field. I asked her what was wrong. She said that a particular girl kept calling her “Big Momma”. I confronted the girl and told her how mean her statement was and how much it hurt her feelings. The girl looked at me with such confusion. It looked as if she did not know how much that statement hurt her. I hope I did not get onto her to harshly because I know how it feels to get picked on during that age. Even though the “bully” did not understand her microaggression it was very unfair to her to feel less than a person because of her weight. It was unfair to have to sit there on that field and miss out on playing with other children because her feelings were hurt. I myself was hurt and imagined myself as that child who was bullied because I was considered a “cry baby”. I now know that I was just highly sensitive. I did not stand up for myself when I was younger. When I was talking to the girl bully that was probably the little girl inside of me finally defending herself. The bully will have to change in this scenario because she has to learn how her words can affect others feelings. I as a teacher had to teach that to the bully.

Is Intelligence Genetic?

           I was at work and my boss (white) said something that shocked me. She thinks intelligence is genetic. Now at first this statement did not bother me. However, once I thought about it I related the statement to the past slave owners and supporters of Jim Crow laws back in the United States history. When there was a nation of slaves that were forbidden to read or write whites thought we were unintelligent. However, it was our environment that caused blacks to appear unintelligent. However, a lot of inventions that blacks did not get credit for were out of intelligence of black people. Fast forward to today, a large percentage of our black children are reading below their grade level. Why? It is not because of a lack of intelligence gene. It is because of the education system not conducive to how a lot of black children learn. Everyone has a form of intelligence that is a skill that each individual has developed. We could be intelligent in medicine, mechanics, farming, teaching, engineering, etc. What is a person mostly interested in and passionate about? That could be their intelligence once developed (Runston & Jensen, 2005).          

Runston, J & Jensen. A. (2005).Thirty Years of Research on Race Differences and Cognitive Ability. Retrieved from https://www1.udel.edu/.../30years/Rushton-Jensen30years.pdf

Culture and Diversity

According to Debra, culture is the traditions, values, and the way of life. Debra pretty much summed up the same definition I would have come up with. Janet Gonzlez-Mena takes it a bit further by defining culture as rules that are made up as we grow that makes us diverse with so many different perspectives of life. However, culture can go much deeper because culture can be made up of individual characteristics and experiences of that particular person’s life.

Debra’s definition of diversity is what make us different as people. I can see her point of view of diversity. For example, this country is full of diversity. We all come from different walks of life that maybe different from our own. People might say we are a country that is a melting pot but actually we are a tossed salad because we tend to keep our identity such as a tomato or a cucumber. However, we are tossed around in the same bowel influencing each other taste and texture (Evans, 2009). Diversity is often looked at by what race, ethnic group, gender, age abilities, social class, etc. We can categorize ourselves through these characteristics of diversity.

Considering the racial tension that has been going on today, this is one aspect that has been omitted because people did not want to talk about the division of race especially between blacks and whites. Racism has been forced to be discussed and to open the dialogue between two races of people in order to hopefully seek understanding. For example, Alston Sterling, Philando Castille, and police officers have been shot and killed because of this verbal omission (Donella, 2016).

After asking about the different definitions of culture and diversity, I now can see its importance in my job. Parents have different views and traditions that are important to them. We as educators have to respect that.

  

Donella, L. (2016).Two Days, Two Deaths: The Police Shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/07/07/485078670/two-days-two-deaths-the-police-shootings-of-alton-sterling-and-philando-castile

Evans, J. (2009). America as Melting Pot? We’re Really More of a Tossed Salad. Rerieved from http://www.ethicsdaily.com/america-as-melting-pot-were-really-more-of-a-tossed-salad-cms-14446