1. Diversity and ECE

2. Today’s Agenda NAEYC recommendations for working with Families
How to think about diversity
NAEYC recommendations for diversity

3. How do you celebrate Christmas?
In groups of 2 – 3 people, please share your family’s traditions for celebrating Christmas. Please consider both the special traditions your family follows, and when they take place. Please also consider the traditions surrounding gift-giving.

4. NAEYC Recommendations for Working with Children
Recognize all children are cognitively, linguistically, and emotionally connected to the language and culture of their home
Acknowledge that children can demonstrate their knowledge and capabilities in many ways
Understand that without comprehensible input, second language learning can be difficult

5. NAEYC Recommendations for Working with Families
Actively involve parents and families in the early learning program and setting.
Encourage and assist all parents in becoming knowledgeable about the cognitive value for children of knowing more than one language, and provide them with the strategies to support, maintain, and preserve home-language learning
Recognize that parents and families must rely on caregivers and educators to honor and support their children in the cultural values and norms of the home

6. Partnerships with families
How they support children
Higher preschool performance and promotion to next grade
More positive engagements with peers, adults and learning
Buffers negative impact of poverty on academic and behavioral outcomes
Benefits persist over time

7. Successful family partnerships
Two-way dialogue
Team-oriented approach
Relationship between educator/caregiver and family
Not parent education
Parent education implies professional has all the answers
Disregards the knowledge-base and strengths of the family

8. Ways about thinking about diversity in early childhood education….
Multiculturalism
Interculturalism
Cultural Context
Reflection
(Pociano & Shabzian, 2012)

9. Multiculturalism
Focuses on the creation of equal educational opportunities and positive attitudes toward differences

10. Interculturalism Adds a new layer for addressing diversity
Attends to the bi-directionality necessary for sharing cultures
Promotes understanding, equality, harmony, and justice in diverse societies

11. Cultural Context
No one individual fully represents an ethnicity, culture or race
Includes all aspects of a child’s cultural identity that are unique and influential, including ethnicity, race, primary language, family composition, socioeconomic status, and special needs
More variation within cultural groups than between cultural groups

12. Ability to think critically about oneself and others.
Reflection
Ability to think critically about oneself and others.
Contributes to thinking about alternative perspectives and informs decision making

13. Why Early Intercultural Experiences?
Infancy
Infants distinguish themselves from others
Toddlerhood
Can discern racial differences and gender labels
Do not understand what these constructs mean
Preschool
Children actively construct own self identities by examining their similarities and differences with others
Often ask others about their racial, linguistic and gender attributes
Aware of family structures and socio-economic differences and values society attaches to them
Why Early Intercultural Experiences?

14. What does an intercultural classroom look like?
Time is set aside regularly for children and teachers to share significant items from home with the group
Pictures of the group’s children and families in the classroom and out, sharing aspects of their cultural context
Have individualized picture books of children’s families that show important people and pets
Include the cultural tools used in home-based daily routines, such as eating
Provide children with opportunities to share songs, stories, and language from their cultural context with their peers and teachers
Engage in culturally familiar activities
Introduce different cultures through stories and games

15. NAEYC Policy Recommendations
Incorporate cultural competence in EC standards
Require all EC staff to understand first and second language development
Continue to monitor the growth and achievement of young ELL children
Require cross-cultural or inter-cultural competent staff
Recruit and retain additional EC staff at all levels who are representative of the cultural and linguistic background of the children in your program

16. NAEYC Practice Recommendations
STRENGTH-BASED APPROACH***
including cultures = enriches program; different does not mean dysfunctional
Self-Reflection (own background, history, stereotypes, values, customs, behaviors)
Open Communication
Include Family in Curriculum Development
surveys, questionnaires (What are your family’s goal for your child; work together to achieve)

17. Guidelines for fostering cultural awareness
Get to know, appreciate, and respect the cultural backgrounds of your children.
Recognize that all children are unique.
Infuse culture into your lesson planning, teaching, and care-giving.
Use children’s interests and experiences to form a basis for planning lessons and developing activities.

18. Guidelines for Fostering Cultural Awareness (cont’d)
Use authentic situations to provide for cultural learning and understanding.
Use authentic assessment activities to fully assess children’s learning and growth.
Be a role model by accepting, appreciating, and respecting other languages and cultures.
Be knowledgeable about, proud of, and secure in your own culture.