As individuals our values, beliefs, religion and culture
are different. The consequences I might expect for the children and families
for whom I serve would be language barriers and communicating effectively with
families. Culturalism would be an “ism” I might expect consequences in with the
children and families I serve from experience. What I believe may be different
from what they believe. So as an early childhood professional I will need to be
sensitive and non-judgmental towards their views. One year I served a family
whose religion did not observe holidays and birthdays. During orientation we
talked about the different activities we would have during the year. So this
child and their family would be included and would participate we renamed some of the
activities. The Easter egg hunt was called a scavenger hunt and Mardi Gras
parade was called the shoebox float parade. If the child was not able to
participate we would send home the same treat bag as the other children
received but it would be up to the parent to give it to the child.
Two years ago I had the opportunity to serve a Spanish
child and their family. I felt bad because I only knew a few words in Spanish
and did not understand any that were spoken to me. The first time I met the
parents the only thing the mother did was smile and nod her head. So I didn’t know
if they understood what I was saying or not. During that time I felt like I was
not in a position to help the child nor their family because I could not
communicate effectively with them. To try and understand I would use the Spanish
dictionary, google for phrases and translate newsletters in Spanish for the
family to understand what was going on in the classroom. After several months passed
the district hired a translator. I felt comfortable knowing there was someone
to translate for the family and I if there were concerns or activities going
on in the class. The translator was able to attend conferences to keep the
family abreast of what the child was learning. We also implemented Spanish into
our curriculum with months, days of the week, numbers and color words. Our
learning environment was labeled in English and Spanish too. These are
consequences I might face while working with children and their families.
Ebony, I applaud you for your efforts to communicate with the family that spoke Spanish. I can relate to having a hard time communicating with families due to a language barrier. I have had families that nod and smile also when I speak with them and I can remember agreeing and smiling also even if I did not understand what was being communicated to me. I agree that language barriers can be somewhat non-benefical to the family esecially with non effective communication from the lack of understanding. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI also have many students/families that speak another language and the way I am trying to work through it is by learning basic phrases for daily communications. This is something that I feel is helping to make us all more willing to interact and share with each other. I think we have all had at least one family that communicated with smiles and nodding. It is so important for us to step forward first towards our families.
ReplyDeleteHi Ebony, I have had similar experiences with religion in the program I am working in now. It wasn't quite as easy for me to accommodate some of these beliefs into this particular program based on the participation in larger events by three different centers. However, I did work closely with this family and staff to ensure that their beliefs were being recognized and understood by peers, staff, and other families in the program, especially when she was not able to participate and other plans needed to be made. I am waiting for one whole day to pass without a challenge of some sort...its bound to happen eventually!
ReplyDeleteEbony,
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm impressed with the effort you made to stay in contact with the Spanish speaking families. Seems like you truly made an effort in order to understand them better and for them to understand you better too. It's always difficult when others speak a language that you don't fully understand but there are things we can do to help and it seems like you did those things. Good for you!
That is wonderful! You made great effort to communicate with your student's family.
ReplyDeleteOne of our assistants speaks Spanish. We would be lost without her!! We are reminded of how much we need her when she is absent from the classroom.
Thanks for sharing.
Namaste
Thanks for touching on the issue of culture and how it affects children's development. Being a culturally responsive early childhood professional can be challenging at times due to the fact that the way we address culture in children's learning environment can either influence them to experience cultural continuity or cultural discontinuity. Knowing this, it is our job as early childhood professional to include all children and their families' culture in the learning environment as an attempt provide children the opportunity to develop their individual social identities as well as influence a feeling of positive self-worth.
ReplyDelete