Microaggression in Social Media

I had a working lunch this week with colleagues (two early ed specialists with our local state funded preschool programs and one quality consultant with Michigan's rating system).  I picked the location- my favorite Mexican restaurant.  As we pulled into the parking lot we realized there would be no fajitas for lunch: county deputies were escorting Federal agents as they removed boxes of evidence from the restaurant.

I quickly texted my husband; he and our youngest daughter (6) are borderline obsessed with this restaurant.  The waiters have our orders memorized, and our daughter has gotten quite good at placing her order in Spanish and answering the waiters' questions with "si" and "gracias".  Once at home, I posted the bad news on Facebook.

Many friends commented and expressed their huge disappointment.  Two friends- family, actually- made sure to make some comments that were meant to be humerous, but were, in fact, examples of microagression.

Now, I would agree that this actually crosses the line from microagression to strait-up prejudice.  However, it is a good example of how someone attempts to be funny and ends up making an all-together inappropriate statement, and it makes me uncomfortable to see these kind of comments on my Facebook wall.

Keeping my eye open for microagressions helped me become more aware of the number of comments being made at all times.  I am usually quite sensitive to these types of comments, but watching for them allowed me to put myself in the shoes of members of many different groups in order to discover how it feels to be bombarded with them.  Not a pleasant energy at all.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I interviewed three acquaintances this week and asked them:
 1.)  What is your definition of culture?
 2.)  What is your definition of diversity?

Here are the responses I received:

The sister:  "Culture is a person's background- their race, history, and religion.  Diversity is the differences between all of us.  All of our different races, histories, religions, etc."

The friend:  "My culture is the language I speak and the country my family came from.  Or countries, I guess.  My diversity is all of the different ways I do things and think about things because of my culture."

The colleague:  "Culture comes from our family's background.  Diversity is the collective cultures across a population."

I appreciate the responses I received and recognize similarities between these responses and the definitions I've encountered in my reading.  For example, my colleague's definition of culture as including the background of a family (which encompasses many things) supports what I've learned in this course.

All of the responses are fairly broad and leave out mentions of sexual orientation, family structure, work, socio-economic status, and other details of deep culture.

Reflecting on these responses has taught me that even our definitions of culture are diverse! 

My Family Culture

"A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture."

I suppose my three items would be:
1.  Teacup from my great-great grandmother's china set
2.  A photograph of our home
3.  A cook book full of family recipes

If asked to explain these items, I would say that the teacup is a piece of English china that was used by my Cornish great-great grandmother.  It is important to me because it represents my connection to Cornwall as well as my connection to the women in my family (not to mention the ever-important ritual of drinking tea).  The photograph of our home would represent and demonstrate our home as the center of our lives and the stage for living out our family culture.  The cook book would contain recipes for scones, Cornish pasties, Tuna Pie, and other family favorites that have roots in our family cultures and traditions.

If I could only keep one item, it would probably be the photo of our home.  If the photo could somehow contain enough detail, many elements of our family culture and history could be seen from the way we live and the items we display at home.

What an incredibly difficult, almost impossible decision!  Apparently, I don't have many cultural symbols in my life!  I found that it was hard to boil our family culture down to three items.  I also found that I was selfish and self-centered in choosing; I'm not sure these items represent my husband's family culture as well as mine.  Mostly, I see this exercise as a demonstration of how invisible our family culture may be amongst all of our possessions.  I try to overtly demonstrate our Celtic heritage, including Irish, Cornish, and Scottish, in our home (we have framed maps displayed, Scottish art, Irish lore, Celtic books, etc.) but "three small items" didn't give me the opportunity to pack all of these things.  A very hard thing to think about!

Research Reflection

This course has allowed me to gain certain insights into research practice in the early childhood field.  One insight includes a new understanding of the process of planning and preparation that allows a researcher to design a study.  I've also been able to experience this process through our research simulation, allowing me to experience the process first hand.

My ideas about the nature of doing research have changed to some extent throughout this course.  If nothing else, I have gained a respect for the professionals who are constructing and carrying out the pertinent research that is guiding practice in our field.  One thing I have learned during this course is that it takes a very specific type of brain to be able see the world through the design, activity, and analysis of research!

I have learned about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood.  One lesson I learned is that attention to detail is key.  I have learned that any research involving human subjects is complex and warrants considerations on many levels.

One challenge I encountered during this course was tackling the technical terms.  The weekly charts helped me learn the terms.

One way my perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course is in gaining an understanding of the process that shapes the practices and information we use in the field.  Understanding how research findings come about is an important part of being an early childhood professional.

Research Around the World

I recently visited EECERA.com ~ the website for the European Early Childhood Education Research Association.  This is the research resource I've been looking for!  The searchable library of the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal contains back issues full of highly useful research analysis. 

One topic in the journal library that caught my eye was play.  Other topics from the current issue include teacher education, leadership and management, diversity, culture, and language, as well as something called polyvocal ethnography, which I will have to read up on ;)

An insight I gained by browsing the EECERA website is a renewed understanding of the wonderful global and diverse perspective that seems to be more pervasive in non-US organizations.  I look forward to revisiting the issue on play as I write a curriculum for a workshop I am teaching later in October in order to add a more diverse dimension to my materials.

One other noteworthy piece of information I discovered is an article titled "Digital play in the early years: a contextual response to the problem of integrating technologies and play-based pedagogies in the early childhood curriculum".  I wish I would have discovered this article during the initial phases of my research simulation- I look forward to reading it in order to build on my understanding of current research in the area of technology use in early childhood education and development.

What Would I Research?

If I possessed the means and the knowledge to conduct research studies about any topic in the early childhood field, and was not restricted by the reality of the present, what topic would I choose? What would the positive contributions would be?

I would like to compare and contrast high quality care settings.  I wonder which setting is the best for the whole child's development.  I would like to focus only on high quality settings in order to compare the best outcomes and influences on children.

The positive contributions would be the ability to focus resources and encourage expansion of certain care settings.  It would be interesting to learn which components of which settings produce the best outcomes in order to blend components of each into the other.

Choosing a Research Topic: Challenges

After deciding to research the topic of technology, I narrowed my subtopic down to "the effect of educational screen time on the social/emotional development of young children." 

I am keenly interested in this topic because of the new iPad initiative in my children's school system and the possible implications this shift in curriculum may have on them as well as young children in our community through the trickle-down of trends and expectations.

However- the LACK of research on this topic is part of the issue.  It is still unknown whether or not technology such as iPads in the classroom have any significant benefit for students.  What is known is the fact that many factors are at play. 

The lack of research on this topic worries me.  As I have began to construct my research chart and mini-research review I am growing more and more concerned that I will not have enough material to read for this project.

Is anyone else finding that they may have chosen a subtopic that may make this application even more challenging?!

I wonder if there will be room for reflection and re-defining of a topic if the topic is just too new and under-researched?