A Family from Japan
I chose to have my family come from Japan.
Ways to be Culturally Responsive:
1. Research the culture.
2. Invite the family into the classroom. I will need to better understand the Japanese culture, when it comes to education. I read on the CIA website that the most followed religions are Shintoism and Buddhism. This will make celebrating holidays and events very foreign to my new student. Christianity and Judaism are the most acceptably celebrated by schools in America and our calendar follows the events of each religion accordingly. To be prepared I will need to know what holidays they do or do not celebrate and understand their values so not to offend them (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html).
3. Two-way communication in response to family's spoken language. First I must find out if the child and parents speak English. If this is not the case, information for the parents have to be translated. If I must speak with parents in a conference, I will also need a translator.
4. When in class I will have a few key words and phrases that will allow me to communicate with the child and that they will learn over time. This will help with continually trying to integrate the student's culture in the classroom. Also, learning phrases that the child speaks it important as well. It is key to have rituals and routines for this child to begin to understand what to do in a non-verbal way.
5. Develop creative and alternative ways for student to show what they know and what they have learned (NAEYC, 2009). In America, teachers single out students to make them more comfortable and develop a relationship with them in the ECE field. In Japan, education is focused on the group and all the teachers are cohesively teaching the same thing (http://japanese.about.com/od/japaneselessons/a/061000.htm). Through observation of play and small group interactions from student to student and teacher to student I will be able to better understand how to support the student.
My preparations will benefit me and the family because they will see that I am making a concerted effort to include their child and understand their differences. Hopefully the parents will feel supported rather than excluded from the culture of the classroom. This will better the student's relationship with their peers and teachers. Also, it will help the student transfer from home to school easier because their will be similarities between the two.
References
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2009). Where we stand on responding to cultural and linguistic diversity.
http://japanese.about.com/od/japaneselessons/a/061000.htm
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html
Alyssa-
ReplyDeleteI believe you have wonderful ways to prepare yourself and your environment to be culturally responsive. You touched on the child’s holidays. Within in your classroom would you celebrate all of the holidays the children in your care celebrated? Would you not celebrate any holidays? After communicating with the family about their holidays, would you invite them into the classroom to teach a lesson for the class or would you do your own research and teach your class? As discussed earlier in this class holidays are a touchy subject within the school system and everyone seems to have their own opinions and ways of responding to the celebrating holidays inside the classroom. What are your thoughts?
Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteThe education process is viewed differently I some cultures. In the U.S. we have an individualistic culture focusing on the child’s independence, whereas other cultures are more group oriented with focus on what is beneficial to the group. Great Post!