Let's imagine a scenario: I am the director of a preschool and just enrolled a new family. This family, the McConnell's, are from Scotland and their 4 year old daughter, Kellin, will be joining the Pre-Kindergarten class. To prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards the McConnell's, I will do the following:
1. Learn more about Scotland - the typical religion of the country, typical parenting styles/ways children are viewed, how their education system works/what they view as typical with regards to education, common diet, government structure, popular music, etc.
2. Inform the Pre-K teachers of the child's culture and educate them on the facts that I learned about Scotland and ways that they can help Kellin feel welcomed into their classroom.
3. Ensure that their culture is reflected in the classroom so that the child feels valued (ex. pictures of Scotland on the wall, pictures of men in kilts with bagpipes reflected with the rest of the multicultural pictures, a Celtic CD in listening center, etc.
4. Invite and encourage the parents to become a part of the PTA program that we have at our school.
5. Strive to incorporate celebrations for days that Kellin would celebrate were she still living in Scotland, such as May Day.
I believe that by incorporating the five things listed above, the McConnell family, and Kellin, would feel more welcomed. Having a knowledge about their country and their culture would hopefully be appreciated and make them feel accepted and valued. Incorporating specific cultural items and celebrations into the classroom would help Kellin feel more at home and accepted. And by encouraging the McConnell family to become active in the PTA, it would be my hope that they would truly feel welcomed into our community and our school.
Good post! I believe giving everyone the opportunity to make a new family welcomed at the school is the key to success.
ReplyDeleteI believe all the things you have listed would help the child in his learning and settling down. Also it would help the parents to be more opened to the teacher and encourage them to be more involved in their child's education.
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ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post! When I was the director of a child care center, one thing that we did when we had a new family enroll, regardless of where they came from, was ask if they had anything that they would be willing to come in and share with the children. This could be cooking a cultural dish, playing music, reading or sharing stories, arts and crafts, the possibilities were endless! I really enjoyed all of your ideas, and feel that they would feel welcome. Great post!
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