I have chosen to research the topic of culturally responsive practice, including the subtopics changing demographics, historical views of diversity, and self-reflective practices, which are essential to becoming culturally responsive and providing culturally responsive care. Culturally responsive practice is an issue that directly effects the Department of Defense (DoD), early childhood sector, and me both professionally and personally. Military or DoD childcare facilities frequentlychanges its demographics, with a diverse population comprised of children from all over the world. We service multiple cultures, multiple languages, and multiple child development beliefs, and our constantly changing demographics require us to be culturally responsive in our service to both children and their families. Doing so requires that we have procedures and policies in place that ensure staff are able to identify, respect, and accept the cultures we serve, which includes self reflection. Often, as adults, we do not realize that we place labels or hold biases, but our mannerisms, body language, and verbal innuendos express otherwise.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the simulation process thus far, and look forward to delving deeply into the subtopic, the value of self-reflective practices in providing culturally responsive care. I found that the research chart was very useful and will provide information to refer too. I would also greatly appreciate any information or advice from my colleagues.
Sondi Thank you for posting this early. I have had a time this morning trying to find someone who had posted their assignment for this week. Our group must be really busy because it takes them so long to post! The two people that I did find that had posted already have two topics that are special too me. Yours and then the other person has economical impact to families and education of the children. I will stick with the two of you throughout the course because I know I will get what I need here! I also appreciate the research chart.
ReplyDeleteSondi, I agree with you that changing demographics and teaching others to be culturally responsive is an important topic. I also work for a DoD child care setting and can agree with you that the challenges we face in our community are very unique. Website that I can recommend for you are Zero-to-Three, KIT online and military one-source. They all provide good information about how challenging military life can be and provide information about how to make programs more culturally aware. I hope this information will help you get started with your research.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anna, those are great resources. I was at one of the bases that was lucky enough to have Parent's as Teachers on site and Zero to Three was their resource. The military one source is excellent as well. They were very generous and supported the conference we hosted this weekend and provided materials for the attendee bags. The KIT site, is that the same one that just introduced the special needs modules or is that different? Thanks for the great tips!
ReplyDeleteSusan, I prefer to post early, and as you have noticed I comment on your posts frequently, as you always post early as well!!!!!
Sondi,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic. We were talking recently about how the curriculum is not uniform across the state, much less across the United States which greatly affects children that move during the school year. I know that you all have the same challenge in military schools.
The topic of cultural diversity in the classroom is a great topic. I cannot wait to see how your research develops. It can be a challenge teaching to a diverse population.
I also like the comment that you made about not realizing our own biases that are displayed in our body and facial expressions. I think that most people rarely consider what and how their biases manifest.
Thank you for sharing.
Jennifer