Wow, what a course. This “Influences of Families, Cultures, and
Society on Early Childhood” course certainly lived up to its name. The narrative of the trials and triumphs of
those involved with the Hmong family (Fadiman, 2012) certainly was an excellent
way to jumpstart the goal of the course, which I took to be more in-depth inquiry
into how our own assumptions and biases can affect how we do our jobs. The texts were also very informative, and enlightening,
regarding things that have already been researched, proven, disproven,
researched again, and disproven or proven about stereotypes, micro and macro-aggressions,
assumptions, identity development, and many, many other facets of early
childhood education (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010) (Hanson & Lynch, 2013). Ultimately,
however, the resources that I enjoyed the most and was the media presentation
interviews with Marsha Hawley and Shon-Adrien Hofla. Each interviewee had such different life
experiences to learn from, and were able to offer firsthand insight into the
aftereffects of traumatic situations, and the necessity for resilience that
followed.
As
someone aspiring to become a more devout scholar-practitioner, however, I realize
that on-the-job applicability from this course mostly comes from the
texts. They provide explanations,
methods, strategies, data, and ready-to-use references for future research,
which could only cause forward motion.
In fact, after reading the texts, I found myself inadvertently applying
my understandings when interacting with parents and students, and seeing only
benefit. Knowing that every child has a
progression for identity development, and that each one is similar but oh, so
different, and that there is literature available to help me gives me the
confidence that, no matter what questions come up, there is an answer
somewhere. If there seems to not be one,
there is a path to one.
References
Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O.
(2010). Anti-bias education for young
children and ourselves.Washington, DC:
National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Fadiman, A. (2012). The spirit catches you and you fall
down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Hanson, M. J., & Lynch, E. W. (2013). Understanding families: Approaches to
diversity, disability, and risk.
Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
