Welcoming Families From Around the World

The name of “your” family’s country of origin

I chose the country Korea.

At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family

I am working in a high quality program. There is not much to do, as I get ready to meet the new child and her parents from Korea. The classroom is already set up to meet the needs of any child regardless of who they are, where they are from or what handicap they may have. My preparation would be to ask some of her new classmates to work with her (the child’s name is Kim Sun) and show her around the room. The child and her family will meet the staff at the front office. I will show them the kitchen and let them meet the cook and his/her staff. They will meet the head custodian so if they need help with something they know he is part of our staff too. The parents will get to see the outside playground area where the children get to play when they go outside. I feel the biggest goal is to make them feel welcome and comfortable. I have to establish a relationship that is pleasant and warm. I want the parents to see that I have respect for them and their language, culture and their ways of living.

A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family. The goal is for my coworkers and I to offer the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical (both fine and gross motor) skills that will foster healthy growth and development for Kim Sun.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I watch this movie called Band of Angels a few days ago. Think back 1957, slavery, plantations, plantation owner, and the Civil War.Civil War Civil War The movie has a great cast: Raoul Walsh. Clark Gable, Yvonne De Carlo, Sidney Poitier, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr, Patric Knowles. The movie begins with a little girl (Amantha "Manty" Starr) sitting at the foot of her mother’s grave. The grave is close to the main house. She questions her father (a kindly plantation owner Aaron Starr) about it and he tells her your mother likes it here. Manty wants to know but why not on the hill with the others, in which he tells her never you mind. She is getting ready to go to finishing school. Fast-forward… Manty is home because of the death of her father. She wants to know why is is grave on the hill and not down there with her mother’s? Raoul Walsh. Clark Gable, Yvonne De Carlo, Sidney Poitier, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr, Patric Knowles During the funeral, she finds out that her mother was one of her father’s slaves and her father was in debt, in which she is now a slave and to be sold to pay off that debt.

This woman was devastated to find out that she was no longer white, but a slave with nothing. How did I feel when she found out she was a slave? I felt sorry for her. She had been living the life of a norm. She was in finishing school. People respected her, and treated nice, kind and equal. Within a blink of the eye, she become a Negro, with no respect, no nice and kind treatment. She was pushed and shoved just like the other slaves. Her father name meant nothing to anyone.

 

This movie shows us how we can be one thing today and another tomorrow. If her father had told her the truth about her mother when she was a little girl, she would have never gone to school and lived as the whites did. She did get to see firsthand how it feels to lose it all.

It would be nice to have some of the ancestors who still believe it should be that way, have all of their live pull out from in front of them and have to live the opposite for a while. I do not thing they would last a day. These are my thoughts, just my opinion.

Sandra

Reference

Warner Bros. 1957   Band of Angels, Jul 10, 1957 Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. United States

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I remember a few years ago when I was working with a high school back as a volunteer, how microaggression would show its ugly head whenever I would allow it to be. The band director, Mr. D. was a great over the top band man. We worked so well together. The parents would sometimes say we were like a old married couple, went he and I would not agree on something and we would get some what loud while in his office with the door shut.

I worked with the colorguard and I just about fell over one night at practice when a parent came out to the field and said to me, “they are in there talking about you. He is in there with them and he is not saying anything in your defense. They are saying the colorguard would have their routine if those two black women were not helping them”. These same people tell me what a great job I was doing. My first thoughts were to show them my color by going inside and get into it with them. My next thought was how could they say this, they seem to be nice people. We all were getting along. I hurt inside only because he did not say anything in my defense. I still had to work with him.

 I did nothing until practice was over. I went to his office, closed the door and told him “what you see is what you get. I was not black when we talked about me working with you. My name has not change and neither has the color of my skin. If you have a problem with it let me know right now so I can make my decision on what I need to do”. I was kind of close to him, not quite in his face but I did take up some of his space. He looked at me, told me to back up so he could get a drink out of the fridge, asked me if I wanted one because I looked hot, and then said, “We need to work on getting the kids ready for the next band contest. I need you to help me with setting up stuff. The children don’t know yet but I want to make this an overnight trip”.  Need I say more?

I see these things (discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes) are alive and working well in all of us. I know I may step on someone toes here. The reason I say this is that we do not worship, live, or vote together. I feel if we as a society can ever come together, be true to ourselves first, and stop telling the lies about not having these feelings inside us, we may be able to get along. This world would change for the better. This is just my opinion.

Sandra

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I asked my mom about culture and she blew me aways with her answer.  I thought she would talk about the things like costumes, festivals, and food. She talked my grandma and the values and morals that she still tries to live by today. She said my grandfather made them go to church every Sunday. No one ever stayed home. She mentioned working in the fields, how they stayed cool under the pecan tree when it was hot like it is now. Diversity to her is when we all, (my family) come together to eat and enjoy each other company.

My friend Virginia who is also my classmate from high school laugh at me because she said ‘girl you know we are like night and day when it comes to culture. She told me about church, (we are both Baptist) but her culture does not say in there all day. The food we eat is so different. She does like greens, okra, and neck-bones and rice though. I had to laugh on that. Her answer to diversity is the different people she works with. Her co-workers are from all over the world.

I learned about surface culture and deep culture this week. Surface culture is all about what we see on the outside or what is on top. Food, costumes, festivals, photos and artifacts are the material things that people hold close to them. My mom and Virginia talked about the deep culture, what is inside of each of us. It is our ways of doing things. Mom tells of going to church every Sunday. Virginia talking about the difference in time each of us spent in church. Diversity is left out because I believe that culture is just that, and it is what we have to respect when it comes to other children and their families.

My Family Culture

A description of the three items you would choose

I would take my Bible because God is first in my life. I know who I am. My culture is inside of me. I do have material things I want to bring, but they are not of my culture. My sister is my rock. She keeps me and helps me when I feel like I am losing grounds. My dogs are my babies. I would never leave them anywhere. I love them too much.

How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you

Because my family is diverse, my sister who can speak several languages will be the one to explain how much these items mean to me if the people do not speak my language.

Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you

I much speak to your leader. I would have to leave. There is no way that I am going to part with them. I would lose it. I really would lose it. This is a scary thought for me. I have so much that I would lose by letting go of these items. Take me to the next thing smoking on its way out of it.

Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise.

Materials things are more important at times like these. I learn about whom I am and what I need to survive if this would happen to me. The most important thing is that my culture is not material, something that is on a piece of paper. My culture is inside of me. It is what I have been taught since I was was a little bitty baby. It follows me where every I go.