The
Country that my new family has come from is India.
It
is important to be culturally responsive because culture impacts and shapes everything
about us such as attitudes, thoughts, feelings and actions (Department of
Developmental Services, 2007). Therefore, it is clear that people believe,
become who they are and do what they do because of their cultural background. With
this in mind is it very important that individuals that work with families in
the early childhood field are culturally responsive. Following are five ways that I will prepare
myself to ensure that I am welcoming the family in a culturally responsive
manner.
First,
I think just as it is important for me to understand my own biases, I need to
be aware of my own cultural background so that I am aware how my own culture
affects my attitudes and beliefs.
Knowing and understanding my own culture will help me to not dismiss the
importance of others cultures. Further,
being aware will hopefully keep me from focusing on my own culture as the
standard and comparing everyone else to it (Department of Developmental
Services, 2007).
The
second factor that I think would be important would be to research about the
family’s home Country, so that I can learn about the country and it
characteristics.
Third,
I believe that it is very important to make contact with the family before
their first day in my program. This can
be done by telephone, welcome letter and or a home visit. During this contact I will be able to learn more
about the family allowing them to share information about their culture and any
other information they feel is important.
I believe that this will help the new family to feel welcome and allow
them to be a little less overwhelmed when they come to the program on the first
day since they will have met and seen me before.
The
fourth way that I will prepare myself will be to learn some basic words before
meeting with the family, which will allow them to know that I care (Department
of Developmental Services, 2007). When I
meet with the family, I will ask the family to share any words that are
important to them that they would like for me to use in the classroom.
The
fifth factor that I believe will help me to be culturally responsive is to
label the classroom in their language,
hang pictures that display their culture and having diverse learning activities
that recognize their culture such as but not limited to dolls, play food, dress
up clothes, diverse people figures in the block area, puzzles and books . I
would also like to include foods on my menu that are from their culture.
I
hope that these steps will make for an easier transition for the family and
myself. Further, I would hope that the
family will feel welcome and be excited about the educational experience that
their child will gain in their new Country.
I also hope that they will feel comfortable enough to ask any questions
or offer an information that they feel is important. My deepest hope is that the family realizes
that they are important for who they are and that they need to stay true to
their cultural background, as it is who they are and they should not have to
become who they are not!
Reference
Department
of Developmental Services. (2007). How to
be Culturally Responsive. Retrieved from
http://www.dds.ca.gov/Publications/docs/Culturally_Responsive.pdf
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