Welcoming Families From Around The World

The early childhood setting I chose is a child care center and my family's country of origin is Kuwait. The five ways in which I would prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family is

1.Deal with myself first. Do a self-reflection of my personal cultural values, beliefs, and attitudes. Make sure I have first developed cultural self-awareness in order to prevent any stereotypical knowledge of the family's culture

2.Educate myself on what type of interaction protocol is used....how are the children taught to communicate with adults? Do they respond to adults by saying yes, or yes ma'am, do they use eye contact, is participation solicited by the adult, etc.

3.Educate myself on gender role socialization....When the parents of the child come to the classroom or if I have to contact the family, do I speak with the mother or the father? Some countries don't allow women to speak and in some countries it is disrespectful to speak to the father.

4.Incorporate the family's culture into the classroom curriculum. Use their culture as a basis for learning

5.Make sure the classroom is conducive to learning for the child. Represent the child's culture through displays of posters, pictures and drawings on the wall as well as their culture's clothing and food in the dramatic play area, etc.

I hope this preparation would benefit the family by assuring them that their culture is being represented in a classroom with a culture more dominant than their own, making them feel welcomed and included in the classroom, as well as know that their cultural values and beliefs are respected. It would benefit me by gaining knowledge about the family's culture as well as allow me to better educate the child and interact with the family