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(Unit 4) Topic 7:
Using Literature to Support Diverse Families

2 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

Valuing Diverse Families

Topic 7 Page 6

The unfortunate reality about the world we live in is that you will undoubtedly run into challenging situations when teaching about diverse families. This can range from uncomfortable questions from a child to confrontations with parents who are unhappy with your program planning. It is critical and often challenging to navigate the waters with supporting diverse families while respecting other’s beliefs and opinions.

First and foremost you must understand that by valuing and respecting a family that is diverse you are not suddenly forced to join their ranks. If the children in your care come largely from military families and you wish to represent those families by valuing and respecting them it does not mean that you need to run to a recruiting station and join the military. You may have a personal reason for disagreeing with the entire idea of the military. You, as an individual person have every right to disagree with the military, however you do not have the right to alter a child’s perception of military families as that child’s teacher or caregiver. In fact, you can still show support and respect for military families even though you may have a strong negative opinion about the military.

The same goes for families of different ethnic or cultural backgrounds, lifestyle choices, gender identification, and other qualities. If you are completely unwilling to value the diverse families that your students come from then you are effectively telling them that you cannot value them as well. Children are an integral component of their family unit and by valuing their family you show that you respect and value them equally.

There are many ways to value diverse families no matter your opinions. Including books about many different families doesn’t mean that you are hanging a banner on the front door of your center declaring one thing or another. It truly just means that you value and acknowledge that families are unique and that is not a bad thing.