Diversity and Culture

After talking with several people, I found that I shared some of the same ideas about diversity and culture. Diversity is a commitment to recognizing and appreciating the variety of characteristics that make individuals unique in an atmosphere that promotes and celebrates individual and collective achievement. One of the examples of these characteristics is culture. Culture is a person’s lifestyle based on regional and familiar influences. Culture is where you come from, your roots, and your lifestyle. Diversity is accepting the many different cultures, religions, races, etc. in the world. It’s also what makes us unique. This assignment has helped me to see that many people around me share some of the same ideas about diversity and culture although we are all from different walks of life.

My Family Culture

I would bring my family photo, cookbook, and cell phone. I would bring the photo of my family so I can share it with everyone as well as have their memory with me in case I am unable to see them again. I would bring the cookbook because cooking is a big thing in our family and I would also want to share that with everyone. Lastly I would bring my cell phone to keep my families contact information. We are big on trying to keep in contact with one another.

If I was told I could only keep one item I would be devastated. I would have to say that I would have to keep the cookbook. It makes me feel close to my family when I can cook their favorite dishes. I believe that we often take for granted our cultural. This exercise has made me appreciate my family even more. It has also encouraged me to share some of our traditions with those around me.

Reflection

I have gained a better understanding of research and its process. Before taking this place I thought that it would be boring to conduct a research project. This class has sparked my desire to conduct my research project. I have learned to put together an outline which is detailed with things such as the goal, outcomes, variables, etc.  When conducting research you must have some type of background information on the topic and an idea of how the information will help someone. The terms were somewhat of a challenge for me because this was my first time seeing some of the terms. After this class, I now want to study more research studies.  

Early Childhood in Australia

The mission in Australia is somewhat similar to our mission, which is to advocate ensuring quality, social justice and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight years. After looking around the website I found that there is a new ratio in place which is 1:4 ratio for children under 24 months. I think this is great because I have always been an advocate for small classes because you able to attend better to students needs.  The ratio was put into place on January 1^st, 2012. I like how the Research in practice series ( RIPS) index has numerous topics to chose from although you do have to pay for the books or articles.

resources: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

my research

For this week I chose option 2. Seeing that pre-k and kindergarten are not required in my state I am interested to know if it is really helpful to students when the programs are of high quality. If I could conduct a research project it would be does highly qualified early childhood and kindergarten programs really help children? if so does it have a more positive effective on those that live in poverty. The programs would have to follow my guidelines given to ensure that the program is really of high quality. Programs would have to show how though proficient in each area of the NC teaching standards are. Each day an observer would be in the room to make sure this is being done and that diversity is being promoted. After students move up to the 1^st grade, yearly reports will be done to see how they compare with their classmates by looking at reports and test scores.

My Personal Research Journey

Every since I can remember I wanted to become a teacher, but I just didn’t want to teach any group of students, I wanted to teach the group of children living in poverty because I wanted to not only give them a chance in life but also close the achievement gap. I am interesting in poverty and the effects that it has on children. I would also like to take a closer look at how it affects African American children because that is the group of children that I work with.

What is Poverty? According to Wikipedia, poverty is the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water Poverty in this country is a common term. Poverty takes hold of both men and women. Poverty affects people in all states as well as all countries. Who is affected the most by poverty? Mainly African Americans.
This week’s reading was helpful to me because it taught me what to look for when looking for creditable research.

Final Post

The three things I have taken from blogging are

1.     Making international contacts are great for collaboration which can help us to solve the bigger problems that plague children and families worldwide, namely poverty

2.     I also learned that we share some of the same issues pertaining to early childhood.

3.     I learned that making an international contact is very challenging and I hope to one day make a contact because it would be a great connection to have.