There are many ways that I could help support and be culturally responsive to this family. I chose five ways that will help me be culturally responsive and build a positive relationship with this family:
- I will research their country of origin which includes the countries culture, economic status, population, history, religion(s), etc.
- I would then hold a meeting with this family and find out more about their personal background and culture. I would like to know more about what their personal beliefs and values are so that their child can be comfortable in my classroom. I would also like to know what their expectations and opinions of early childhood education.
- I would attend conferences and trainings on how to support children and families from other country.
- I would then research more on how to include children from another country especially if their culture is different from the dominant culture in the classroom. This will hopefully give the child a feeling of safety and comfort.
- Lastly, I would also consult with colleagues and other professionals and their experiences with immigrant children and their families. This can help me to build strategies to better support them.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteYou have some great ideas on how to prepare for your family coming from Japan. I think that #2, meeting with the family can be done after they are in the program. Do you think that learning their greeting culture might be helpful, such as do they shake hands and look you in the eye etc? I would suggest that you and the teacher learn a few greeting words to welcome the family into the program.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteThose are great ideas for fostering a healthy learning environment as well as a welcoming one. I can imagine that the family would feel a lot better knowing that you were really trying to connect with them. I didn't even think aout attending seminars and training's to better deal with cultural differences! that was something I'd have to add!
Thanks for your input!
Mitchell