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(Unit 4) Topic 1: Cultural Competency and Responsiveness

3 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

A Diverse Classroom

Topic 1 Page 9

The United States is becoming increasingly diverse. Child care centers mirror that diversity of languages, nationalities, races, cultures, and children with a variety of individual needs. As an early childhood professional you will be working with children who have different routines, traditions, languages, customs, and needs. It is important to remember that there are different ways of doing things and raising children. If a practice is different, it does not make it harmful or wrong. Early childhood educators provide a role model for young children and need to demonstrate a respect for individual differences in appearances, languages, and beliefs. Getting to know the children and their families is a key factor in developing an understanding and appreciation of diverse perspectives and individual needs. In the previous section we discussed creating an environment that felt like home to the teachers and children. To feel like home, customs and beliefs of each family must be represented in the classroom.

It is easy for young children to think in simple terms that can lead them to think in stereotypes. It is one of your responsibilities of an early childhood educator to help challenge children’s thoughts about the following:

Gender
Boys can dress-up in dresses; girls can become mathematicians

Religion
No one religion is the ‘right’ religion for everyone

Race/Ethnicity/Culture
Every child can become anything she wishes: an Asian boy can become a basketball player, an African American boy a scientist, a white girl a doctor, etc. Further, children can comfortably belong to more than one racial or ethnic group. (Wardle 1999)

Income/Poverty
Many famous people have overcome poverty, neglect, and difficult situations to become successful and fulfilled.

Language
Children can learn two or more languages at the same time. For some reason, we are unwilling to recognize that very young children can learn more than one language. We should look at bilingual and multilingual students as having a tremendous asset, not a deficit.