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I have a very diverse set of students in my preschool classroom, and I am committed to learning as much as possible about each of the children and their families. My co-teacher thinks I am wasting my time and that there is simply no way to learn about all of their backgrounds thoroughly and thoughtfully. Can you provide an explanation I can share with my co-teacher about the importance of learning about children’s cultures on a deep level?
Thank you very much for your question. I believe that the topic that you have raised in your letter is extremely important for the field and that it should be taken into consideration by any tutor working with children. To begin with, you have told me about a kind of conflict that you have with your co-teacher. The reason why your colleague does not support you and your intention to learn about children’s backgrounds in a thoughtful manner may be connected to his or her lack of knowledge on the close correlation between national self-image and proper development of the personality of a child. You know, this topic has been discussed by many authors.
For instance, in their book, Lamb, Sternberg, Hwang, and Broberg (2014) discuss childcare from the point of view of different cultures. To some extent, the book helps to understand intercultural differences deeper. At the same time, it allows realizing that people of different cultures will always be united by love to their children. Taking into consideration the background of the children who you work with is extremely important due to many reasons.
To begin with, when you broaden your mind, it becomes easier for you to communicate to children; using some images that are popular in their native cultures, you can forge a bond of trust easier. Understanding the backgrounds of your pupils may be important not only for your relationships with them. Possessing a substantial knowledge of your pupils’ cultural assumptions, you will also be able to defuse conflicts that occur between children.
If you are interested, you may also read the work by Zhu and Komisarof (2016) where the author tells about her own experience of surmounting intercultural differences. Thus, there are many opportunities to apply your knowledge of your pupils’ background but the thing that makes it important is your ability to communicate with children in a more effective way and prevent the conflicts between them by explaining to them the differences between their cultures and the importance of mutual respect.
I recently moved from a very homogenous suburban school into a very diverse and multilingual urban school environment. I am excited about the dynamic classroom environment and would like to do my best to ensure that all students thrive, no matter what their background. I have heard a lot of discussion about the important role of partnerships between schools or caretakers and families. Can you give me more information about why partnerships between early childhood professionals, schools, and families are so crucial for all children? What are the best practices I can use to engage in this type of interaction?
Thank you for such an interesting question. You are right when you speak about the important role that collaboration between families and schools plays in children’s lives. What is more, it is very good that you would like to take an active part in this collaboration. As for the first part of your question about the importance of collaboration, I can say that there are a lot of sources where this connection is discussed.
It is not always easy to establish good relationships with students’ families and encourage them to be more active. Such collaboration is important as it allows parents to exciting children’s interest in studying and teachers’ work becomes more productive; nevertheless, such process is often connected to a range of barriers, especially if children differ from their peers (Tucker & Schwartz, 2013). In general, a collaboration between parents or other relatives and teachers often helps students to become more successful and motivated. Teachers and parents may exchange information concerning the behavior demonstrated by a child.
There are many situations when children prefer not to tell their parents about certain negative experiences but teachers may help and inform parents about certain conflicts that child has at school. In this situation, parents will be able to have a heart-to-heart talk with their children and explain to them how the conflict can be resolved. To establish contact with your parents’ families, you need to motivate them to be more interested in their children’s school lives but avoid being pushy and criticizing them (Booth & Dunn, 2013, p.57). Furthermore, it may be necessary to organize certain events for students and their parents that will allow you to establish better relationships with them. Also, you can encourage parents to discuss the topic of intercultural differences with their children.
I have a single Muslim child in a classroom that is primarily Christian. The holidays are approaching, and I would like to figure out a way to include the Muslim child in the celebratory environment without imposing religious beliefs on her. While I think it is important for the Christian children to celebrate their own culture, I understand that the Muslim child faces these cultural biases daily, both at school and within the world at large. What advice do you have for me on how cultural discontinuity might influence the Muslim child, and how I can celebrate both cultures at the same time, without making the Muslim child feel “different” or like a burden?
Dear user, the issue that you would like to address is quite difficult as it is connected to the difference of religious beliefs in the community consisting of children. I suppose that it is very good that you care about all of your students. It may be very difficult for children to realize that they are different from classmates and one of the primary tasks of the teacher is to control the situation and be always ready to explain to the children that these differences should not be regarded as real barriers.
Therefore, I suppose that you can do a lot of things to ensure that nobody feels abandoned and underestimated. As for holidays, I guess that it would be unfair to deprive children of positive emotions. Instead, you may organize a special activity program devoted to holidays and their meaning. It will be great if you have a kind of cultural exchange; you may tell Christian children that they need to explain their families’ religious traditions to their Muslim classmates.
For her part, the girl may also prepare a speech and tell her classmates about religious holidays in her culture and their meanings. I guess that it will be interesting for all the children if you pay enough attention to preparation. More than that, it would be great to encourage children to find similarities between their cultures and discuss them to ensure that the key values of their religions are not so different.
Case Study Analysis
According to the key details of the discussed case, Abidah who is four years old has moved with her family to the United States. Although the financial circumstances of her family have changed, her parents decided that she must visit an early childhood care center to get accustomed to American people and their cultural assumptions. Nevertheless, it cannot be said that it is easy for Abidah to understand and accept the differences between her family and other people living in the United States; first, it is still difficult for her to understand English and she is almost deprived of an opportunity to study it at home as her family members prefer speaking Arabic.
The teacher is worried because of the situation as she supposes that these circumstances and Abidah’s caregivers’ unwillingness to help her to become culturally integrated and feel that she is now a part of this society may pose a threat to her successful personal development in the future. Speaking about the assumptions that the teacher has made about the cultural identity of Abidah’s family, it is necessary to analyze the primary problems that she identifies in her report.
To begin with, as it follows from the first note included in her report, the teacher supposes that the relationships between the members of Abidah’s family are trust-based but it may have a negative influence on her communication with her American peers. As the teacher notices, the girl is quite dependent on her older relatives, especially on her grandmother. Having observed the girl’s strange behavior (when she preferred to be carried around instead of walking) the teacher assumed that the girl’s relatives did not make attempts to make her more independent; among other reasons, it could be connected to family’s cultural assumptions that were different from ones common in the United States.
To continue, the teacher supposes that Abbie’s parents are quite close-minded when it comes to the traditions of their nation. As the teacher believes, it may be connected to the fact that it is still difficult for their daughter to speak English. There is no doubt that the teacher assumes that Abidah’s parents are educated and intelligent people. Despite that, in her opinion, it cannot be said that they do their best to help their daughter to integrate into a new culture as soon as possible. To be more precise, the teacher thinks that the girl’s parents are not ready to talk with their children only in English to help them to address the problems that may occur during their communication with American people.
In the end, the teacher assumes that Abidah’s grandmother does not want her granddaughter’s view of life to change under the influence of Western lifestyle and values. It cannot be denied that everyone has the right to support a certain opinion. Nevertheless, in some cases, the assumptions that people make prevent them from seeing the situation in its true colors.
Speaking about the suggestions that the teacher has made about Abidah’s family and their cultural identity, it is necessary to understand that they may also influence the way of how she communicates to the girl and the members of her family. On the one hand, the assumptions that she has made encourage the teacher to state the problem that bothers her and start searching for the solution that will help the girl to become more active and communicate freely with other children who visit early childhood care centers. Moreover, the assumptions that she makes indicate that she is concerned about the lives of the children visiting her classes.
Nevertheless, the discussed suggestions may also make it more difficult for her to communicate with Abbie’s parents and grandmother effectively. It can happen because the assumptions that she has made about the girl’s family so far make her see these people as ones who demonstrate a certain unwillingness to change their attitudes and behavior to meet the requirements of a new cultural environment. Furthermore, certain conclusions that the teacher has made about Abbie’s grandmother and her attitudes towards everything that exceeds the scope of her cultural assumptions do not seem to be well-founded enough; in fact, the teacher had not an opportunity to discuss anything related to Abbie and her behavior with her grandmother due to a language barrier that exists between them.
Taking that into consideration, many of her assumptions seem to be caused by her prejudgment, and this is why her attitudes may prevent her from arriving at an understanding with Abidah’s grandmother. As for her communication with the child, these assumptions may also have a negative influence because the girl may understand that her teacher does not believe her grandmother to be the best caregiver for her. Consequently, she may start thinking poorly of her teacher and it may cause even more serious problems that can trouble her communication with Americans.
As it is clear from the report presented by the teacher, the girl has been visiting the early childhood care center for more than four weeks. Although this period is relatively short, there have already been many situations that could have a negative influence on Abbie’s ability to integrate into the classroom. Even though the teacher does her best to ensure that all the children feel good and there are no conflicts between them, there is a probability that her unintentional bias or lack of knowledge may put Abidah in an awkward position.
Worse still, it may encourage other children from the group to think that she has nothing in common with them. Thus, there was a situation when Abidah was unable to use flatware; instead, she was eating with her hands and it was met with derision. Then, the teacher explained to the children that eating with hands was usual for Abidah’s native culture. I guess that such an explanation can make children think that people belonging to this culture are uncivilized or ill-mannered.
I guess that it would be better for the teacher to make up another explanation or just distract children’s attention from this situation. What is more, there was a situation when Abbie found a boy who could understand Arabic. The teacher intended to let them speak in Arabic. On the one hand, it is important for the girl to feel that she is not alone; nevertheless, if children start speaking the language that nobody else understands, it may be taken as the disregard for other people who are present. Thus, other children may not want to play with her or talk to her. I suppose that the teacher’s decision to let the children speak in Arabic can significantly inhibit Abbie’s ability to integrate into the classroom and get across to her American peers.
Furthermore, there is another situation that can make Abbie’s integration less successful. As it is clear from the teacher’s weekly report, she is planning to encourage children to discuss their national identity and specific assumptions peculiar to their cultures in class. On the face of it, such a decision seems to be important and beneficial for all the children visiting early childhood care centers as it allows them to understand differences and similarities between the cultures better.
At the same time, I suppose that such measure cannot be regarded as the best one if we take into consideration Abbie’s situation. It is clear that due to specific circumstances and the lack of knowledge of the English language, Abbie is not ready to give any speeches; she may feel awkward and other children’s reactions to her attempts at delivering the speech may disappoint her. As we see, the teacher develops the strategy of helping the girl to become an important part of the community as soon as possible based on her noble intentions. Despite that, certain negative situations may occur due to the lack of understanding demonstrated by the teacher and this is why she must pay increased attention to the possible consequences of her actions.
Having analyzed this situation, it is possible to state that we cannot overestimate the influence of the culture gap and culture discontinuity on children and their families. Thus, speaking about the given case, it is necessary to say that this gap remains the primary reason that prevents the teacher and the girl’s family from establishing contact and making the decision related to the best strategy that needs to be implemented both during the classes and at home. Because of cultural discontinuity, children may sometimes feel that they are not appreciated and their opinions are not considered as important because they differ from their classmates.
Worse still, in some cases, it may even cause depression. As for the families of such children, it often happens that they feel the same. Trying to help their daughters and sons, they often try to create a positive atmosphere at home by attracting children’s attention to the key values of their cultures and speaking only their native language. Nevertheless, these measures may generate an inverse effect and become a kind of obstruction that makes the integration process even more difficult. As it is clear from the discussed case, Abbie’s relatives also try to calm her down in such a way but it does not seem to give positive results.
Recommendations
Having analyzed the case described in the report and other documents, it is necessary to develop a few recommendations that will allow the teacher to address the challenge and help the girl to be comfortable with the new conditions.
First, the teacher needs to make informed decisions related to the area of cultural and social identity. It could be important to know more about the intercultural communication skills of the teacher who works with Abidah to give more detailed recommendations. Nevertheless, as it follows from the given materials, she is not likely to have vast experience in this area, and her inability to establish contact with the family of the girl seems to present an important problem.
To begin with, she must do her best to collaborate with Abidah’s family. As it follows from many works, teachers need to develop certain characteristics to be ready to establish effective relationships with their students’ families (De Bruïne, Willemse, D’Haem, & Van Eynde, 2014). To do that, the teacher from the discussed case may choose from a variety of practices that will help her to increase expert knowledge in the field.
Thus, she may review the recent studies outlining the most effective approaches to collaboration with students’ parents and other relatives. To encourage Abidah’s family to collaborate with the teacher, it is necessary to focus on establishing contact with her parents as it seems to be easier to communicate with them due to their language proficiency level that is higher than that of the girl’s grandmother. Thus, it is essential to invite the girl’s parents to the center and discuss their daughter’s behavior and relationships with other children from the group. At this point, it may be important to motivate the girl’s parents.
To do that and ensure that they will do everything they can to ameliorate the situation, it is necessary to explain to them that nothing can be done without their help and that it is their task to help their daughter to become more open towards the American culture. Nevertheless, the teacher should be really careful while communicating with Abidah’s parents because there can be certain intercultural differences that may encourage them to react in a way that is not the most appropriate from the point of view of Americans. Thus, to be ready to address possible challenges, the teacher has to make her research into the values of Abidah’s native culture.
I am sure that extending the knowledge on the assumptions common for this nation will turn out to be an extremely effective measure. Due to that, the teacher will be able to demonstrate awareness of the values of this particular family and they will want to show her their respect and consider her feedback. Once the contact is established, it will be easier for them to develop and implement the proper strategy together.
Another important recommendation that can be mentioned is connected to dual language development. Abidah must improve her English to become a part of her new community. Certain methods can be used by the teacher and Abidah’s parents to help the girl to start speaking both languages fluently. First, it is important to encourage the girl’s parents to start using English to communicate with their daughter at home more often.
Besides, it may be necessary to make up a game where the child will be required to translate notions and remember new words and pay attention to other activities such as reading and inventing the stories (Buysse, Peisner-Feinberg, Páez, Hammer, & Knowles, 2014). Finally, the teacher may ask the boy from her group who also speaks Arabic to help Abidah to understand something that seems difficult to her.
References
Booth, A., & Dunn, J. F. (2013). Family-school links: How do they affect educational outcomes? New York, NY: Routledge.
Buysse, V., Peisner-Feinberg, E., Páez, M., Hammer, C. S., & Knowles, M. (2014). Effects of early education programs and practices on the development and learning of dual language learners: A review of the literature. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(4), 765-785.
De Bruïne, E. J., Willemse, T. M., D’Haem, J., & Van Eynde, S. (2014). Preparing teacher candidates for family–school partnerships. European Journal of Teacher Education, 37(4), 409-425.
Lamb, M. E., Sternberg, K. J., Hwang, C. P., & Broberg, A. G. (2014). Child care in context: Cross-cultural perspectives. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Tucker, V., & Schwartz, I. (2013). Parents’ perspectives of collaboration with school professionals: Barriers and facilitators to successful partnerships in planning for students with ASD. School Mental Health, 5(1), 3-14.
Zhu, H., & Komisarof, A. (2016). Crossing boundaries and weaving intercultural work, life, and scholarship in globalizing universities. London, UK: Routledge.
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