The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

            I experienced prejudice during the first few months of high school in France.  The teachers knew I was previously in a school in Saudi Arabia so they assumed that I was not fluent in French.  They always talked to me in simple words even though I always assured them that I understood what they meant.  That made me feel terrible especially as a teenager in high school; I felt intellectually inferior and that I always had to prove to the teachers that I was capable of completing assignments.  I felt that equity was diminished because I was not treated according to my individual needs; the teachers could not put their prejudice aside in order to take my personal needs into consideration. 

            In order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity; I think teachers would have to change by listen to their students more carefully.  I would have probably felt more confident if my teachers put their prejudices aside and listened to what I needed from them.  I believe that teachers need to pay attention to each one of their students’ individual needs in order to achieve equity.  Each student is unique and comes from a different background and culture; therefore each student has individual needs in order to succeed academically. 

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

One microaggression that happened recently was in my classroom with the students.  A group of boys were playing with animals and a girl came and tried to start playing with them.  One of the boys told her she couldn’t play because she wouldn’t understand what game they were playing.  She felt that because she was a girl she didn’t know how to play the “right” way.  I explained to the children that there was no right or wrong way of playing, that we could all play in our own way. 

Microaggressions happen very often to many people; however, they usually avoid talking about them because they involve friends or colleagues.  People practice discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes regularly without noticing because of their biases.  This week’s observations have affected me because I am more aware of the negative effects of microaggressions.  I am motivated to pay more attention to what I say in order not to hurt anyone's feelings; I am also motivated to teach my students to pay more attention to their friends' feelings and to be careful not to hurt them with words.  Children need to learn to put their biases aside while talking to their friends.  This can be done by teaching the children about each other's differences and how these differences can become benefits. 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

The definitions of culture I have received from friends and family refer to the different nationalities, religions, ethnicities, and native languages people speak.  Other friends only defined culture as people’s way of life, such as values and traditions. 

Diversity was described as a combination of different cultures in one community.  It refers to different cultures living together and sharing knowledge and ideas. 

            The answers I have received only include the major aspects of culture and diversity; and the examples of culture only describe surface culture, such as foods and costumes.  Moreover, culture can be different within one family; actually a second generation of immigrants usually acquires some of the aspects of the dominant culture. 

            Thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity made me realize that each person thinks about culture differently and also talks about it differently.  People have different perceptions about diversity and some of them consider it as a benefit and a new source of knowledge.  

My Family Culture

If I had to choose three items to take with me in case of evacuation, I would choose three things that are most important to me.  The first thing would be my Quran that I’ve had with me since I was young.  It keeps me close to my religion and culture.   The second item would be a picture album of my family.   Actually I haven’t been able to go to Syria to see my family in three years and having their pictures close is very important to me.  The last item I would choose is Arabic coffee.  We have Arabic coffee several times a day and especially during special occasions; it is an essential part of our culture.

If I was told that I could only keep one personal item I would be devastated.  Actually I take my Quran with me whenever I travel so it would be very hard for me to leave it behind.  I also feel like I need to keep pictures of my family with me for moral support and as a reminder of my culture. 

Since I don’t live in my country of origin, I feel like I’ve always had these items with me whenever I travelled or moved.  This exercise helped me learn that religion and family are my main source of emotional support and that I always go back to them during difficult times; I feel that they are essential for my well-being. 

            

When I Think of Research...

            This course has provided me with valuable information about conducting research.  I have learned a lot about choosing a topic, stating a research question and a hypothesis, and choosing between a qualitative and a quantitative research. 

I have always wanted to conduct a research and this course taught me the steps to take in order to carry it out successfully.  I always thought that doing research would be overwhelming and very challenging; however, the research simulation showed me that with the right knowledge and tools I would be able to conduct a successful and informative research.

  This course has also helped me design a research by selecting methods, participants, data validity, and ethics.

One of the challenges I encountered was narrowing my research topic.  I think that a professional research needs to have a specific research question.  I tried to choose a specific research topic and question in order to be able to conduct a detailed study and obtain related data.  This would help me provide the best results. 

This course has helped me realize that an early childhood professional has the responsibility to conduct research in order to allow the field to keep growing.  Each early childhood professional has different perceptions of children development; therefore each childhood professional can contribute to the field in a different way.  This will allow professionals to learn from each other in order to benefit the children; which is the ultimate goal of all early childhood professionals.