Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that when they are in my presence or think of how I made them feel, I want it to be a positive memory. I want to have a positive effect on children from different backgrounds so that one day they can and will pass along the same gestures. I want to be the beginning of a positive change.

One goal I would like to set for the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is bringing forth awareness that eventually will create change. I believe we as professionals are aware, but I don’t believe we all know how and where to begin the change at. I want to help with that evolution. I want to be the change our education system needs.

I want to say thank you to all of my colleagues for helping me grow and to begin understanding where my true purpose and calling. I am blessed to be able to take this journey with some amazing people. We are only half way done with our courses, and I can’t wait till we continue our growth over our last classes.

Welcoming Families

The origin of my family’s last name, Pittman,  is German. It means Peter-Mann. I definitely didn’t not know that my origin last name is German. I am very interested. How did they get the Pitt, from Peter. I now have so many questions.

I would prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family by learning more for beginners. After learning more about the origin of the family maybe looking into their culture by seeing their essential race, I would then ask them questions one on one how they feel about the transition to the school. After their transition, I would just pay close attention to the way the child acts in the classroom environment. If I am still unsure of how to respond to the particular family, I would ask my colleagues what kind of information they knew about this particular culture. Finally I would ask the family to come in for a conference type meeting, and just plain ask them what they expected from me as a professional and just evaluate their answers and learn from them what they want and need.

I think these ways will benefit me and the families  because it will establish a trust level. It will also focus on the equalization of power. I want the family to know that they have just as much invested into their child’s education that I do. We should become a partnership and that only works while creating a partnership.

The Personal Side

My personal experience of a bias happens more often than usual. Since I am heavy set, people always assume that I am heavy because all I do is eat food constantly. Yet if they really took the time to observe me and learn more, I am an athlete and the majority of my “fat” comes from muscles. I am an extremely picky eater and I sometimes only eat once or twice a day.

Equity is diminished because everyone wants to assume that people that are heavy are pure fat and they get that way because of what they eat. When in reality there can be all types of health conditions and genetic disorders that make them seem larger than everyone else. My biggest issue with the assumption of others is that not everyone is built the same and I believe that is for a reason beyond my control. This incident makes me upset for those that are ignorant to pass judgment on someone for situations they don’t know. I hope as an educator I can always obtain and remain clear minded about children and their family’s situations. I think society’s view on body types and images needs to change before this incident has an opportunity for greater equity. If society didn’t tell people that blonde hair blue eyes were the norm and beauty, then I believe people wouldn’t pass judgment on others so quickly.