This week's topic and materials has been a real eye-opener for me. I have been amazed at the amount of microaggressions that are in my environment! I wanted to find out if the children in my environment were experiencing as much microaggression as the adults seemed to be so I observed the school-age summer camp program at my center.
Sadly, it seems our children are experiencing microaggression and I don't think the children that are being offensive realize what they are saying. I watched a friendly dodge ball game between 6 children in the summer camp at my center. The group consisted of 4 girls and 2 boys with 2 girls and 1 boy being on each team. Every time that one little girl in group 1 would hit someone with the ball and score, the boy on her team would say, "Alright, not too bad for a girl!" He said this EVERY time. At first the little girl did not say anything, but she would roll her eyes, frown, shake her head, etc. After about the sixth time of him yelling this she turned and said, "At least God made me a girl, not just a boy who wears purple!" I almost fell down I was so shocked at her comment. I was saddened by the insults from both children. The teacher repeatedly said things like, "OK, that is not nice", "if you can't say something nice...", etc. but never really addressed the behavior and microaggressions from either child. At the end of the day I talked with the teacher and we decided that we really need to design some lessons and activities to help these children understand that their remarks and behavior are not acceptable and hurtful.
I have always known that adults can be bias and hurtful but I did not realize how much of this behavior is being absorbed and learned by children. I have always tried to make my center a safe place and a place where all people are accepted. I was shocked and outraged by this behavior and the lack of skills that my summer camp leader had to deal with the situation. I realize that even thought we do a lot of training for our staff that it must not be effective and I need to re-think how to help all our staff recognize bias behavior and effectively handle situations like the one I observed.
Thanks for reading!
Monette
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Perspectives on Diversity and Culture
I really enjoyed this assignment as I love to talk with people and find out more about their ideas and views. My conversations are summarized below.
Person 1: She is a new teacher at my center and she is has only been in our country for 2 years. She believes that culture is the way you dress, talk, treat your family, and includes your religious beliefs and family values. She believes that diversity is when others accept you for who you are and you accept them for who they are.
Person 2: He is a father in our program who recently got out of prison. He believes that culture means what race you are, how much money you have, where you live, the people you hang out with, what holidays you celebrate, and how your family is seen by others. I am not sure that he understood when I asked him about diversity but after a brief conversation he stated that everyone is different and that's okay because we are not supposed to all be the same.
Person 3: She is a fourteen-year old girl who is the daughter of a close friend. She stated that culture is everything about us. It can mean the food we eat, where we live, who we marry, how much money we have, if we go to church, and if we go to college. She stated that diversity is how people learn to get along even though we are all different. She also stated that at her school most people are not the same so she doesn't see what the big deal is about people being different and why adults have a hard time getting along.
I found it interesting that I got so many different answers. Some of the responses alluded to surface culture, such as food and holidays, but most of the answers were related to deep culture, such as values, education, religion, and living arrangements. I most enjoyed talking with the fourteen-year old and am excited that she has such an openness to others and recognizes that adults sometimes have a hard time accepting people that are of a different culture. I believe that awareness of these differences is a very important key to learning to accept others.
Reflecting on my conversations with these 3 people about culture and diversity I have realized that my definition of culture and diversity is steadily growing. I am finding myself thinking more about deep culture issues and how they affect my relationships with others and how my previous definition of culture and diversity was definitely superficial.
Person 1: She is a new teacher at my center and she is has only been in our country for 2 years. She believes that culture is the way you dress, talk, treat your family, and includes your religious beliefs and family values. She believes that diversity is when others accept you for who you are and you accept them for who they are.
Person 2: He is a father in our program who recently got out of prison. He believes that culture means what race you are, how much money you have, where you live, the people you hang out with, what holidays you celebrate, and how your family is seen by others. I am not sure that he understood when I asked him about diversity but after a brief conversation he stated that everyone is different and that's okay because we are not supposed to all be the same.
Person 3: She is a fourteen-year old girl who is the daughter of a close friend. She stated that culture is everything about us. It can mean the food we eat, where we live, who we marry, how much money we have, if we go to church, and if we go to college. She stated that diversity is how people learn to get along even though we are all different. She also stated that at her school most people are not the same so she doesn't see what the big deal is about people being different and why adults have a hard time getting along.
I found it interesting that I got so many different answers. Some of the responses alluded to surface culture, such as food and holidays, but most of the answers were related to deep culture, such as values, education, religion, and living arrangements. I most enjoyed talking with the fourteen-year old and am excited that she has such an openness to others and recognizes that adults sometimes have a hard time accepting people that are of a different culture. I believe that awareness of these differences is a very important key to learning to accept others.
Reflecting on my conversations with these 3 people about culture and diversity I have realized that my definition of culture and diversity is steadily growing. I am finding myself thinking more about deep culture issues and how they affect my relationships with others and how my previous definition of culture and diversity was definitely superficial.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
My Family Culture
Hello Everyone!
It has taken me a very long time to write this blog because I just could not decide what 3 things to take with me in the case of a catastrophic event. Finally, I narrowed it down!
The first thing that I would take would be my guitar. It's not really small, but maybe it would be allowed. Music has always been a huge part of my family's culture and I cannot imagine being without my guitar. I would take my acoustic guitar because it is really special to me. When my sons were teenagers, I had to sell my guitar to basically eat while going through my divorce. I had owned the guitar since I was 12 and it was a gift from my father, but you do what you have to do to feed your kids. I never told talked to my boys about why I sold the guitar and they never asked me about it. Well, 6 years ago, the boys surprised me with a brand new acoustic guitar for Christmas and it is one of my most prized possessions. All of my boys are musicians too and it has long been our custom to have Sunday supper together and then play some tunes. We also regularly sing together in church. When we take family vacations, there are always guitars on board. If my family had to be relocated I would want to keep this custom alive for it has brought me much joy and happiness and facilitates a closeness with my sons that is irreplaceable.
The second thing that I would take would be my family scrapbook. I would want to be able to look back on past pictures and family events and try to keep the memories of our family alive. In 1998 I lost everything that I owned in a fire (except my guitar, which was in my car, and 2 pairs of running shoes which were in my office at work) and the thing that I missed the most were my pictures. My sisters were awesome and actually called all of my family and friends and gathered as many family pictures and other memorabilia as possible and made me a family scrapbook. It is one of the most precious gifts I have ever received, especially the pictures of me and my Daddy who passed away in 1996.
The third thing that I would take would be my Bible. I would want to be able to continue to read and study God's word daily and a lot of areas of the world do not allow Bibles or they are not readily available. My faith is a huge part of my life and I would want to be able to share it with my family and with others if at all possible.
If I could only bring one thing I think it would have to be my guitar. I have God's word in my heart and I hope that He would provide with another Bible in the new place. I would miss my scrapbook terribly but my guitar would help me keep my sanity, keep me connected to my family, and provide much needed stress relief!
The insight that I have gained through this exercise is that all of my favorite things are related to family relationships in some way. It's not the "things" that mean so much to me, but the way that they are used within my family. I really enjoyed this exercise and look forward to learning more about my classmates as I read about their 3 items.
Thanks for reading!
Monette
It has taken me a very long time to write this blog because I just could not decide what 3 things to take with me in the case of a catastrophic event. Finally, I narrowed it down!
The first thing that I would take would be my guitar. It's not really small, but maybe it would be allowed. Music has always been a huge part of my family's culture and I cannot imagine being without my guitar. I would take my acoustic guitar because it is really special to me. When my sons were teenagers, I had to sell my guitar to basically eat while going through my divorce. I had owned the guitar since I was 12 and it was a gift from my father, but you do what you have to do to feed your kids. I never told talked to my boys about why I sold the guitar and they never asked me about it. Well, 6 years ago, the boys surprised me with a brand new acoustic guitar for Christmas and it is one of my most prized possessions. All of my boys are musicians too and it has long been our custom to have Sunday supper together and then play some tunes. We also regularly sing together in church. When we take family vacations, there are always guitars on board. If my family had to be relocated I would want to keep this custom alive for it has brought me much joy and happiness and facilitates a closeness with my sons that is irreplaceable.
The second thing that I would take would be my family scrapbook. I would want to be able to look back on past pictures and family events and try to keep the memories of our family alive. In 1998 I lost everything that I owned in a fire (except my guitar, which was in my car, and 2 pairs of running shoes which were in my office at work) and the thing that I missed the most were my pictures. My sisters were awesome and actually called all of my family and friends and gathered as many family pictures and other memorabilia as possible and made me a family scrapbook. It is one of the most precious gifts I have ever received, especially the pictures of me and my Daddy who passed away in 1996.
The third thing that I would take would be my Bible. I would want to be able to continue to read and study God's word daily and a lot of areas of the world do not allow Bibles or they are not readily available. My faith is a huge part of my life and I would want to be able to share it with my family and with others if at all possible.
If I could only bring one thing I think it would have to be my guitar. I have God's word in my heart and I hope that He would provide with another Bible in the new place. I would miss my scrapbook terribly but my guitar would help me keep my sanity, keep me connected to my family, and provide much needed stress relief!
The insight that I have gained through this exercise is that all of my favorite things are related to family relationships in some way. It's not the "things" that mean so much to me, but the way that they are used within my family. I really enjoyed this exercise and look forward to learning more about my classmates as I read about their 3 items.
Thanks for reading!
Monette
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