Welcoming Families From Around the World

I am a preschool educator and my director has just notified me that I will be receiving a new student who is from the country of Jamaica. The student and her family speak very little English and have never been included in a predominantly all English speaking classroom setting. My director has told me that I have one week to prepare myself and classroom environment to assist with making the child and her family feel welcome and comfortable.

The first way to prepare would be to contact my close friend Tucker who is from Jamaica. I would like to learn from him what to expect and what should I do to make my new student and her family feel comfortable.  I would study the country of Jamaica to learn more about the culture and the characteristics, learning styles, and any other important information that will assist me with the transition of the child and her family.

 The second way to prepare would be to inform my current students and staff of the new student and family. They should also be prepared to welcome the new student and her family. Preparing them will eliminate the need for many questions or stereotypes that may surface when the child arrives. Knowledge of the culture will have already been discussed before hand.  

The third way to prepare would be to make sure that my classroom environment reflects the culture of the child. It is important that the child and her family see that we respect their culture and respect the diversity of their culture.

The fourth way to prepare is to prepare an individualized plan for this student due to her limited experience in a classroom of a different culture and language. If possible, I would ask my director if there are any aides that do speak the child’s home language to assist with the language barrier. If not, I would at least try to learn a few of the basic words in Jamaican from Tucker so that I can be able to communicate with the child and family.

The fifth way to prepare is to review the child’s file to learn more about the child and the child’s family structure. It is important to know if whether or not the child has any special needs, illnesses, disabilities, and whether or not the family is a single family home or if both parents are involved. As an advocate, it is my responsibility to make sure that the child and her family receives the necessary links that will make their transition easier. I can assist with lining up community resources to assist with the family’s transition to the country. Maybe the family can use assistance with employment, medical attention, health insurance, and other referrals.

All the preparations that are made are in hopes that the entire transition of my new student and family is well. In every way I hope that the preparations will help me as the new teacher to be more understanding of the child, her culture, and her family composition. I believe that with the necessary preparations, the transition of the child and family will be smooth, the students and the staff will know what to expect, and I will have a general knowledge of how to be culturally responsive to my new student and her family.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression?

Over the years I have seen many slavery movies that share the documentaries of how slaves were treated unjust because of their race and/or culture. The movie “Roots”, written by Alex Haley, is a well know film that shares the life of many African’s who were captured and taken from Africa and sold into slavery. The movie share how African’s were treated as uncivilized humans, torn away from their families, beaten and hanged for not obeying their masters, and woman and young girls raped and abused. Recently, my husband and I watched the newly released movie about Nelson Mandela. The movie shares the life and ministry of Nelson Mandela and how he fought for the native rights of the people of his country. Both movies are very interesting and give the viewer an inside peek of the entire heart ache and pain that people of color had to endure in their lives. It is so awful to know that individuals are disliked, discriminated against, abused, threatened, and tortured for no apparent reason other than they are not the "same" as the majority or have a different color skin tone. The most recent event that I witnessed was of a co-worker who received a bias or prejudice remark from one of the parents at our childcare center. The parent addressed my co-worker as the ‘Mexican Lady” instead of addressing her by her first name. Not only did the parent do it once, but she did it twice without giving it any thought. When the incident was brought to our supervisor’s attention, she asked my co-worker to introduce herself by her first name the next time the parent was to come in contact with her. Well, my co-worker did just that and the parent totally ignored her and again addressed her as the “Mexican Lady”.   

 

In what ways did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?

Equity was immediately diminished once the parent addressed my co-worker as the “Mexican Lady”. If the parent did not know the name of the employee, she could have introduced herself and then asked the teacher what her name was. It isn’t fair for anyone to be called a name other than their given name. I am sure that the parent is not called the “Black Lady, or Caucasian Lady, or Chinese Lady in her work settings. What really surprised me in this incident is the fact that the supervisor never spoke with this parent regarding her actions. As the administration, I believe that this patent should have been addressed about what she had said not once but twice. I believe that morals, values, and equity are no longer in many childcare centers. It seems that it is more about childcare spaces being filled and money to be made. Who knows this woman may be still walking around offending other teachers and committing microagressions. This type of mannerism needs to be put to an end. Employees as well as children and families in child care settings should feel safe and secure in their environments. As long as behaviors such as are ignored, more and more people are at risk of becoming the next target or victim of racism and/or microaggressio.

What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

When my co-worker mentioned what had happened to her I was speechless. I immediately told her to speak with our supervisor but apparently that led to a dead end. My emotions and feelings were all over the place. Actually I had taken it personal even though I was not a part of the incident. It also made to think about how important it is that during parent orientations, parents should be made aware of how they are to respect the employees just as the employees are to respect the children and their families. Most childcare centers have a notification of parent rights as well as a notification of personal rights as parents. I believe that there should also be a notice of employee rights that parents must adhere to as well. I have worked in many childcare centers were the teachers felt inferior of their students parents. Sometimes parents are rude and treat teachers as babysitters and not as their child educator. This type of misunderstanding or behavior should be stopped.

What and/or who would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity?

First of all I believe that it is the responsibility of the centers administration to address these types of incidents as soon as they arise. It is unfair and unjust to have made the teacher or employee deal with the parent on that level. Childcare center should address issues related to rights of employees and respect of employees at the beginning of the school year so that incidents such as won’t happen. A few years ago my son attended a private school. There was many different staff that played different roles in the day-to-day operations of the school. Each parent and their children were taught to address each and any staff as “Coach”. I thought that this was very nice and there was no room for mispronunciation of first or last names. It taught the children to respect their educators when addressing them. I personally like it! All changes to turn opportunities into greater equity must start with leadership within organizations. Once leadership is in order, all else will fall into place accordingly.     

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Well, the microaggression that I witnessed was committed by myself. It has happened nearly every month for the past couple of months. Not until this week did I consciously understand what I have been doing to one of my parents. Each month I have one mother who always asks for a monthly newsletter. She always claims that I did not give her a newsletter when I know that I have. Normally when this mother approaches me about the newsletter I always blink my eyes in disbelief. I have discovered that my actions are a form of micoraggression. I am not only insulting this mother but I am disrespecting this mother as a parent.

When I learned that I was committing microaggression, I felt absolutely horrible. The mother has a learning disability and she has never stated that I have offended her but I know she must have felt offended one time or another. I now understand that I did not respond in a professional manner and it was not a good reflection of the agency that I work for.

My witnessing the microaggression has encouraged me to be mindful of the rights of others especially parents. It is my responsibility to help this mother whether she is able or not able to keep up with certain classroom paperwork. This experience has made me re-evaluate more closely about how my interactions are with my parents. I immediately did a self-evaluation and discovered that there is room for improvement. Microaggression is so similar to discrimination, prejudice, and stereotyping. It’s in the form of treating an individual differently based on their ability, sex, color, and/or religion.

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