more multicultural, the need for educators to provide support to different family structures increases. This review will examine strategies utilized by early childhood educators to promote diversity, and as a result improve academic outcomes. Most data related to diversity in the classroom is derived from research in pre-school and Head Start programs. Although there are other avenues for early childhood education, including home-based and center-based childcare, this research will focus on pre-K and Head Start.
Literature Review:
Influencing Teacher Perspectives
Meeting the needs of a diverse student population continues to be a problem in American classrooms. “While the student population is rapidly becoming more diverse, the teaching
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It is essential that educators develop strategies to work more effectively with their student populations. Best practices for early childhood educators have been established to include multicultural curriculum for children from diverse backgrounds. “Early childhood educators have already adopted multiculturalism and anti-bias curriculum frameworks to address issues of culture and diversity” (Ponciano & Shabazian, 2012). According to Ponciano and Shabazian, multiculturalism involves providing equal opportunities and viewing cultural difference in a positive light. Anti-bias curriculum builds on this concept by emphasizing actions in response to racism and discrimination. As teachers put these two concepts into perspective, it helps to provide an in-class environment where children are educated about various cultures. Some school districts have incorporated diversity trainings, held cultural nights at schools, as well as implemented cross-cultural learning experiences through home visit programs. Lin and Bates study was conducted to research the impact of home visits on an educator’s belief on diversity in their classroom. Focusing on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory, which explores the five levels of an environment that influence human development, teachers sought out to affect the microsystem. A microsystem is the system that is closest to the student. “A microsystem includes
It is crucial for educators to value, understand and incorporate every child’s cultural diversity in the classroom (The Early Years Learning Framework Professional Learning Program, 2011). This means educators needs to deal with any bias beliefs they might/may hold. For example, some children might not participate in the classroom because
Currently, general education classrooms have increasingly become diverse with both disable students and students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In order for educators to ensure that they effectively teach these classrooms, meet the needs of each student both successfully and individually, effective research that is based on strategies need to be implemented. The U.S. Department of Education suggest that, the current school-age population is becoming more diverse as time passes, yet, majority of the teachers in these schools are white non-Hispanic women. According to another report by The Condition of Education in 2006, American schools are portraying increased diversity and growth. The report suggested that, forty two percent of students in public schools were ethnic or racial minorities in the year 2003; this increased from twenty two percent since 1972. Owing to these reasons, teachers in these schools are expected to educate a diversified class of students including those that come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Teachers are therefore, required to implement a number of key strategies that will ensure that every student in specific classroom feels that he or she belongs there (Worrell, 2010).
In today 's ever changing world teachers need to understand the importance of a multicultural education. It’s becoming essential to provide opportunities for their students to learn about the many cultures represented in america and the world around them. Studies have shown that by the year 2040 as surveyed by the U.S. census bureau, that “white non-hispanics will make up less than half of the school aged population” (Smith) Our country is ever growing and it doesn 't seem right to exclude cultural education to students when our nation was built by immigrants. Building curriculums that acknowledge different cultures,
Essential to the work of school administrators and other school leaders is the support of diversity, equity and accessibility within a school’s culture. In order to do so, they must set the tone for how to consider diversity, equity and accessibility with faculty, students, parents, school stakeholders and themselves. Throughout this course, Diverse Learners, our learning has focused on conducting and applying research as it relates to the education of diverse learners. In this reflection, I will discuss what I have learned about diversity and student achievement.
Moreover, teaching multicultural diversity in preschool ages increase children’s awareness, appreciation and inclusion of diverse beliefs and cultures. It means that children with different needs are giving opportunities to participate in the general education curriculum based on their ages and grades. Those children are not separated by classrooms, but rather the curriculum and the rooms are conformed to meet their needs. Research shows that children are capable of understanding differences and abilities of surrounding people at the very early ages (Perlman, Kankesan, & Zhang, 2010). Therefore, a program, which fully regards to multiculturalism, allows children to explore varying cultures and create opportunities for them to recognise that even when people have various customs and traditions, they often share some similar characteristics as well. The ability to function compatibly and efficiently in a multicultural society is also promoted throughout a multicultural program. It is obvious that children are able
Teachers can begin by incorporating Banks’ five dimensions of multicultural education. In addition teachers must take into consideration DuPraw and Axner’s six fundamental patterns of cultural differences. Then, parents and the community will need to be educated on the cultural differences. However, the parents will need their voice to be heard in order to decrease cross cultural miscommunication. As our country’s population diversifies, it will be our responsibility to not only educate ourselves but our students as well as our parents in order to have a successful
And, although preschool administrators have a desire to begin increasing the amount of multicultural materials in the center as well as train the staff on ways to incorporate a child’s culture into the learning environment, it has been found that teaching practices are notoriously slow to change (Hooven & et al., 2018). By conducting literature research, examining the current practices at Kiddie Academy, and meeting with the center’s staff, it is hoped that new and innovative ways to celebrate diversity will be found and agreed upon by staff members. Since collaboration is crucial to the implementation of anti-bias curriculum in order for students to learn about their own culture and those of people who are different from them, communicating the results of the study will increase the chances of finding additional ways to up productivity, provides access to new sources of information, present opportunities to learn and go beyond traditional ways of thinking, problem solving, and forming partnerships as teachers and administrators begin to see positive results from the trainings, acknowledgement and celebration of diversity, and anti-bias curriculum being put into action. It is critical for early childhood teachers to promote culturally inclusive classrooms and experiences and provide learning materials and other resources that help children develop a greater appreciation of
Overcoming stereotyping is a challenge educators can encounter when it comes to ensuring that teaching strategies are appropriate for culturally diverse children. Some educators may compare one child to another child that comes from the same cultural background and use the same teaching strategy. One way to overcome this is to make sure that educators know each of the students individually instead of comparing one to another or relying on stereotyping. “To truly engage students, we must reach out to them in ways that are culturally and linguistically responsive and appropriate, and we must examine the cultural assumptions and stereotypes we bring into the classroom that may hinder interconnectedness.” (Teaching Tolerance, 1991) Once they know more about each of the students then they can avoid stereotyping and adjust their teaching strategy to meet the individual needs of the students in the classroom.
Such things as language backgrounds in early childhood this benefits the national early childhood curriculum supporting cultural diversity and advancement, problematic education and whatnot. Furthermore we'll inspect their art in sustaining ethnic and cultural equality and equity in minimizing the exclusion of minority families for a basic type of multiculturalism, and a transformative curriculum in order to address the issues identified. By showing relevant literature of childcare education in many societies , we'll highlight the highly stratified social systems of the minorities, and some of these issues they face.
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
There are many factors that play a role in the learning process for every human being. Race, religion, language, socioeconomics, gender, family structure, and disabilities can all affect the ways in which we learn. Educators must take special measures in the delivery of classroom instruction to celebrate the learning and cultural differences of each of their students. As communities and schools continue to grow in diversity, teachers are searching for effective educational programs to accommodate the various learning styles of each student while promoting acceptance of cultural differences throughout the classroom. It no longer suffices to plan educational experiences only for middle-or upper class white learners and then
Fostering cultural awareness in children has many benefits that contribute to the overall development of children. Educators encounter challenges that may include academic pressure, collaborating with diverse families, and meeting the needs of the students. This paper examines theoretical perspectives using a longitudinal study. The study examined the experiences of children ages 3.5 to 5.5, by using their everyday experiences of race and ethnic diversity in their classroom setting.
Children can be disadvantaged on the foundation of diversity, so it is important for educators to understand socio-cultural factors related to diversity and difference, such as, poverty, gender and
However, there are questions as to whether or not teachers possess biases that would influence their teaching methods and curriculum. Taking a class in educational diversity is only a start in addressing those biases that may have been unconsciously created. It is the writer’s sincere hope that researching and writing a paper on multicultural education will be a stepping stone toward the critical examination of biases and practices in regards to diversity in the classroom that will continue to influence the readers throughout their educational
The second point that would help early childhood professionals be more responsive to culturally and linguistically diverse children and families with whom they work is to have knowledge about their students’ cultures at the same time professionals have to be knowledgeable