Post on 28-Dec-2015
ESSENTIAL CONNECTIONS:Ten Keys to
Culturally Sensitive Child Care
The Program for Infant Toddler Caregivers
Developed Collaboratively by the California Department of Education and WestEd
Essential Connections:
Essential Connections
Cultural/Family Information
Environments
Representative Staffing
Small Groups
Clarify Values
Your Beliefs
Negotiate Conflicts
Others Perspectives
Home Language
Cultural Consistency
Keep in mind…
• This video has a focus on the care for infants and toddlers.
• Rules and environments in child care settings usually represent the dominant culture.
• Families vary tremendously in how they follow cultural rules.
Key #1: Provide Cultural Consistency
Young children need to feel good about where they
come from.
Yolanda Torres
• “The child’s culture is tied into the self-esteem. This is what we are looking at right from the beginning – to make a child feel good about himself”
• “ If you shame a child because he is using his own language, you are telling the child that his parents don’t know how to raise him.”
Carol Brunson Phillips
“Teach children in a culturally consistent context, rather than teach culture to children. This means that the context of child care needs to be consistent with the child’s home context.”
Key #2: Work Toward Representative Staffing
• Employ caregivers who are of the same culture and who speak the same language as the children served.
• Seek cultural representation at all levels of staff and management.
Louise Derman-Sparks
• “We have to look at every aspect of policies and practices…how we recruit staff, train them, pay them, the working conditions, who are supervisors…”
Key #3Create Small Groups
• All infants benefit from small groups.
• Large groups are chaotic and confusing.
• In small groups caregivers have fewer cultures to relate to.
• Small groups prevent misunderstandings.
Key #4: Use the Child’s Home Language
• Home language supports the child’s identification with her family and culture.
• Infants needs are met when home and childcare use the home language.
• Infants feel powerful and self confident when their words are understood.
What If We Don’t Speak the Same Language?
• Translate all written information.
• Find an interpreter.
• Learn basic “toddler” vocabulary.
Key #5: Make Environments Relevant
• Materials should reflect the children and families you serve.
• Materials should reflect their culture.
• Develop an environment that focuses on the families in care.
Carol Brunson Phillips
• “..for very young children it is the interactions that communicate the culture in the child’s world.”
Key #6Uncover Your Cultural Beliefs
• What are the roots of your child care practices?
• What cultural values are reflected in your caregiving?
Lily Wong Fillmore
• “There is almost nothing a person can do while caring for a child under three that is not cultural.”
• “Everything one does is cultural.”
Key #7: Be Open to Perspectives of Others
• Awareness of multiple perspectives on childrearing practices leads to respect for others’ beliefs.
• Awareness of multiple perspectives on childrearing leads to a clearer understanding of your own perspective.
Don’t Jump to Conclusions!
• What is naturally right for one person may not be naturally right for everyone.
• There are fewer universal practices than once thought.
Louise Derman-Sparks
• “Many caregivers think that behavior that makes them uncomfortable is wrong behavior, is developmentally inappropriate behavior, is unfair to children, or is harmful to children.”
“ Most of the time, it is simply different behavior.”
• “The power of culture is so great that anything that isn’t like our culture feels unnatural.”
Key #8: Seek Out Cultural& Family Information
• Gather information.
• Have frequent conversations with parents.
• Learn how things are done at home.
• Learn what is important to the parents.
Gather Information• Read
• Ask
• Visit communities
• Visit homes of children
• Make yourself available to parents both in the child care setting and in the community.
Key #9: Clarify Values
• Have an open discussion with the family when communication breaks down, or you find yourself confused about a family’s actions.
• Ask yourself what is best for the child?
• It takes time and persistence to discover the values behind strong feelings.
Key #10: Negotiate Cultural Conflicts
• Negotiation is an essential part of parent/ caregiver relationships.
• Negotiation is not easy.
• Negotiation is a way of listening and coming to an agreement that takes both people’s values into consideration.
• Negotiation is always a balancing act.
10 Essential Keys
• Culturally sensitive care helps young children gain a strong sense of self early in life.
• Culturally sensitive care prepares young children to be confident and productive members of society.