Saturday, April 26, 2014


EDUC 8853 Influences of Family, Culture, and Society in Early Childhood

Final Thoughts

Dear Colleagues,
When I started Walden’s Doctoral  program online I was expecting an “easy” program but instead I became engaged in a rigorous, demanding and extremely well planned program of doctoral studies. This course hasn’t been the exception. It has been as demanding and rigorous as any other. Nonetheless, it has positively challenged and changed my perception and conceptualization of my practice and my field. This course highlighted the amplitude of the field. It pointed out to many of the components such as the development of our identity and the effects of bias and microaggressions on it. It also provided us with essential concepts about family, cultural, linguistic, community and societal dynamics. Furthermore, this course brought to our attention the effects that risk, stress and trauma has on the children and families we serve and taught us effective strategies to ameliorate their effects and to help our children to develop resilience. It has been guiding me to a better understanding of the field in general, but to a deeper understanding of the issues and trends that are impacting my community of practice. As part of this new understanding, I will continue elaborating and applying the foundations acquired in this course to further my studies as I confront the problem of developing and/or finding solutions to these issues in my community.

2 comments:

  1. What a pleasure it has been getting to know you during this course, Salvador! I agree, this has definitely not been easy, but it is very rewarding. In fact, I would say that at times this format for learning is even more difficult, as we really have to take charge of our learning, keep ourselves and others motivated to include this part of our careers into our "real life" and not just a contrived digital experience. And of course, navigating the technical requirements can be a challenge! Nonetheless, everyone has done a great job of connecting over time. Take Care!

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  2. Salvador,

    I agree with what you said about this course guiding us to better understand the field. It seems to be that the more I learn, the more I feel like I have to learn! : ) I can also feel a bit overwhelmed with how much that I do not know, even after 20 years of teaching 4,5 and 6 year old children. Yet, it is also exciting to be in a place of learning new information about the field we are most passionate about!
    Thank you !
    Robin

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