The name of “your” family’s country of origin
The country I chose is Italy.
At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family
1. I would set my classroom up to welcome all countries.
2. I would try to find out more about the visiting families like, foods they eat, and how they dress.
3. I know that I an early educator, so I would research early childhood programs from all countries and try to incorporate literature from those countries.
4. I would prepare my other students to welcome our guess by teaching them something about all countries so that wherever the child is coming from my student will act accordingly.
5. I would prepare foods from different countries, this way I will have food from their country and foo from other countries to expose the family to different types of food to show the them the diversity of having a meal like they do in their country.
“Cultural responsiveness refers to the ability to take a person’s culture and help that person infuse it into another culture, making it uniquely one. To do this, one must allow for diverse ways of thinking and doing. Respect for the other person’s culture is ranked number one on Nueman’s (1999) list. Teachers must respect and recognize the need to build on what a child already knows about their own language, in order to incorporate the new knowledge. This premise is also supported in an article by Au (1998).”
“According to Au, students achieve better if bi-literacy is attainable. Students only need to learn to read and write once. This knowledge is then transferable from one language to another. In this way students build on their strengths in their home language and add it to what they are learning in the new language. ”
“The benefits of this approach are two- fold. First the student feels valued because their culture is acknowledged. They are able to show what they know. Self-confidence and self-esteem are kept intact. Parents of those students are more likely to get involved as well because they see that their culture is valued and that they too can contribute.” (Neuman,1999)
‘Secondly, with this approach students can maintain and extend literacy in their native language even after they are literate in English. This is a plus for all. Too often students learn English and neglect their native tongue to the detriment of being able to communicate effectively with parents, relatives and others from their culture. What research purports as truth; bi-literacy is best for students, (Au,1998) often doesn’t happen in classrooms throughout the United States. Children are taught English and then lose their native languages, especially in the area of writing. Therefore, a balance of instruction in English as well as the native language must be maintained in order for bi-literacy to become feasible.”
A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family.
I would want the family to feel welcome and not miss their home before they have an opportunity to learn about my country so when they do return home they will have good memories about our teachers, our language, and early childhood programs.
Culturally Responsive retrieved from http://msit.gsu.edu/readingprograms/benchmark/analysis/cultural.htm
I was very interested to read about the importance of bi-literacy, as I agree that this is not supported in many U.S. schools. It reminds me of a student I worked with who struggled with writing and reading comprehension because his parents were native Spanish speakers (he often served as their translator) but in school he only spoke and heard English. As a result, his depth of understanding either language was severely compromised, and he eventually ended up receiving special education services. I think it could have been avoided had he had bilingual support in his schooling. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteCaroline when I first learned about cildren spealing I was pretty amazed. When I started studying ECE I could not stop watch videos of these children. I am learning more about young children and their abilities every day. Thanks for reading and responding to my post.
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. I really think that it is important to invite families to come into classrooms to share important things about their cultures. I also like the idea of trying different foods from other cultures; which will make these families feel welcomed.
Thanks Linda. I am really learning to enjoy what I can do with children. I would have not known that children of such a young age have the talents and ability of much older children. When I was young all we did was play. Afte homework of course. Today learnng is fun and play is a very important tool for young children today.
DeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I like the point you made about preparing food from different countries to make the family feel welcome. That is also a great way to get families to come into the classroom and bring a food from their country that they like to share. I think I will have a drop in close to Thanksgiving and have my families bring in a dish from their country to share with the other children and their families.
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