Hopes and Goals for equity, diversity, and social justice

• One hope I have as I continue my path of education and lifelong learning is teachers have empathy for the families they work with.  As teachers, we are always discussing ways to teach empathy to our students.  I hope that teacher gain this skill within themselves and begin to not be judgmental towards families that are different from themselves.

• One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to set these issues at the top of importance.  When politicians and the government is looking at a program and deciding what to call quality and what is considered not quality, my hope is that a quality center is consistent with  equity, diversity, (not stereotypical surface, cliché diversity lessons, but true integration) and social justice forums. When you walk into a program you see the empathy culture is embedded into the whole classroom/center/school.

• Thanks to my colleagues and instructor I have come to a better understanding about understanding my own biases. This has given me a true understanding of how I cannot be judgmental to others that are not like me.  Everyone has walked a different path in life and by understanding this I feel I can in turn help others to understand how their biases affect their life. I appreciate all of the insight we have shared and the inspirations I have received by listening to others share their personal experiences.  All of this is part of how I view social justice and privileges in the world we live in.