Racial Microaggressions and Difficult Conversations: The anti-bias educator can make a difference! 

I would like to focus on Racial Microaggressions as my challenge and focus on difficult dialogue as my sub topic (Sue, Lin, Torino, Capodilupo, & Rivera, 2009). I chose this topic because I believe that microaggressions are often not “seen” and the conversation revolving around these microaggressions are very difficult.  I think that participating in training on how to be an anti-bias educator will help these conversations become more comfortable. Racial conversations are difficult and they can become threatening conversations, especially when they involve unequal status relationship of power and privilege” (Sue, et al., 2009, p. 184). However, if these difficult conversations are handled effectively, then there are opportunities for learning.

How do we ensure that every educator is an anti-bias educator? 

How do we ensure that every educator is comfortable with these types of conversations?

Sue, D., Lin, A., Torino, G., Capodilupo, C. & Rivera, D. (2009). Racial microaggressions and difficult dialogues on race in the classroom. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 15(2), 183-190.

Professional Goals

I believe that one goal to become more effective in my role is to immerse myself in the early childhood field by reading literature, conducting research and participating in local and global conferences. More importantly, I think it would be advantageous to specifically attend conferences that focus on public policy. By understanding how public policy works and how to make changes to policy, I would be more effective in my professional role.

I have heard of Quality Stars throughout my professional meetings. However, I didn’t take the time to truly understand this system until I read about QRIS. I would like to become more involved in the New York State Quality Stars program. Understanding their goals and mission will enable me to be more effective in my role as a member of the Albany Promise Action Team. Also, I could be part of the professional development team that prepares workshops related to the Quality Stars program for prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers.   

Critical thinking is an important skill for young children to develop. Although, NAEYC has emphasized the importance of engaging students in higher level thinking rather than memorizing facts, there is a lack of professional development for early childhood educators on how to foster higher level thinking in young children. I would like to conduct research on this topic to provide more evidence in hopes that a system would be put in place for early childhood educators. I think it is important to better prepare educators to foster critical thinking skills in young children. This can lead to improved teacher preparation and valuable professional development. In doing this, educators will have the opportunity to implement best practices and teach young children how to think.