What I Have Learned

My hope for working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that they see that even my I am just starting my journey in working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds that I am working towards making connections with those families and bridging the home-school connection.  I hope that all the families I serve see that I am working to equally represent all families in my classroom and serve all students with equity.  Even though I am in the beginning stages of culturally responsive pedagogy, I hope to expand my skills and knowledge as my educational career moves on and that culturally responsive pedagogy because almost instinctual as opposed to something I have to do intentionally. 

A goal I would like to set for the early childhood field is to provide more training and resources to both teachers and students to adequately educate in a culturally responsive way. Until I took these classes, I never even heard of the term culturally responsive pedagogy.  I have noticed over the last few years that even the students in my school are becoming more diverse, changing from an almost all white, middle class traditional family backgrounds to divorced, single parent, LBGT parent, multi-generational and multicultural background homes.  I have never been taught, until these courses, how to even go about trying to reach out to these students and families.  And I know I am not the only educator who feels that way.  Without adequate training and adequate resources, we all are going to struggle to truly reach out to and connect with them.  I am lucky to have running start over most thanks to these courses! 

Last, I’d like to think my colleagues for all of their support and open mindedness.  I’d like to thank them for their understanding of my limited background and experiences with others of diverse backgrounds as well as allowing me to open up honestly about those experiences.  I’d also like to thank them for the respectful dialogue through the eight weeks of this course.  I’m happy I had the opportunity to make connections with those who are different than me so that I can see how alike we really are.  

Comments

  1. QuayMarch 1, 2019 at 12:51 PM

    Hi, Jill!

    First, I commend you on speaking out about your limited exposure to diversity. More importantly, I am proud of you for having the willingness to make a difference in your life regarding diversity and taking your knowledge and putting it to use in your community. Thank you for your readiness of accepting something new.

    Side note: I love your puzzle and how it all fits together...all parts relying on each other for a perfect piece.

    Keep Moving Forward...Quay

    ReplyDelete

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