Practicing Awareness of Microaggresssions

Spending this week listening for microaggressions made me very aware of how often these offenses take place in an educational environment.

The first example took place as I entered the mobile infant classroom at the center where I work. The children were in their seats at the feeding table for morning snack and a teacher was heating up a meal. As she removed it from the microwave she stated “This is disgusting!”   I consider this a microaggression because it is an attack on that child’s family culture. This food, regardless of her opinion is what was prepared by his parents. Even though the children in this room are very young, her tone, facial expression and body language spoke volumes, even if they do not understand the word. I spoke to her about how I felt it was inappropriate and her reply was that she meant it was just too thick. I explained that in a much different tone of voice that is what she should have said.

My second example is a microaggression regarding able-ism. I have shared in the past that my son has a learning disability and an IEP. Earlier this week he was given a quarterly exam that included only questions that tested specifically what is IEP states he should receive accommodations for and none were made. Needless to say he did poorly. Through email and phone conversations with his teacher I have come to find out that she was unaware of this accommodation all year and now was unsure how to interpret what his IEP says. As a fellow educator I am outraged that a teacher can have a student in their class since August and not have taken the time to actually understand his needs. As a parent, I am upset with myself for not being on top of this all year.

My observation experience this week reinforces what Dr. Sue stated in this week’s video, Microaggressions in Everyday Life, that unintentional microaggressions are the most dangerous and educators  can do the great harm. I will be more aware of the comments I make in my classroom. I see the effect of this teacher’s lack of understanding on my son and can imagine the same for the boy at my center if he were to hear comments about his meals on a daily basis.

Resource

Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (n.d.) Microaggressions in Everyday Life [Video Webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_550963_1%26url%3D

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

How do people define culture and diversity?

My task this week was to find at least three friends, family members, acquaintances, and /or colleagues to share their definitions of culture and diversity, with at least one person being culturally different from me.

I intended to use several colleagues from work as we have a diverse staff and I thought it would be an interesting conversation to have. I explained that it was for my graduate school work but unfortunately most of my colleagues were very uncomfortable answering the question. I found this quite interesting and do not know the reason for their hesitation. Were they uncomfortable because of the diversity of people sitting at the lunchroom table at the time? Did they think there was a correct or incorrect answer? I explained there was not. Did they believe I or others would judge them for their answer? I will seek the answer to these questions over time.

 I did speak to one colleague who entered the field of Early Education straight out of high school after studying ECE for two years as part of our local poly tech. Next, I spoke to a friend and neighbor who is a Spanish Language teacher and of Cuban decent.  Third I spoke to my daughter, a recent college graduate with degrees in Political Science, International Studies and Spanish.

My colleague defined culture as someone’s ethnicity, race and family values. She saw diversity as the differences in hair and eye color.

My friend defined culture as what we bring to the table. Culture is what makes you a person and is a reflection of your heritage- art, music and food. She teaches her Spanish Language students that we shouldn’t generalize about culture. She teaches about culture to deepen the understanding of the language and open her student world view to make them more accepting. She believes it is easier to learn and appreciate the language if you understand the culture behind it. She shared that a professor once that stated we should not be teaching tolerance but teaching acceptance. Tolerance means I can just barely stand you, who wants to be tolerated?  Her definition of diversity means the differences from other things. Each one of us is different from each other. Even within each of us there are many differences.

My daughter stated that a culture can reflect a specific group of people that have a similar belief system.  Culture is formed because people live in the same location and have shared traditions and world view. Diversity has many levels. The same ethnic group may be diverse do to religious beliefs and geographic location. Every aspect of a person influences diversity. A person’s gender identity, education level, income level, political and religious views and ethnicity contribute to their diversity. Culture forms around those things. There are cultures that form with regard to ethnicity, gender identity and even education level. She also spoke about the cultural influence of language. Language within the United States often reflects the part of country you live in with differences in vocabulary and pronunciation. She also discussed how many of the Romance languages have words that are assigned a gender and how that reflects on the male/ female roles within that culture.

Many of the aspects of culture that I have studied in this course were reflected in the answers I received. The examples given show an understanding that a person’s cultural identity goes much deeper than their ethnic group.  Family values, gender roles, extended family were all touched upon.  Omissions included health care and housing arraignments. These might have been left out because I just asked for a definition and did not want to lead the responses in any way. The answers and non-answers that I received had made me aware that this topic still makes some individual uncomfortable. We obviously need more training in the field of Early Childhood Education to increase the comfort level because if we cannot have the discussion amongst ourselves how are we to have respectful conversations with the parents of our increasingly diverse students. 

My Family Culture

As I imagine the following:

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.

The three items I would take are a family photo album that contained pictures of my husband’s and my childhood, our wedding and of our three children growing up. I would take the Bible I received at my first Women’s Cornerstone retreat. The third thing I would take is the love letter my husband wrote to me when he proposed; yes I have the proposal in writing.

I chose these items after much thought because as I consider not only my families culture but, also the culture of the United States and then contemplate the world of possibilities where my family may wind up living that do not have the same religious freedoms or rights for women, I wanted to have things that would remind me of those freedoms and rights.

I would tell others that the photo albums contained pictures of what our lives were like and how American culture has changed over the years. The photos are a timeline of our growth as a family. I would explain that I wanted the Bible because I am not sure that the country I am going to will have one or be English speaking and my faith and the ability to read God’s word is important to me and my family. I will need my faith to keep me centered as I struggle to learn a new language and customs. Food may actually be my biggest challenge.  Lastly, my husband’s loving words to me as he asked me to marry him showed how much he cared for and honored me as a person. It is my representation of his and my value of respect for women.

If upon arrival I was told that I could only keep one personal item and I would have to give up the rest I would be frustrated by having to make a choice, narrowing my possessions once again. I am hoping that I would be persuasive enough to be able to keep them all or at least tuck the letter and a few pictures into my Bible.

I found this exercise challenging, at first I could think of nothing I wanted to bring. As long as I had my immediate family nothing else would matter to me. I may have been overwhelmed by all the possibilities. Family rosaries, baby books, grandparent’s passports and children’s art work to name a few. Possessions are not my priority, I carry the people I love and memories of those I have lost in my heart. How I treat others and how I want to be treated cannot be represented in objects. I believe the items that I have chosen would convey what I want those that I meet about my family’s culture. Our culture is more about respect for each other and those we interact with than anything else.