Personal Hopes and Goals

When I think about children and their families who come from diverse backgrounds, the hope I have for them is that they stay true to who they are and not allow themselves to get so focused on gaining acceptance and fitting into the dominant culture, that they lose sight of their unique heritage and culture. Julie Benavides, professor of Early Childhood Development, stated during her interview that her family worked to fit into the dominant American society that they disowned their family’s culture so much that she didn’t know her family’s native tong (Spanish) and she wasn’t able to help children and families of Hispanic decent because she couldn’t speak the language  (Laureate, 2011).

I would like to set a goal for early childhood educators to operate on an entirely new level of acceptance and celebration of children and families of different cultures. Let’s set a trend that calls attention to how the early childhood educators have discovered the best methods to help children have a love for learning as they excel in their academic endeavors. When we teach children to celebrate who they are and embrace their culture, we create confident young students who excel in all they do, and as a result, encourage their peers to do the same.

As we come to the end of another great study that prepares me and my colleagues to be equipped to help create positive change in our communities as we give children the best educational start that will aid them to continue the quest. I am taking this time to give a thunderous applause to each of my colleagues who care enough to work in this field, and a sincere thank you for all your comments, ideas, and the stories of your personal experiences that both taught us and equipped us with the knowledge of what not to do, and what works best for young children and their families. I thank you for all your support in class. My hopes for each of you is that you stay firm to your beliefs as we take all that we have learned at Walden in our professional studies and put them into practice in our schools and learning centers. Remember, that we have been taught better, so let’s go out and teach others that there are better ways to work with children. I encourage each of you to never compromise when you see something disturbing happening to children or their parents, or to not make excuses for incorrect practices that attempts to define the why’s and why not’s of wrong doings of any kind that will hurt children or their families. May your work never be in vain and may all your dreams come true. Let’s keep properly and respectfully loving and caring for children and their families. Take care of yourselves, guard your beliefs, and let’s get busy.  

Reference

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). In her own voice: Julie Benavides. [video file] Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.deu.