week 2 discussion

Culturally Competent Approaches 

NAEYC states "for optimal development and learning of all children, educators must accept the legitimacy of children’s home language, respect (hold in high regard) the home culture and promote and encourage the active involvement and support of all families, including extended and nontraditional family units” (NAEYC 1995, 2). This inspired the development of the Quality Benchmark for Cultural Competence Project (QBCCP), which promotes cultural competence in early childhood programs. The QBCCP provides seven culturally competent approaches for early childhood education settings:

Long description

1. Acknowledge      that children are nested in families and communities with unique      strengths. Recognize and mitigate the tension between the early childhood      profession’s perceptions of the child as the center of the work versus the      family as the center of the work.
2. Build      on and identify the strengths and shared goals between the profession and      families and recognize commonalities in order to meet these goals.
3. Understand      and authentically incorporate the traditions and history of the program      participants and their impacts on child- rearing practices.
4. Actively      support each child’s development within the family as complex and      culturally driven ongoing experiences.
5. Recognize      and demonstrate awareness that individuals’ and institutions’ practices      are embedded in culture.
6. Ensure      that decisions and policies regarding all aspects of a program embrace and      respect participants’ language, values, attitudes, beliefs, and approaches      to learning.
7. Ensure      that policies and practices build upon the home languages and dialects of      the children, families and staff in programs and support the preservation      of home languages. 

(NAEYC, 2019)

But what do these principles actually look like in the school setting? What kinds of resources and support are needed to make these principles come alive (i.e., materials, policies, professional development, etc.)? In this discussion, you will analyze how educational settings currently address approaches to cultural competence.

To prepare for this discussion:

• Read      Chapter 2.
• Read      NAEYC’s Quality Benchmark for Cultural Competence ProjectLinks      to an external site..
• Imagine      you are an educational environment coach, and your focus is cultural      competence. Pick one of the 7 approaches and prepare to describe how you      might assess it an educational setting.

In your initial post,

• Describe      the chosen approach in your own words.
• Provide      an example of the culturally competent approach in action and specify the      age group (between 0 and 8 years).
• Describe      how the example is culturally appropriate and sensitive.
• Justify      why your example is an effective way to implement this approach