1. Harmonizing Cultural Diversity for Sensitive Infant Care
Welcome!
Harmonizing Cultural Diversity
for Sensitive Infant Care
Developed by Janet Gonzalez-Mena and Senta Greene. © 2017, WestEd, The Program for Infant/Toddler Care.
This document may not be reproduced for educational purposes.

2. Agenda Opening Remarks Session Goals Climate of Care Agreements
“Thinking in Images”
Definition of Terms
Culturally Responsive Care and Identity Formation
Child Rearing Practices
Training Strategies and Resources
Harmonizing: Revisiting the Title of the Session
Wrap-up and Evaluation

3. This document may be reproduced for educational purposes.
Goals of Session
Allow participants to experience a session on diversity that goes beneath the surface into deep underlying issues of race, culture, and class.
Invite participants to critically examine their beliefs, information, and biases to deepen their understanding of cultural competence.
Increase participants understanding of the critical role that caregivers play in the process of infants’ identity development.
Explore with participants how stereotypes and belief systems influence each person’s ability to communicate with people different from themselves and work cross racially and cross culturally.
Explore cultural competency in caregiving practices and how to use a process to communicate around differences.
Expose participants to a variety of training strategies and materials to help them plan their own workshop.
Developed by Janet Gonzalez-Mena and Douglas Quiett. © WestEd, The Program for Infant/Toddler Care.
This document may be reproduced for educational purposes.

4. Climate of Care
We each bring our life experiences and different perspectives to this training session. These differences provide a wealth of real situations, specific challenges, and practical strategies in providing services to infants, toddlers, and their families. This session is a special opportunity to share and refine our skills in harmonizing cultural diversity for sensitive infant care.
Adapted from Project Craft, California State University, Northridge.
This document may be reproduced for educational purposes.

5. This document may be reproduced for educational purposes.
“Thinking in Images”
Take a moment and reflect on the word culture. Share an image of an object, a symbol, or word that best captures what culture means to you. Share your response with your neighbor.
Developed by Senta Greene. © 2013, WestEd, The Program for Infant/Toddler Care.
This document may be reproduced for educational purposes.

6. Definition of Terms Bias Culture Cultural Competence Dominant Group
Ethnicity
Ethnocentrism
Equity
Gender Identity
Internalized Oppression
Oppression
Prejudice
Race
Social Inequity

7. CHILDHOOD CONDITIONING
No human being is born with racist, sexist and other oppressive attitudes.
As children, we received messages both overt and subtle that conditioned us to think about people different from ourselves in stereotypical ways.
The messages were not necessarily intentional.
We got those messages family, friends, from the society-at-large – from TV, from textbooks…
Our responses to stereotypes affected how we saw people, felt about them and automatically responded to them.
It is possible to get off of automatic, become aware of our reactions and make choices about how to respond.
Adapted from Project Craft, California State University, Northridge.

8. When the family’s culture is ignored or when infant care teachers react to children who are culturally different from them as though they are deficient, underdeveloped, or incompetent, children experience problems in communication, in getting their needs met, and in establishing relationships.
~ Carol Brunson Day

9. Child Rearing Matrix

10. Reflections from Your Experience…
What were some things you noticed during this experience?
What do you know now that you didn’t know before?
What part of this experience was most valuable for you?
How does this experience further inform your practices with infants/toddlers and their families?

11. Cultural Feeding Practices

12. Image 1: Cultural Feeding Practices

13. Image 2: Cultural Feeding Practices

14. “Cultural Assumptions”
Assumptions are beliefs which are completely accepting within the group that they do not need to be stated, questioned or defended.

15. Negotiating Cultural Differences and Nuances

16. Preserving diversity
is a survival issue!
(for all of us!)

17. CULTURAL BUMP INSTEAD OF CULTURAL CONFLICT

18. DAP
CAP
Versus
equals
Dualistic Thinking

19. DAP
CAP
and
equals
Holistic Thinking

20. What do you want to remember most from what you just heard?

21. “Eight Considerations for Equity Identity Formation in Infant-Toddler Programs”

22. Let’s Think About This Together…

23. Planning Your Own Training
Tips, Ideas,
and Resources
Planning Your Own Training

24. “Harmonizing: Revisiting the
Title of the Session”

25. Wrap-Up, Reflections, and Evaluation
Children see themselves only as they are seen by the adults in their lives. When children see themselves through culturally responsive eyes, they will see their real power.
~ Carol Brunson Day