Welcoming Families From Around the World
"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."
The family's country of origin is Algeria, which is located on the continent of Africa.
In order to prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this Algerian family I will
The family's country of origin is Algeria, which is located on the continent of Africa.
Courtesy of Google Maps
In order to prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this Algerian family I will
- Recognize, understand, acknowledge, and respect their diverse cultural and learning styles (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).
- Adapt my interactions with the child and family based on their culture and expectations (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).
- Respect their language and be patient with the acquisition of English, because it is challenging to be thrust into a new culture and learn a new language. I also plan on encouraging the child to use both languages when possible, so they do not lose their Native language.
- Avoid and eliminate any stereotypes or expectations I may have about them.
- Prepare myself to understand that they have different customs and values, which may differ than mine.
I believe these statements will benefit both me and the family because they are culturally sensitive and accepting. Living in a new country can be scary and intimidating, and I want my classroom to be a comfortable and welcoming environment where they feel safe to be themselves. There are many things I had not thought about prior to this course, regarding cultural sensitivity and bias. However, I am aware of the different steps I should take in order to prepare myself to be accepting and culturally responsive towards all families no matter their background.
Reference
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).
ReplyDeleteTara
Great Blog as always. I feel that all cultures are sensitive in some way or another and some more than others. Avoiding stereotypes within the classroom should be provided within the curriculum by teaching all the children how to respect and learn more about one another culture values and beliefs. Not only would the children learn but the educators would as well.
Tara,
ReplyDeleteI think you addressed a great point that being in a new country is intimidating as adult, and can only imagine how it may feel as a child being uprooted in to a new environment where the language you were just barely learning has completely changed to a new language. I agree that respecting their language and being patient with their language acquisition is so important. Often times, I have parents who are embarrassed with their English, and I often praise them from picking it up so quickly since I would not be able to pick up another language as quickly. Being culturally sensitive is important because their culture and expectations for children may be different from our own.
Tara, thank you for sharing how you would prepare for a new student from another country. I also choose Algeria! I think eliminating any stereotypes or expectations you may have about this family is very important as we have been learning that our bias can impact our actions. I think this is also important to discuss with your current students as they may have thoughts about what they feel this new student may be like. Not only should the teacher feel prepared, but the students need to be prepared for a new student as well!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Bri
Tara,
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that you stated you would encourage the child to use both languages. In my experiences, many families begin to use English with the child in hopes that the child will learn it faster. While the child may learn English faster, they begin to lose their native language, so I always encourage families to speak the native language at home and we will do English at school. This way the child can learn both languages simultaneously. Isn't the brain of a child incredible??