November 13, 2009
Group Planning Meeting
Kate distributed the goals that were identified at the previous meeting.
What changes have you noticed to your responses to situations that involve cultural differences?
-I used to sit and not saying anything when people make comments, now I ask if they thought
about ….this or that, and they say no, they haven’t.
-I have tried to be more aware with my families. A parent called the other day and she barely
spoke English, no way of knowing from application. It was hard for our staff to talk to her. I
thought about how hard it would be for that parent to speak to the staff at the center. I had not
realized how big of a problem it is.
-I am not as quick to think of a solution to a problem from my own framework. I am listening
more actively, trying to ask the right questions.
-I have a family I am working with that is making me more aware of my cultural bias and
stereotypes. The things that come out of the child’s mouth is so different from my expectations.
I struggle to figure out how to support the family knowing what is being said is inappropriate.
What have been some of your ongoing reflections or conversations about culture?
-I realized how little I know. I have had to collaborate with other colleagues to fill in the gaps. I
realize I am not an expert in things so I look for someone who is an expert. I got an idea from a
colleague and shared it with some teachers in another context. It was great.
-I am asking, “why do you think that way” to find out where they are coming from.
What have you noticed about your own willingness to speak up or assert yourself?
-I am speaking out more than before. I want to make people aware and think about it.
-Persistence-I went back and talked about it, reaction was “okay” and get back to business as
usual. I need to be persistent in keeping the conversation going.
How about communicating on the blog?
-I am scared.
-I second guess myself.
-I don’t want to be the only one to write on it. I have commented but nobody responds.
-It surprised me I was not more active.
-Two purposes-material to read and then to dialog
-Have to trust the people you communicate with.
-It depends on how you like to communicate. A blog is not a method I regularly use.
-Set up your email so answers come directly back to you.
-Mary spoke up bravely. The people who were sharing were White. If you have been treated
differently because of your diversity, it is harder to write about. It is hard to share something that
is very emotional-you don’t know how you will be perceived.
Is it difficult to talk about your experiences with diversity?
-It is hard to talk about it. I grew up in the North, I experienced negative situations when I
moved here (South). I had never had those experiences. You re-live those experiences and
didn’t really know you still had those feelings.
-You keep asking, “why”? Why would someone treat me that way? They don’t know me.
-Until you experience being treated negatively, it is hard to write about it. It is about pride. I can
tell you about it, but I don’t want to write about it.
We look for commonalities among the differences. How do we keep the communication open?
We have been given resources to support this conversation. It is important that members of the
group feel safe enough to say when they don’t feel comfortable with the conversation.
It is hard to see families in the center, speak to them, then see them out in the community and
they don’t speak. I am tired of being the only one to make contact with families. It is important
to be genuine-do this work inside and outside the program.
I need to figure out how to do this work without being so angry. Where do I draw the line and
start trusting? How do I know they really care about these children or are they just saying for my
benefit. I struggle to learn not to be so angry and untrusting.
You know, is the person just trying to be politically correct? It shows eventually, they will slip
up. Look for the actions beyond the words.
This is a good charge for us, keep in mind as we move forward.
If someone is doing something wrong and I challenge them, then they apologize. If they knew it
was wrong from the beginning, why do it? And if I didn’t challenge it, they would still be doing
it.
Kate: I am going to ask everyone to be honest and speak up to let everyone know whether or not
we are going in the right direction. Go around and identify goal we want to work on.
-Goal 2: Target teachers and administrators; include the parents; then move to require diversity
training in orientation (policy, standards); add data while we do the work with teachers to send to
the policy makers (Goal 3); we can do both Group 2 and 3 through 4. Goal 4 is the process to
accomplish goals 1-3. It is not a real goal.
The only way we are going to get teachers to change, we have to inspire, create passion. A rule
won’t make them comply. We got inspired listening to Carol Brunson Day. How do we have
lasting change?
What motivates people to change their beliefs? Systems change-navigating in troubled waters,
with a leaky boat, with a mutinous crew.
We have to work on things at the same time. What is our goal, what is our outcome? Do you
want to create awareness or change? What comes first? Awareness. It is a process, it takes
time. We came with more awareness.
Measure behavior change by creating awareness. Take the date to policy makers.
Activities:
Teachers/Administrators/Families: develop training to change awareness, series and modules,
not one-shot, start with a group and walk them through over time-pilot; use activities we have
and combine with simulations; online and kits, measure impact; self-discovery; diversity
experience.
Resource kit, online, awareness activities, dialogues, pre/post measurement, 3 months, pilot,
ways to continue-newsletter, on-going support; train the trainer.
This should be part of the requirements for teachers in programs in higher education.