Professional Hopes and Goals

First of all I will say a big thank you to Dr. Parrish for her understanding and support through out this course. I appreciate that she took time in responding to everyone's discussion post, which was one of my motivating factors in this class. And to my classmates--you all rock! Your posts and experiences you shared in the discussion board opened my eyes to so many things, and showed how differently we all are, despite we share a common class. I pray God's guidance and support for everyone of us.

Taking this course on diversity and social justice has given me the opportunity to reconsider my thinking and attitude towards people. Now, I long to work with families, colleagues and children who are different from me because I think I have the 'technical know-how'. Above all, I long to see unity in diversity in Early Childhood Field, where teachers look beyond skin colour, class, ableism and give their best to every child concerned.

One of my goals is to improve on my communication skill with people of different culture while still retaining my personal identities.

Welcoming Families From Malta

The name of the country I chose is Malta. Assuming I work in a child care centre; First, I will do a thorough research on my own about the country--its location, population size, cultures, schooling habits, languages, etc.
I will ask people around for any special character traits of people from Malta..
I will send home a detailed questionnaire to know about the family culture
I will invite any of the parents to class to tell the class about Malta
I will suggest the parents come with an item of cultural value.
I will learn to pronounce the child and family name correctly
I will display the country flag and greetings on the classroom wall
At least two toys in the classroom will be associated with Malta
The reading corner will have some books about Malta.
I will make arrange for an interpreter if they are ELL
I will learn some major words in the family's first language

All of these preparations I believe will make a family feel at home and will be easy for such family to blend into the school system. Learning their family culture will give me an access into a child's emotional and cognitive development. For instance, if a family is so concerned about their children's school work, then, learning will be made easy for such children and vice versa.
Learning to pronounce correctly a child's name will give him/her a sense of belonging and may in turn build self-esteem.

Prejudice

 Back home in Nigeria, I remember there are schools for the rich and schools for the poor. If a family is poor, it might be impossible for their children to attend schools with rich children. Most privately owned schools are dominated by rich families.

There is this particular school that is known for affluence because, of the category of people in attendance. During a discussion amongst some mothers, a middle class mother asked what the performance of the school is, in order to enrol her son. In that process, another mother asked, ''are you sure you will be able to pay the school fees?'' This came to mind as I meditated on classism. The woman who asked this question already has prejudice against the other because, she felt her friend will not be able to pay the school fees. The school in question has consciously or unconsciously built a class for herself. It simply means poor children cannot attend such schools as they are not affordable.

If I were given the opportunity to be a policy maker in Nigeria, I will make sure school fees are well-regulated, and scholarships are provided for the very poor children.