Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that I would love to see the society embrace diversity as some element of life that spice up our mundane day to day lifestyle. Diversity    brings exuberance and happiness, if only we can appreciate all the uniqueness and richness that children bring to us from their various backgrounds.  Their uniqueness should be used as their schemata   to help them succeed and not to hold it against them.  The more I think about culture and diversity, the more I have become tolerant of the differences I encounter each day.  I have developed a less judgmental attitude about others’ behavior or way of life; whether they wear   sagging pants, cover themselves with tattoos, eat snakes, or dogs, or carry their babies on their heads or backs feel just right with me.  Undeniably, I have gotten pass my cultural shocks and become more adaptable to working with anyone regardless of their cultural background. What is foremost is the relationship, love, and interactions that are harmonious; and valuing each one’s identity in a safe and welcoming environment. I hope anyone working with children would see them as typical and give them the support and voice to survive and be visible in a society that is plagued with inequities and injustices.

One goal I would like to set for early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity and social justice is to nurture each child’s personal identity and a positive sense of self that would enable them to blossom, flourish, and become useful members of the society in future. I envisage for children to become self confident and be proud of who they are, their families, and their cultural backgrounds.

To all my classmates, I wish to thank you all for   sharing your life stories honestly with me. I got to know most of you and your personalities by reading your interesting blogs. One thing I feel good about is that we are all ambassadors who would   go out there and make a difference in our classrooms by respecting and valuing each child as an individual by putting into action an anti-bias education. We would implement what we have shared in our discussion groups about social bias, prejudices, and stereotyping and the understanding of the roles of families as a great resource for perceiving the various diverse backgrounds of our students. I wish you all a successful knowledge –filled journey as you progress   with your educational goals and career.