EDUC 6164: Welcoming Families From Around the World
The family’s country of origin is Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, in the southwestern Pacific, encompasses the eastern half of New Guinea and its offshore islands. A country of immense cultural and biological diversity, it’s known for its beaches and coral reefs. Inland are active volcanoes, granite Mt. Wilhelm, dense rainforest and hiking routes like the Kokoda Trail. There are also traditional tribal villages, many with their own languages.
Population: 8.776 million
Official languages: Tok Pisin, English, Hiri Motu
Religions: 95.5% Christianity (64.3% Protestantism —26.0% Catholicism —5.2% Other Christian), 3.1% Unspecified , and1.4% Others/None
Ways to become culturally responsive towards this family
1. Understand about the familie's background
Culture is a significant factor in the ways families raise their children and how I interact with the family and their child(ren). It is important to recognize their cultural background through small conversation with them to recieve thier information. Then, I will do a research on the country that they are from. Papua New Guinea is a small contry where Tok Pisin, English, Hiri Motu are the officail language but they may have more tribe languages spreading around the country since pproximately 80% of the population live in rural and remote areas.
Therefore, I will ensure to recogniz and horor the diversity of the family, including, composition (who is a member of the family), race and ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, ability or disability, educational background, and traditions.
2. Establish relationship and partnership with the family
Family engagement can benefit children, parents, families, teachers, and program quality in various ways. When the family is involved in my classroom, they may also feel more vested in what happens there and more competent in their role as parents. Through these interactions and relationships, families may learn additional strategies to promote their child(ren) development and learning at home. Such strategies include expanding children’s language, following their child’s lead in play, or responding calmly to behavior that challenges.
3. Make my classroom a judgment-free zone, inclusive environment, welcoming classroom
I will choose content that reflects the different cultures in the USA and the Papua New Guinea for the children to feel confortable in the classroom. My lessons also should incorporate multicultural information and approaches to reduce the culture shock the children face.
4. Be aware of Language boudary in the family
The family may also have different styles of interaction and communication. I have to be mindful of the different communication styles, patterns, and norms that the family may use. And I will bring a diverse range of poetry, music, or other forms of expression into the classroom on a regular basis and the way to approch them. Moreover, I will learn about the language skills that the family bring to the program ans I will support them in using language that’s appropriate to each context.
5.Adjust the curriculum to support the children
It’s important to honestly assess my current teaching practices and modify my instruction and curriculum to consider all students’ backgrounds and readiness levels. Puzzle-solving, making connections, storytelling or visuals and repetition are all tools that can be used in the classroom and are commonly seen across cultures.
To be culturally responsive, it is important that expectations reflect the values and cultures of families and teachers and other staff in the school.
Sawin,
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding the language boundaries is definitely important when interacting with a new family for the first time. I remember one of my first years teaching there was a Spanish family and the children spoke English very well, however, when trying to speak to the parents it was a bit difficult for both of us seeing as though I had only taken Spanish classes in high school and was not fully equipped to carry on a conversation. We came to an agreement that emails were more effective for the both of us and created this additional form of communication so everyone could remain on the same page!
Hello Sawin,
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding the families background is crucial to meeting the wants and needs of the family as well as the child. Being culturally responsive opens doors for effective communication and healthy relationships. When working with my Korean family, I have to do research to understand their culture and it was quite interesting, I really enjoy it. Learning Korean words is also something that has helped me with language in the classroom with the child. Adjusting the curriculum to support the children is vital to children's growth and development. Individualized lessons are a great way to make sure that each child is learning what they are interested in and what is appropriate for them.
Hello Sawin,
ReplyDeleteYour post is very informative and I enjoyed learning about the culture of Papua New Guinea. I agree with the steps you are willing to take to get to know the child's family and the child. A good start is incorporating their background into the classroom so they can feel like they are apart of the classroom as well. The goal is to have an inclusive classroom setting and from what I read, you are on a great path.
Sawin,
ReplyDeleteI love reading your thoughts. I have truly learned so much from you throughout this program. I agree steps need to be taken in order to grow our understanding and knowledge of the child, their family, and their family culture affects their learning environment.
- Emily Nevels