Professional Hopes and Goals

Over the course of the past eight weeks, I have learned several significant lessons about diversity and equity. One of the biggest lessons that I have learned is that it is not my place to judge others. This lesson may seem simple, but in reality, it is very difficult to put into practice. I have learned that bias and judgment about certain types of people or practices may actually be a part of family culture, which has been passed down through the generations with some possible minor adjustments. If I truly want to accept all people for who they are, I need to first learn about myself. What do people expect from me? How do others view me? How do I view myself? What are my own expectations for myself? How do I expect others to react? Which family members have influenced my beliefs and how? The answers to all of these questions and more are essential to taking a step toward supporting diversity and equity.

One hope that I have is that I am able to keep an open mind when I am working with the families and their children in our Early Head Start program. I am learning that when I think that I may know a family, something always seems to come about that changes my viewpoint. It is essential for me to remain neutral during any situation so that I can do what is best for the children.

One goal that I have for the early childhood field is that we can move toward implementing more anti-bias education activities and trainings into the classrooms. Children need to be exposed to diversity at an early age and learn that it is okay for people to be different. More trainings and resources need to be available for early childhood educators so that they too can learn about anti-bias education and the importance for teaching it to our children.

I just want to take the opportunity to thank everyone so far for all of your feedback to my blog. It truly means a lot to me that you all are taking the time to read my posts and provide comments regarding the content. Many of you have shared personal stories about how the content in my posts relates to your experiences in the early childhood field. By sharing our experiences, we are able to learn new ideas that we may not have thought of otherwise. Thank you!