Professional Hopes and Goals

I have a deep-seated belief in the importance of justice, the dream of each child being able to achieve all he or she is capable of, and the knowledge that all human beings can make a difference.  One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that all children and families have a sense of belonging and experience affirmation of their identities and cultural ways of being and that children and adults know how to respectfully and easily live, learn, and work together in diverse and inclusive environments.

Anti-bias education has four core goals, each of which applies to children of all backgrounds and influences in every arena of our program (Derman-Sparks, 2010).  One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to implement ways to develop each of the four core anti-bias education goals in our work and to continue doing anti-bias education work until the world we live in become a place where all children have equal opportunity to become all that they can be.

 I would like to take this opportunity to show my appreciation to all of my classmates and Dr. Tuthill for the contributions each of you have made in this very important course.  The insights and personal experiences each of you shared during our discussions have been very rewarding and helped me to better understand each topic we covered.  I wish each of you much success as you continue the journey of broadening your understanding of yourself as you work with children, families and colleagues.

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and 

      ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children

      (NAEYC).