Welcoming Families From Around the World

For this blog assignment the following scenario was given:

You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

The country of origin that my hypothetical family is from Laos. For this assignment, I will take on the role of an early intervention evaluator.

Five ways in which I could prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family include the following:

1. I would first want to educate myself on the part of the county the family is coming from. In doing so my goal would be to learn about the general area of the world they have been living.

2. I would educate myself on the different customs which are prevalent within that area of the world so that I could have and understanding of how the family celebrates special occasions, holidays and even what their living arrangements might be.

3. Learning about what their potential communication styles will be especially important so that I don't offend them by accident or become offended by the manner in which they communicate with me.

4. Understanding the way education and special education is addressed within their country will be very important as well. Discovering whether or not is valued significantly or if having child with special needs is something which is considered disgraceful or unacceptable will help me understand the perspective from which the family is coming.

5. Reviewing the evaluation materials which will be present for the testing session is something else that I could do to ensure that the child feels represented within the books/activities. Although, most evaluation books which have pictures have a representation children with many different ethnic backgrounds, it will be important to include toys/manipulatives that the child can relate to, to help them feel comfortable.

I would hope that by making these preparations I would be better able to serve this child and their family. My ultimate goal would be to provide an environment where the child would feel safe and free to express their cultural identity. I would also strive to create a trusting relationship with the child's family, one that is built on mutual respect and understanding. My hope would be that the family would feel as though they are free to share their priorities regarding their child's education as well as know that they are a valuable member on their child's educational team.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

Recently, I sadly experienced an incident of bias and prejudice aimed at one of the children that I was working with. I had completed an assessment of a child who was almost 3 with a diagnosis of William's Syndrome. The evaluation/IEP team recommended that the little boy attend a specialized preschool classroom through our Intermediate Unit, run by a special education teacher, speech therapist and occupational therapist. I took the family to the classroom so that they could visit and meet the staff prior to their son beginning services. When we entered the classroom, the teacher took one look at the child and turned to me and said he should be in a different class and that he wouldn't fit in with the group. I was stunned and appalled by her statement and instant judgement based on what the child looked like. After all we work in special education, we are specially trained to work with children who have a multitude of different delays and disabilities. She had not received the child's IEP nor did she have the opportunity to read his evaluation report. To say that I was angry, would be an understatement. I'm sure that I turned bright red (because that is just what my fair Welsh skin does at any sign of emotion) and I could not overt my glare from this teacher. I spoke to the family and reassured them that it was an appropriate placement for their son and that I thought he would make progress there. The teacher and I had a few back and forth exchanges and I did my best to keep it professional. The teacher finally said that she would talk to our supervisor and get the placement changed…..to which I responded….that the supervisor was the one who gave me this placement in the first place. After I escorted the family out of the building, I promptly called our supervisor and explained what happened and she followed up appropriately with the teacher in the classroom regarding her inappropriate and judgmental comments.

This child's needed a program which would provide him with a structured predictable routine that would offer frequent repetitions of skills. He needed an environment with substantial communication support and opportunities to be with children who are verbal. The teacher in this situation wanted him moved to a morning session, where verbal models would not be present. By making a recommendation solely based on looking at this child, the teacher instantly diminished the parents hope that their child would attend a school that accepted him for exactly who he is. To talk/write about the incident still gets me very upset, not only for the injustice which occurred toward the child, but also for how hurt the parents were because of this teacher's carelessness and insensitivity. I was also extremely embarrassed, as I had built a rapport with the family and reassured them that he will be in good hands while in one of our classrooms… and in one sentence this teacher washed away the trusting relationship our team had established with this family. If I were this family I would not have sent my child to that classroom (a point I made clear to my supervisor). However, I am happy to report, that the family did agree to start the child in that classroom and he is making steady progress there.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

I think that it's important to mention that microaggression occur in many relationships we have within our lives. One aggression that I was on the receiving end occurred when another mother (and a long-time friend of mine) made a comment regarding her son's soccer team and then made a subsequent comment about the league that my son plays in. Her comment conveyed a message, that because she lives outside the city of Philadelphia, Pa (and I live in more rural area of state), that her son was in a better and more competitive league. She did not know that we are all a part of a similar league and shared the same experience. (Which I was quick and a little too defensively inform her of). It took me awhile to shake the statements she made because it brought up other statements she has made in the past which were also unintentionally hurtful and were made in a comparative way regarding the areas in which we live. So when Dr. Sue, made the comment this week during the video about how cumulative microaggressions could be, I definitely could relate to that statement.

Learning more about microaggressions and the different contexts in which they occur has made me more observant during the conversations that I am a part of, as well as, the conversations which are occurring around me. It has also made me think about the stereotypes and biases I have, and has made me much from sensitive to them. Especially, when engaged in dialogues with my own children.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu