Welcoming Families From Around the World

I have received word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from Senegal and will be entering my preschool classroom soon.  All I know about Senegal is that it is located on the western tip of Africa I want to prepare myself to welcome the child and her family.  Luckily, I am enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated; I need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin. I have created a list of five ways I can prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family.

1)Engage in self-reflection to recognize my own cultural lens and biases. This is a helpful step for me allowing me to explore and reflect upon where any of my assumptions, attitudes and biases come from and in understanding that how I view the world can lead me to misinterpretation of behaviors and inequitable treatment of culturally diverse students and their families.

2)    Gain knowledge of the family’s cultural background can give me  a sense of views about behavior, rules of decorum and etiquette, communication and learning styles; however, I will need to be careful not to form stereotypes. This could be done through research, conducting a home visit,  consultation with parents, and community members to gain insight. Some areas I can explore include:  family background and structure, education, interpersonal relationship styles, discipline, time and space, religion, food, health and hygiene, history, traditions and holidays.Learn a few words or statements in the family’s home language. Translate important school to home information to the family’s home language.

3)    Develop an awareness of the broader, social, economic, and political context in order to address social issues such as racial inequities, poverty, etc.  because the educational system reflects and often perpetuates discriminatory practices of the larger society. For example, I can examine how current policies and practices in discipline might discriminate against the child. I can create a “critical/social justice classroom” grounded in the lives of all the children that involves dialogue, questioning/problem-posing, critiquing bias and attitudes and teaching activism for social justice. For example, I can engage students in a discussion of school or classroom rules. I can commit to being open and honest in answering children’s questions about differences.

4)    Review my curriculum for racial and cultural bias. Add multiple resources that reflect and support the cultural norms of the child and family, such as culturally relevant materials, literature, photos, games, and traditions to the classroom. Create a classroom environment that communicates respect for diversity through anti-bias education.

5)    Begin building trusting relationship with the child and her family keeping in mind to be culturally sensitive to communication styles. Assume that the child’s parents care about their child and have something to offer. Encourage them to provide insight that will help me teach her.

I hope these preparations will provide the child and family with a sense of feeling valued, respected, and safe as well as a sense of connectedness and community while avoiding feelings of marginalization and invisibility. As a result, I will benefit as I gain insight about the child and her family culture that will allow me to facilitate her learning as well as the learning of all students while extending my own learning and fostering acceptance of differences.

 References

Boutte, G. (2008). Beyond the illusion of diversity: How early childhood teachers can promote social justice. Social Studies, 99(4), 165--173.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Academic Search Complete database.

Metropolitan Center for Urban Education. (2008). Culturally Responsive Classroom Management Strategies.  Retrieved from http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/uploads/005/121/

Culturally%20Responsive%20Classroom%20Mgmt%20Strat2.pdf