Introduction
The early childhood education plays a critical role in shaping the overall personality of a child. The focus of early childhood is not just restricted towards quality education, but it is nurtured by imparting a decent moral character in them. This paper will evaluate the role of teachers in the awareness of cultural diversity in Early Childhood Education. It has been proven through research that the early five years in the life of a child are extremely critical for learning new skills and concepts. Adding the element of diversity awareness at an early stage is of sheer significance as it assists developing a sense of tolerance in the society. The cultural diversity awareness is not just significant for an individual in his or her future life, but it is equally beneficial for a developing global peace.
The world is facing a clash of civilizations that is between the East and the West, but if a close evaluation is made, then it will be considered as a clash of ignorance. In the year 2015, 30% of Americans supported bombing a city called Agrabah because it sounded like a Muslim state but in reality, it is the name of an imaginary city from the Disney animated classic named "Alladin." These results suggest that people do not have a basic knowledge of a group that is equal to one-fifth of the world. If the element of cultural diversity awareness is added in the early childhood education then the situations like above can be controlled (Rosenblatt, 2005).
The diversity awareness initiatives cannot be fulfilled in silos, but a systematic approach should be adopted. This approach must include the support from family and the community. The entire process initiates from self-awareness, which is further moved to the awareness about different groups in the society. Imparting this knowledge is beneficial for the educational achievement of the children, as well. Many children usually see people like them around themselves in their communities and schools; therefore, they are unable to manage diversity in later stages of life. For any society, diversity is the key to bringing innovative ideas as it gives different new perspectives on thinking the same concept. The schools must make adequate arrangements to create the environment in such a way that it depicts a diverse cultural environment that can help strengthen the personality of kids (Phelan, Davidson & Cao, 1991).
Sensitization of Parents
Parents have a significant role to play when it comes to the awareness of cultural diversity in childhood education. The family is the first institution, where the child gets to know about good and bad of society. Myriad parents tend to send their kids to schools that they consider to be safe for the upbringing of the kids. In this case, many parents send their kids to school with same cultural backgrounds that makes the kid away from the opportunity to learn diverse cultures. For example, many Muslim South Asian families have immigrated to West for better economic opportunity, but they tend to retain their cultural identity. For sustaining the cultural identity, many assume that it will be a good idea to keep the kid in a school environment with the same cultural background. This case identifies the need to sensitize families if cultural diversity at early childhood education is to encourage (Kubota, & Lin, 2009).
Breaking the stereotypes from the basic school setting is immensely significant as it can solve a multitude of potential problems. The teacher has a significant role to play in this regard. Although, the initiation will be through the management, but the teacher needs to present its outcomes in a positive light. In the West, there is an increased level of Islamophobia and many people tend to develop stereotypes even without knowing each other. Therefore, it can be a decent idea that parents of children should be sensitized and should be given the opportunity to know other parents. The idea here is to teach parents in understanding the importance of diversity at every stage of living and how it can be beneficial if people get to know each other. They can be perhaps invited quarterly to know how about the cultures of different other kids in schools. There can be special cultural activities, so people can get the chance to know each other in an interactive way. If the notion of diversity is positive in the minds of parents, then there is a high probability that the same will be transferred to the kids. Although the school can be a decent point of contact for awareness but without the involvement of parents, there will not be a positive impact. The government needs to device policies that require the school to develop programs to encourage the awareness of cultural diversity. The role of the teacher is quite critical in this case, as it helps to play the role of a bridge between diverse cultural backgrounds (Jenkins, 2008).
Children Negotiating In Classroom About Cultural Diversity
If certain thoughts in the minds are needed to be altered, then it is necessary to know the thoughts that currently prevail. This process initiates through dialogue amongst the subjects. Numerous activities should be devised by teachers to encourage the students to express freely their minds about different cultures that prevail in the society. If children depict a certain kind of stereotype about a group, then it should be altered in such a way that the student themselves realizes the significance. In psychological counseling sessions, the first step is to let the subject understand that the problem exists. This understanding is not imposed on the subject even if the psychologist thinks that the subject has a specific kind of problem. In the same way, the students should be engaged in the negotiation in such a way that the realization comes from the subjects. The teacher should manage the classroom in such a way that there is more interactions and friendship among kids from diverse groups. Numerous games can also be played among kids, so they get the chance to interact with all the kids (Janks, 2010).
Teaching And Supporting Cultural Diversity
In various African countries, there is a specialized initiative called "Madrasa Early Childhood Program" that runs a school network in ultra-poor communities. These running from over three decades give major significance to the inclusiveness and respect to diversity. The element of diversity is part of the curriculum, and the teachers play a significant role in teaching the same to students and parents. During the Kenyan post-election violence of 2007-2008, something interesting was noted in the communities that had the Madrasa Early Childhood Program. During this violence, the entire country was faced massive violence in almost every part, but the places where these 75 Kenyan schools were based had almost no incidences of violence. When the issue was further investigated, it was found that the youth who were once part of the Madrasa Early Childhood Program were highly against ethnic violence.
Even when there were intense situations, the people from different ethnic backgrounds supported each other. This situation clearly indicates that diversity awareness has a long-lasting impact on human lives. This is just one example among thousands of others that represent the notion that diversity awareness help creates peace in the society (Hooks, 1999). The schools should develop a holistic program that includes diversity awareness at every level. It should be made part of the curriculum, so it reflects the seriousness among parents and students. The idea is to let people understand who they are and what the beliefs of people from numerous cultures are. The notion here is to let students believe that different people can have different views of the same situation and it must be taken positively rather than negative. They must be taught that as a responsible citizen it is not right to impose beliefs on someone else. If we think that something should be changed, then there is also a peaceful way of solving it through dialogue. Success stories should be discussed among kids, and they should be encouraged to engage in activities that celebrate the cultural festivals of others (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, Cain, 1998).
The Environment Of Cultural Classroom
Encouragement of cultural diversity should be part of the formalized system in a school setting. If the dependence is on individuals, then there is a high probability that the element of diversity will be compromised, if those motivated individuals leave the organization. The schools should develop a policy that reflects its practices in a systematic way. Drafting it as a structured policy will assist the school to continue the program in a more sustained manner. The first step of cultural diversity initiates from a strong policy that is followed by a concrete plan. Teachers' training in this regard is immensely significant. The main contact person that connects students and parents are the teachers. If teachers themselves are not trained about the notion of diversity, then it is almost impossible to create a culturally diverse environment in a school setting. The recent clock bomb incident that took place in Texas is a clear example that reflects our ignorance about each other. This particular incident was first reported by the teacher, who failed to understand the situation because of the Islamophobia. The sensitization of teachers is extremely critical in making the creation of a culturally pluralistic environment (Heath, 1983).
Many teachers and school management will have their personal biases that make the government to device polices that makes it mandatory for schools to increase the awareness of cultural diversity in the early educational system. If the logic of encouraging cultural diversity arise from the idea that people are intolerant to other people, then it is not possible that people themselves will do something to kill this situation. If the head of school practices, cultural stereotyping then it is not possible to expect him or her to develop a policy and strategy to reject it on an organizational level. The practices of cultural diversity will only be possible in a school setting if the states develop proper legislation that bounds school to follow the regulations.
There should be strong advocacy campaign, so the states develop proper legislation in this case. These regulations should not only bound the schools to have a standardized diversity policy in place, but it must also encourage them to develop plans for ensuring cultural diversity. Creating a program without proper measuring tools deviates the organization to know whether the program was effective and what sort of tweaking should be made. Therefore, the development of a plan is not enough until and unless there are strong monitory and evaluation tools in place (Harris, Blue & Griffith, 1995).
How Teachers Deal With All That
While the schools have, the first responsibility for the training of teachers but there is also a high onus on teachers themselves. Now there is a large pool of information available online that guides teachers on how to tackle cultural issues and for encouraging a pluralistic environment at school. Bullying is a major issue for an educational institution and many times; it has to be observed that cultural difference becomes a reason for it. Teachers must ensure that they tackle the incidences of bullying an effective manner. If he or she observes such a sort of behavior in class, then proper disciplinary action should be taken. It has been observed that many teachers do not take the bullying in a serious manner. Bullying based on different cultural identify creates a negative impact on the overall well-being of a student. If can have some serious repercussions on the development of personality. It can possibility make that individual violent or reduce the confidence level. There is a high level of responsibility for teachers to minimize the incidences of bullying in the classroom. The teacher should also encourage activities that help the students to understand the psyche of other students and positive environment should be ensured. If certain students bully others then parents of the kids should be involved, so a holistic approach should be devised that ensures that it does not happen in future (Gonzalez, Moll & Amanti, 2005; Gee, 2007).
Prepare Teachers To Meet And Understand The Cultural Diversity In Classroom.
The first step is to develop teachers understanding and knowledge that the student who enrolls in the classroom belong to the diverse background. This can be done by giving a chance to the teachers to create plausible situations and involve families’ voice in the curriculum and unit planning. Teachers by considering the family voices enable to create a balance between children needs with high stake accountability test with skills. It is advisable to make the teachers learn and appreciate as well as accommodate all the culturally difference present among students in a respectful manner. If teachers are being taught to take the cultural diversification in a positive manner, then it would help in developing effective instructional strategies and communication. Teachers must be given proper training to interact with the families of the child on a routine basis and discuss all the positive yet areas of improvements with them. This would help in building good rapport as well as trust with the parents. However, teachers must be taught when to disclose areas of improvements with the parents. It is not appropriate to tell the negative information about the student on the phone. Teachers must call each student’s parent by providing them positive information. Written communication also possesses worth when it comes handling the culturally diverse classroom (Gee & Elisabeth, 2011).
They must use instructional strategies as well as different learning activities to teach better them. Equal opportunities must be provided to the students, which will help in boosting the self-esteem and enhancing their strengths and talents. Teachers are required to get training on frequent reviewing of the content learned. This helps in better reviewing the students’ performance and alter the lesson plan which best meet the students’ demand. Teachers must create an environment which helps in creating self-dependence among students. They must give the instructions and leave execution task to the students. This would help in building and strengthen cognitive skills among them (Bhabha, 2004).
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