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The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from different background I hope that children irrespective of their background or culture or experience will have access to quality Early Childhood Education and that I will be knowledgeable and willing to support young children and their families whenever the need arises. One of my most favorite quote by Dr. Seuss “A person is a person no matter how small”. I hope that I will be able to continually advocate to protect the right of young children, especially in Africa, and hope that I will have the cooperation of colleagues who will also speak up and protect this vulnerable group – young children. One goal I will like to set for the Early Childhood field. The Early Childhood field should be a place where you find professionals who are knowledgeable about issues relative the all forms of diversity and are daily working to overcome stereotypes and bias, all within the goal to positively contr...
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Welcoming Families from around the World

If I were expecting a child from China, I would do the following to prepare myself and class to be culturally aware and receptive. 1.      Would read up about the country and get to know its basic languages, know where China is situated on the global map, the lifestyle of the people, Celebrations etc. I would not assume that I have the information but will make an effort to know about the country better. 2.     I would also attempt to learn a few words from their language.   Greetings and courtesy words in the language of the child would make connection with child and family easier. Welcoming the Child in his/her language in the morning or saying please and thank you in the language could make child relax faster. 3.     I would develop the expectations of my class members to better understand and accommodate the culture of the child, teaching songs about being a friend/helper, about the continents and how we all belong toge...
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The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

My husband told me a story of an incidence that he witnessed that happened at a check-in counter for a flight in Northern Nigeria. A female passenger was denied her request to sit at an emergency exit row primarily because she is a woman. This woman is not physically or mentally in capable of carrying out an exit row function should the situation arise on the flight. She is a six footer and her mental ability is not in question judging from the way in which she was marshaling her points on why she should not be denied the seat. Apparently she desired the seat because of the extra leg room on that row.  As is typical of most flights in Northern Nigeria there was an overabundance of men compared to women on the flight and the airline officer felt this exit row function is better suited for a man than a woman. T he Woman felt she has been denied equity because she is not capable according to rule other than the fact that she is a woman. I felt this woman was marginalized...
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Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

How come you speak English so well? You must have gone to a very good school? You definitely don’t sound like a Nigerian? You are quiet and well-mannered unlike most Nigerians I know. These were the many question and observation that filled my 6 weeks among young African leaders and Americans in West Virginia some years back. Micro aggression maybe subtle and unintended but it always leaves the victim feeling marginalized. Then I wandered why so many questions around my speaking English. Our official language is English why must I have to go to a good school to communicate in our official language? Nigerians are smart, intelligent, outspoken and we don’t live in the jungle, why is that termed as loud and unruly? According to Dr. Rue in the Video segment people’s remarks or behaviors can create feelings of uncertainty, inferiority, marginalization, and/or unsettling emotions in others even though they are unintentional (Laureate Education 2011). Many times, like my own exper...
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Perspectives on Culture and Diversity

This week I had a chat with three different people about with their view on culture and diversity . This was their definition 1 st person: Culture is the way of life of a particular group of people, the way they dress and things that have to do with their traditions. She defined diversity as the things that make us distinct. What differentiates us. 2nsd Person: Culture is the way of life of people living in the same community, sharing the same values and norms to achieve a common goal. She defined Diversity as how people are different I culture and how their norms and values are different from others. 3rd Person: He defined culture as a way of doing things, unique to a people defined by geographical location. He defined diversity as the state of being composed of many part that are unique in their individual selves. During these chats with colleagues and family members, I realized that most people like myself are more conscious of surface culture, we are aware of the way peo...
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My Family Culture

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If I have to leave Nigeria to a completely different environment as a result of an emergency and I have an opportunity to take only 3 items, those items will be 1. A Yoruba Bible: My Family values are founded on our Christian Faith, it influences our thoughts, actions and family culture. Having it in our mother tongue translation would be a wonderful memorabilia as we would love our young children to continue to speak our language even in a different environment. 2. A collage of pictures of our extended family members: This picture will comprise photos of our extended family including grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunties and friends turned family. It would be nice to have a picture to take along to keep good memories of our wonderful moments with loved ones and to continue to have it as a remembrance. 3. A painting of a cultural depiction of our society: We have a painting in our living room that shows the Nigerian environment, the major occupation of the people livi...
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Consequences of new Knowledge

It has been some awesome weeks of learning about issues and trends in Early Childhood Education from different parts of the world. It has been great value for time, thanks to the content provided by the various websites in form of podcasts, researches and reports as well as insightful discussions from colleagues.  Three things stand out for me  1.The Issues and Trends in early childhood education are global issues, though they may be more escalated in some continents than others. For example, we are all dealing with childhood poverty however some countries have these issues with poverty on a higher rate than others. We all have to work together to help eradicated childhood poverty using innovative solutions that are workable in that country. Reading through several websites, I can adapt various innovative solutions to our peculiar situation in Nigeria. 2.The Various Stakeholders working in Early Childhood Education all have a vital role to play, Education...
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