For this assignment, imagine the following scenario:
You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.
In order to complete this assignment, first choose a country you know nothing about as this family’s country of origin.
The name of “your” family’s country of origin
I have chosen to imagine that this family is from Tanzania, a country on the continent of Africa.
At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family
1. Have in place a cultural competency plan which supports all newly enrolled children, regardless of their country of origin. This might include a family survey about their home culture and/or plans of how to incorporate each child's home culture into the classroom.
2. Discover if the family and I will need an interpreter in order to support two-way communication.
3. Use the internet, books, and other print sources to study the culture and traditions of Tanzania.
4. Make an attempt to contact an international organization to gather more information about the educational structure and practices in Tanzania.
5. Strive to contact an actual early childhood professional from Tanzania and form a professional relationship with that person.
1. Have in place a cultural competency plan which supports all newly enrolled children, regardless of their country of origin. This might include a family survey about their home culture and/or plans of how to incorporate each child's home culture into the classroom.
2. Discover if the family and I will need an interpreter in order to support two-way communication.
3. Use the internet, books, and other print sources to study the culture and traditions of Tanzania.
4. Make an attempt to contact an international organization to gather more information about the educational structure and practices in Tanzania.
5. Strive to contact an actual early childhood professional from Tanzania and form a professional relationship with that person.
A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family
Any attempt to provide culturally competent, anti-bias education will benefit all children in the classroom or other setting. By understanding more about the individual child, the family, and the culture of their country of origin I hope that I would be able to provide a more inclusive environment for this child and family. The aim would be to show this family that they and their child are important to me and that I understand that their family culture is significant to their ways of thinking about parenting and education (as well as many other aspects of their lives). Of course, I would also benefit because I would have a better foundation for forming a trusting partnership with the family and relationship with the child.
Any attempt to provide culturally competent, anti-bias education will benefit all children in the classroom or other setting. By understanding more about the individual child, the family, and the culture of their country of origin I hope that I would be able to provide a more inclusive environment for this child and family. The aim would be to show this family that they and their child are important to me and that I understand that their family culture is significant to their ways of thinking about parenting and education (as well as many other aspects of their lives). Of course, I would also benefit because I would have a better foundation for forming a trusting partnership with the family and relationship with the child.
I like how part of your research and development process is to contact professionals from Tanzania where the family is from to get a better understanding of the family and learn more about who they are. Learning about the family is not only beneficial to the parents but the child as well. They are the most important part of everything we do; they are the future. We should take the time to look at how children are inducted into their culture and how they define themselves as well as defined by others (Smidt, 2013).
ReplyDeleteReference
Smidt, S. (2013). The developing child in the 21st century: A global perspective on child development (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Wendy, I like your idea of having a plan on how to incorporate the families culture into the classroom. It is also important to find out about the culture in their community and as well as the school culture, so we know the families expectations when it comes to their child's learning (Smidt, 2013)
ReplyDeleteSmidt, S. (2006). The developing child in the 21st century: A global perspective on child development. New York, NY: Routledge.
Wendy,
ReplyDeleteGreat choice. Tanzania is a beautiful country with an amazing culture. I loved the people when we were there. I like that you thought of contacting an international organization to gather more information. I had not thought of that resource before. That is an excellent plan, particularly for this country because the level of education and type of schools are very diverse depending on the large gap in socioeconomic status. International agencey and an actual educator are great resources, if available. I like that you always think big :)
-Elizabeth
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteI agree that learning the individuality of the child who is joining your classroom is a good start to learn the child’s culture, family culture, and anything that is important to the child. I love your attempt to culturally relevant and anti-bias approach to education.
Love your BLOG! Keep on blogging. It was fun reading your thoughts and insights.
Keep up the good work.
Sharon