Welcoming
Families From Around the World
My
early childhood setting takes place within a child care center. I have received
word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country I
know nothing about will join my group soon. In preparation, I prepare myself to
welcome the child and her family. Luckily, I have 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.
The name of
the country of origin I chose is “Aruba”. This is a country that I know
little about except that many Americans tour this country and I have heard that
the weather is beautiful. I wanted to know more about the culture, people and
country to see what it has to offer.
Some of
the ways in which I can prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards the
family is that I would begin to read about the culture and language via various
resources. I would look to find what significance the country and culture
has. In particular, the country is both multi-lingual and multi-cultural.
There are 4 different languages spoken to include, Dutch, Spanish, Papiamento,
and English. Familiarizing myself with some of the basic terminology in these
languages (English, Dutch and Spanish) would be a start and would help me to
understand the family dynamics. Another approach would be to learn of some
of the cultural meanings. I would find and gather items that represent the
country and place them in the day care room and ensure that the family/child
has some things that they can identify with that is familiar to them. I would
also see if I could find someone that is familiar with the culture/language and
probe and ask questions that would help me to communicate and understand the
family better. I would also want to find out more about the family and
would have them fill out a questionnaire prior to me meeting with them. This
would help me to at least see ahead of time some of the family’s interests and
needs which would help with the interview and personal contact.
All of
these practices will allow me to become better prepared, acquainted and
possibly feel more at ease if I prepared ahead of time and take the time to
find out about the family. Learning about their likes, dislikes,
customs, and/or things that we may do or not do that may be offensive is
well worth exploring prior to my visit with the family.
Hi Barbara,
ReplyDeleteDoing your research on a place such as Aruba is important I think. As you said, it is quite the tourist area, and it would be easy to take what you see in movies on news in regards to tourism to be the extent of your research. Digging deeper into the culture is a great way to really get to know where the family is coming from. I did not realize they had four main languages in Aruba, it'd be good to get practice and learn a little of each, and then find out which is the primary language of the family. I agree that it is important to have pieces of the culture in the classroom to make the child feel safe and respected, especially since he or she will be missing their home where they are coming from!
Very nice job! I found your post to be very thoughtful and interesting. When I think about Aruba, I can’t help but to think of it as it pertains to a tourist destination and not as a place were culture and diversity exists. One thing I really liked about this assignment, and you make clear, is that many of the places we think of as places to visit, vacation, and travel through are the home of the people that inhabit them. I had to reflect back on the several cruises that my wife and I have made in the Caribbean and the fact that I can’t help regretting that we did not learn more about the culture of the islands we visited. We only saw them as destinations for tourism and not the homes of those that lived there. If I am ever fortunate to travel to foreign lands again, I am going to take the time to learn about the people who live there. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteKenny Prowse
Barbara -
ReplyDeleteYour post is very thoughtful. From completing this assignment I see that we all have the same idea about becoming familiar with the new culture. Researching cultures is such a great way to familiarize ourselves with the basics.
Having a family fill out a questionnaire is a great way to learn some more personal things about the child(ren) who will be attending a new school. Through this questionnaire we can learn about activities, languages, favorite foods, music, sports, and so much more. Knowing about these activities can be a great conversation starter between the class and their new peer.
Thank you for your thoughts!