For this assignment, imagine the following scenario:
You are working in an early childhood
setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service
agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated
from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to
prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled
in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families
who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their
country of origin.
The name of “your” family’s country of
origin: India
At least five ways in which you will
prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family:
1. I
will learn some of their customs to help them feel welcome. For example, when Indian people greet each other they place
their hands together and say ‘Namaste’.
2. I
will incorporate some of India’s music into my program. The unique sound of
India's music is often created with an Indian instrument called a sitar. This instrument looks similar to a guitar,
except that it has a very long neck.
3. I
would learn more about what types of food and drink they like. Many of India's
people are vegetarians, meaning they don't eat meat. Hindus believe that the cow is a sacred
animal and never eat
beef.
4.
I would learn
about their holidays and celebrations, like Diwali. Diwali is a joyous
celebration that takes place on the last day of the last month in the lunar
calendar. This is usually at the end of
October. During this five day holiday,
people light oil lamps and set off fireworks.
5. I
will learn about family structures and how they are the same and/or different
then family structures in America.
A brief statement describing in what ways
you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family.
Taking the time to learn about the family
and their culture will help them feel welcome and be the building blocks to the
positive relationships needed to help the children learn and grow to the best
of their ability. It will benefit me because I will be learning how to
incorporate new family’s from diverse backgrounds into my classroom.
Brandie
References
Brandie,
ReplyDeleteI think you have some great ideas! It is always good to have some basic knowledge going in that way you have a schema for what they might introduce to you. Great suggestions!
Shannon