Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

  I am so lucky that I have friends who are all so different in so many ways but we have one thing in common which is our great friendship. I have contacted three of my friends who are from different culture, race, country and so on. Let's just say, Miss 'A' is from the US and she is of hispanic background, Miss 'B' is from Japan but has been living in the Netherlands for many years and also married to a Dutch and Miss 'C' is a Syrian who was born and brought up in Belgium. 
However, due to unforeseen circumstances, Miss 'C' could not come back to me on time. 

  Miss 'A' had explained culture and diversity closest to what I have learnt in this course. Culture and in her words "Culture is the way of life by a group of people, plain and simple. It isn't based on written rules, it is something that naturally happens and it affects how we choose to live and how we choose to perceive the world around us. Culture is influenced by everyday attitudes & thoughts, family values, ideas, traditions, beliefs, etc. We learn from our families and our communities what is culturally acceptable and not acceptable but as we grow, we find ways to adapt & learn from other cultures that we live in" where else Diversity in her words, "a mix of different groups of people with unique qualities". These unique qualities include elements such as cultures, races, ideas, attitudes, foods, music, beliefs...".

Miss 'B' however, spoke of culture and diversity based on what she knew of the Japanese way of life and the Dutch way of life and nothing beyond that.
It's very interesting to see my friends' perspectives on culture and diversity. Through this assigment, I have learnt that many people do not know the true meaning of culture and diversity including myself. Now when I see other's I know that I should acknowledge their differences and celebrate it.

My Family Culture

  I am a hindu but I am not a religious person. However, since small my parents have taught me to pray and I have come realise at some point in my life that, praying gives me strength and hope. So I will first take with me a picture of my God whom I have been worshipping since I was little. This has given me a lot of peace of mind and assurance that everything will be ok and the courage and power to face anything. Secondly, I want my children to always remember their family no matter what. I am not sure if we will all be together in the new host country, if we are not, I will bring a picture of my extended family to always remind my children of their origins and ancestors. Thirdly, I will bring my 'bindi' which is a red dot which we Hindu women put in the middle of our forehead to symbolize that we are married ( a black dot is for unmarried woman). Although many are not following this culture, I have been doing so since I was small. I can never leave the house without this. It reminds me of my culture and who I am. I will definitely bring this with me as well.

  If I was asked to keep only one personal item and give up the rest, I would feel like losing a family member. The sadness of leaving my own country and on top of that to give something dear to my heart which reminds me of my roots will be quite devastating for me. I am very much emotional about some of my personal belongings especially the ones that I have mentioned above.

  From this exercise, I have learnt that everyone are different as they come from a family which is unique by itself. Cultural diversity does not only mean the different race or religion however it goes beyond that. I never knew that I am so attached emotionally to all the things that I have mentioned above. This makes me so different even from my husband and my children. Cultural diversity exist even in our own family.  

When I Think of Research

 From this course, I have gained knowledge on many aspects of how to conduct an ethical and methodological research. After completing this course, I safely say that I am little overwhelmed with all the information that I had absorb in order to understand the true nature of doing research. My perspective about doing research has completely changed. My mind was a little all over whenever I think of research but now I think I can put things into perspective and come up with proper planning and design to conduct a quality research. I still do think I need a lot of practice before I can even do a quality research. The challenges that I faced during this course was my struggle to understand many of the terms in the textbook as English is a second language for me. I tried my best to overcome my challenges by discussing it with my colleagues and mentors in the field. As an early childhood professional, whenever I think about research, there are tonnes of issues within the field that needs to be addressed. 

  Having said all that, I have truly enjoyed this course and working along with my colleagues. Unfortunately I have been ill a long time during the course period which focussing in the course work was a big struggle for me. However, I enjoyed reading all of my colleagues posts and their feedbacks on my work. Thank you for your and Dr Todd's support. Hope to see you in the next course. 

When I Think of Research

 From this course, I have gained knowledge on many aspects of how to conduct an ethical and methodological research. After completing this course, I safely say that I am little overwhelmed with all the information that I had absorb in order to understand the true nature of doing research. My perspective about doing research has completely changed. My mind was a little all over whenever I think of research but now I think I can put things into perspective and come up with proper planning and design to conduct a quality research. I still do think I need a lot of practice before I can even do a quality research. The challenges that I faced during this course was my struggle to understand many of the terms in the textbook as English is a second language for me. I tried my best to overcome my challenges by discussing it with my colleagues and mentors in the field. As an early childhood professional, whenever I think about research, there are tonnes of issues within the field that needs to be addressed. 

  Having said all that, I have truly enjoyed this course and working along with my colleagues. Unfortunately I have been ill a long time during the course period which focussing in the course work was a big struggle for me. However, I enjoyed reading all of my colleagues posts and their feedbacks on my work. Thank you for your and Dr Todd's support. Hope to see you in the next course. 

Research Around The World

I have chosen the http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/ website to explore. 

What are some of the current international research topics?

Some of the current international research topic on this website is about the flexible practices and patterns across the early childhood sector and also on early brain developments of babies.

What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

I was surprised to learn about a whole section on this website dedicated to cultural awareness, cultural awareness in pedagogy and practice, cultural events and celebrations, children’s books and resources, relationships with families, creating culturally welcoming spaces, publications on Reconciliation and cultural awareness, recruiting and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators, Policy and research on improving children’s outcomes, broader policy frameworks and useful links on these topics. So much importance is given to the cultural differences and how to manage them in a healthy way. A wonderful resource for those in the early childhood education sector. 

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

The website also gives noteworthy information on cultural awareness training which can be taken by any anyone. This is definately a wonderful effort taken to spread cultural awareness to everyone and making sure everyone is on the same page when doing so. 

There is also a group called Yarra Healing who have been the voice for all the indigenous poeple of throughout the nation. 

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

My simulation title for this course has been on poverty in children. I cannot help but to notice that children who (I knew during my childhood days) grew in neighborhood which has low socioeconomic status got involved in a lot of social issues while growing up. Most of them end up with a family of their own and it is no different from the one they grew up with hence it is a vicious cycle that every child born in these type of neighborhood faces the same fate and issues. I can't talk for all of them but majority of them for sure. I was looking in the internet for a research that empathized this issue. I came across an article titled "The Neighbourhood They Live In: The Effects of Neighbourhood Residence on Child and Adolescent Outcomes". Please view this article at this link: http://sfxhosted.exlibrisgroup.com/waldenu?sid=google&auinit=T&aulast=Leventhal&atitle=The+neighborhoods+they+live+in:+the+effects+of+neighborhood+residence+on+child+and+adolescent+outcomes.&id=doi:10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.309&title=Psychological+bulletin&volume=126&issue=2&date=2000&spage=309&issn=0033-2909

This particular article guides on how a research on neighbourhood can be done in the best way possible to get the ultimate results. I found this very interesting and hope you will too. 

My Personal Research Journey

  My simulation topic will be about poverty in children and how it affects their early childhood education. The reason why I chose such a topic is because I have seen many poor kids in my country who are mostly in the rural areas, do not have the access to quality or any early childhood education at all. Parents who refuse to send their kids to school just because they do not have enough money to pay the fees, buy books or clothes or even food for the kids. Although I know this is an universal issue, I want to start by helping those kids back in my country. I cannot do this alone hence I believe that by reading more and writing a research paper on this topic will help to spread around my concern with facts and data to all of my other early childhood educators. I have no idea on how to write a good research paper hence the information that I am eagerly waiting to learn from this course will definately be very useful for me. I hope my fellow colleagues in this course who have any experience in dealing with this issue could shed some light on where I could find some good resources and perhaps can even share with me your experiences and insights. I will truly appreciate it.