Welcoming
Families From Around the World
For this assignment
scenario, I have chosen a child of a family that as recently emigrated
from the country of
China. The setting would be a kindergarten classroom. My community has recently seen a
rise in families of Chinese origin relocating to our area. The following ways will help me prepare me to
be culturally responsive towards this new child and her family. First, I would research the cultural
background of this child’s community in China using the internet and community
partners. As an anti-bias teacher, the
goals should easily adapt to the needs of the children of immigrant families
(Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). I
would need to work closely with the family.
Building a personal relationship with the family helps everyone
involved. Learning about the child’s
home culture will help me provide activities to enrich all of the students. We could learn vocabulary, observe specific
holidays, create craft ideas, play specific games, or share authentic foods. I would work with our bilingual teacher or
community partners to promote her home language and bilingual development. I would pay close attention to child’s
specific developmental issues and ensure the necessary services were provided. In addition, it would be necessary to build
awareness and sensitivity to families’ immigration experiences and to the
conditions of their life in the United States.
If necessary, collaborate with community organizations that serve
immigrant families to access local resources and services (Derman-Sparks &
Edwards).
In conclusion, the above strategies would also enhance my
knowledge, as well as, my other students.
This new information would enrich all of our cultural backgrounds. This awareness of diversity would also help
with new students in the future.
References
Derman-Sparks, L.,
& Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias
education for young children and
ourselves. Pages 73-76.
Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young
Children (NAEYC).
Cindy,
ReplyDeleteI think these are very effective strategies to successfully transition the child into the classroom. I especially like the idea of collaborating with community resources and services that the family may require.
Drue
Dru,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your post! You've described a very successful process in becoming a culturally responsive educator for the new family to your learning environment. I specifically appreciate the attention and focus placed on the child and how he or she is doing with regards to developmental progression. That is definitely something that we can not forget to pay attention to! Often, children who are learning ESL (English as a second language) students are challenged academically and may be viewed as being delayed when in essence it is just a communication barrier issue. Being sensitive to that is important to ensure the child reaches success!
Shawna
Cindy, I thought you gave good responsibility ideas when working with families who are culturally different from yourself. It is very important to receive all the information you can from many different sources as well as building a personal relationship with the family.
ReplyDelete