Welcoming Families From Around the World

In this week's scenario, I have chosen that I am working within a childcare center that is seeking a quality education for their child within an environment that will respect their home culture, yet teach them about the cultural climate within the United States. Keeping in mind that culture pertains to the beliefs, artifacts values, languages, religions, music, and food of different people--it is important to incorporate a respect for the many layers of culture (Smidt, 2006). 

Family's Country of Origin: Sri Lanka  

To properly Prepare myself to be culturally responsive for the family I can:

• In lieu of the fact that children construct their identities from the different cultural experiences that they encounter within their lives, it is important to make sure that they [the children] are seeing themselves within that cultural climate within the classroom (Smidt, 2006). I would first perform some basic research to find out as much information I could about the families country. 
• I would next perform an intake interview, in order to learn as much as I could about the family and as much as I could about their cultural heritage (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).  Gaining an initial understanding will help the families to establish an initial line of communication.    
• I would then begin to construct a curriculum that had  activities and cultural to both educate and learn about the country where they are from, 
• Because language is extremely powerful and is needed to push forward through all communication lines, It thinks that learning about the child and their family's language will not only show inclusion but will also help the child to feel continued pride within his/her own heritage
• I would create an evaluation each month to find out if the needs are being met for the children and their families, that way any accommodations can be made if the families feel that something is needed to best incorporate their cultures and learning styles within the learning experience (Miranda, 2010).

I hope that these implementations will not only make a smooth transition for the family within the United States, but I also hope that it will show the child and their family that we welcome their culture within the classroom first and our culture second, so that they do not feel as if we forced our cultural ways upon their life!

References:

The Developing Child in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective on Child Development

Chapter 6, "The Child in Culture" (pp. 84--100)

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Miranda, E. (2010). Going global in Arlington, Virginia. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 4(2), 219-226.