This school year I have began to truly understand diversity. In my school district they have choosen to stop busing students who are English Language Learners to certain schools and make them attend their neighborhood school. With the district choosing to do this several teachers at my school have children in their class from various backgrounds who don't speak Englsih at all. Being put in this situation has caused me and many others to pay attention to way that we do things so that we are including and not offending these children and their families. I hope that we can all learn to work together to do what is best for the children and their families. We all need to find ways to adjust and accomidate so that everyone feels welcome and a part of something. A kindergarten child that speaks only chinese started at our school. Her parents knew that it would be hard on her as well as the class. So the parents made cards that have things like "I have to go to the bathroom" in English and Chinese so that the girl can read them and show them to the teacher to rell her what she wants.
With the people at my school learning to work with diverse families I want to make it a goal for the early childhood field to be more willing to learn parts of the families lanuaguage and culture. I have found a program online that when I type in something in Englsih the program will say what I typed in a different language. This way I know the family is understanding what I am trying to tell them.
I would like to say thank you to all my classmates and collegues from this semester and class. You all have helped me stay on track and keep things together. I know that all of us started this journey togehter and we are all going to make it to the end. We are almost the end and I know we can all see the finish line.
Your goal of being more willing to learn about diversity in our society is absolutely a realistic vision for the early childhood field. I too believe that our personal willingness to learn, understand, and respect others in our society will either allow us or hinder us from growing in the field as professionals working with children and families with varying backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your goals and best of luck as you continue through the program and your professional work in ECE!
Caitlin
Undrea; In my work with children who are non-verbal, we prepare for the teacher pictures of common activities and routines that are used in communication between adults and children, and between peers as well. The pictures are printed from a program called Boardmaker, which is a little pricey to buy, but there are websites that offer free downloads of similar photos or drawings. Many of them can be found on autism sites. The pictures are great for English language learners as well: Directives such as sit here, wash hands,or line up, or routines like bathroom time, lunch time etc. A non-speaker can take the bathroom picture from a place within reach and show it to you, with practice. Even young children who speak respond well to both verbal and visual cues, as it speeds up the processing of the information input and response. This picture method of giving directions also helps children remember the order of an assignment: first color,cut,then paste. Perhaps one of your colleagues who works in special needs can help you put together some visual supports to use with your Chinese students to ease communication stress.
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