Essay Cultural Communities

In the film Babies Thomas Balmès elegantly and wordlessly captures the first year of life through the eyes of four unique cultures. This film follows four babies Panijao from Namibia, Mari from Japan, Hattie from the United States, and Bayarjargal from Mongolia. The main purpose of the film is to show how the four cultures differ in their behaviors with infants. One of the striking differences is the role the parents play in the documentary and how they interact with their newborn infants. In contrast, the film also shows the similarities in infancy even in vastly different environments and cultures.

In the book Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited, the authors, Joseph Tobin, Yeh Hsueh, and Mayumi Karasawa, look into preschools in three cultures: China, Japan, and the United States. Prior to writing this books, the authors did research on one preschool in each of the countries to see what the learning styles were and how they compared to one another. Then they went back some twenty years later to see if there were any changes in the preschools. The changes, or lack thereof, brought about the book Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited.

Culture plays a paramount role in our lives. “It is what shapes who we are and how we view the world” (Thorp & Sanchez, 1998,

The chapter discusses how human development is affected by the nature in which a person is born into. It discusses how worldviews regarding child 's development vary among different regions throughout the continents. The chapter goes into the similarities of cultures as well as the differences of how humans develop across the board in all areas of thought in different regions of the world. The author tries to link human development with cultural aspects of how problem solving occurs as far as cultural influences are concerned. The nature of human development may occur in a pattern with all types of cultures and background.

I believe that as an early childhood educator my goal will be to promote the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of each child. I also believe that play should be the base of learning since children learn best by doing. I believe that a balance between teacher-directed and child-initiated activities is essential balance can be developed by using the developmentally appropriate practice approach, which means that activities should be “appropriate for each child and relevant to the child’s ability, needs and interests, also including the child’s family and being respectful to the child’s culture.

I believe that our culture helps to shape our identity and therefore I believe that early childhood education should reflect the culture of the children attending the program, while teaching other cultures to promote diversity and inclusion. Aboriginal Head Start programs are contributing back to the communities through culturally responsive education, which reinforces Aboriginal identity. Nguyen (2011) argues that Aboriginal early childhood education needs to provide children with a “sense of who they are and where the come from, which will impact community self-government and self-determination” (p.231). Similarly, Greenwood et al. (2007) points out that early childhood education should socialize children into their heritage and ancestry through programs that reflect their community and nation. The Aboriginal Head Start programs foster the education of both Aboriginal culture and language into the program in hopes that this inspires children to learn their respective language and participate in their communities (Nguyen,

It is agreed that educator’s philosophy, pedagogical practices and believe about topics such as gender and sexuality, socio-cultural factors and cultural diversity will influence how the Australian Curriculum and Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) is reflected in the classroom. For example, cultural competence which is one of the eight main practices that EYLF focuses on to support children’s learning.

My philosophy of Early childhood education is based on research that indicates that a child’s growth is developmental. Every child is unique in terms of life experiences, developmental readiness, and cultural heritage. A high quality early childhood program that provides a safe and nurturing environment, which promotes physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive development will ensure a positive continuation of the child’s education process

Educators can facilitate the children with different materials and environments in the classrooms that are in the early learning centres. The children need to develop their minds cognitively. “Children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world” (Berk 2007). Children are needing to develop their abilities through their play experiences, and also through their play experiences, they can develop appropriately. Early childhood education plays a large part in a child's early development.

This research report presents an analysis of and conclusions drawn from the experiences and perspectives of two educators that work in the early childhood setting. The main objective is to identify key elements and issues in relation to the families, diversity and difference. In particular how an early childhood educator implements, different approaches to honour culture and diversity, and to advocate for social justice in an early childhood settings. As such, it allows an insight into the important role that families and their background plays in the everyday lives of the children and educators within early childhood settings. In today’s ever-changing growing society it is essential for educators to be flexible to the

Children learn to act in accordance to their culture due to what their parents teach them and what they learn in school. Different countries have their own way of cooking, driving and most important, teaching. A child who is in a preschool in America, will not experience the same cultural activities as a child in China or Japan. The video Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited demonstrates how preschools in these three countries teach their students in accordance to their culture. This video also shows different Behaviorism and Constructivism aspects for each school.

The NAEYC statement on developmental practice indicates change and continuity and change in the early childhood education field is vital due to the fact that their main commitment is excellence and equity. Nevertheless, all new knowledge gained over time has been advanced and increased. This means that with understanding, it has allowed us to revise and refine ideas for promoting children's development and learning. With developmentally appropriate practice, meeting and enabling the children are required. This means that teachers should get to know them well and push them to reach goals that may be a challenge but are achievable for them.

According to our textbook, Myron W. Lustig defines cultural patterns as “shared beliefs, values, norms, and social practices that are stable over time and that lead to roughly similar behaviors across similar situations”. By documenting the four infants from different regions of the world and capturing their first breaths throughout toddlerhood, it offers a glimpse of the major differences in cultures and methods of child-raising. The film carefully captures the different cultural contrasts of the babies through methods of sanitation and haircuts, differing pets and toys each interact with. From spit baths, tongue baths, and showering in the arms of the parent, we discover the sanitization methods of the differing cultures in the way the children are bathed. From haircuts with a knife or shears, we learn of the cultures development compared to one another. With Ponijao’s hair being cut with a knife rather than shears, we understand that Namibia is less developed. Also by analyzing their pets differing between cats, dogs, flies or farm animals and the toys they play with such as books, lego blocks, rocks, bones, we learn of their environments, their parents and their financial statuses.

Providing children with an environment that nurtures their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development is the framework that will promote children’s optimal learning and development. Gaining knowledge about the child will help a teacher to develop and create programs that are suitable for the age and the stages of children’s development. Applying developmentally appropriate practices will support the excellence in early childhood education because it is based off of the knowledge of knowing each child as an individual and how they develop.

Today’s classroom is very diverse and the activities should represent the classroom culture. The development of children is centered on what is taught in the classroom. Therefore, the language, intellectual, personality, social and moral, and aesthetic and creative development of preschool age children should be enhanced through multicultural activities and lessons.