Recently I have learned that a family of five from
Austria will be moving into my community, a short distance away from our early
childhood centre. Of the three children,
the youngest one, Caitlyn, who is four years old, will be enrolled at our Early
Learning Centre. In preparation for the
arrival of Caitlyn and her family I have done the following:
I have researched and studied the
culture, traditions, customs, family structures and family roles of Austria.
I have employed a young woman versed in
German (which is the official language of Austria) to be a translator at the
centre. Likewise I have had her to teach
me a few basic conversational words in German.
I have showed the students a power point
presentation with pictures of physical features of Austria as well as pictures
of various families. We discussed things
like their physical features, the clothes they wear, foods they eat, language
they speak.
I had the translator to assist me in
teaching the children how to say hello and welcome in German so that they would
be able to welcome the family in their native language.
I have reflected on any biases I may
have that would affect my relationship with the family, or could be
communicated to the class and looked at ways to overcome them.
Austrian culture and society has been greatly influenced by wealth of music, art and literature. Austrian culture is a medley of intriguing customs, like classical music. Music is the soul of Austrian culture. Austrian music has a long and rich cultural journey. We can play Austrian music or classical music in our classrooms. The translator might also be in the position to assist you in incorporating some activities into the lesson plan.
ReplyDeleteHi Zephirina, You have taking the time and prepared your class for the arrival of your new student. Your new student will feel loved and welcomed in her new classroom. I enjoyed your post!
ReplyDeleteZephirina,
ReplyDeleteI like that you have thought ahead in terms of an interpreter, as that communication piece with the family is SO important. I am a monolingual teacher in a bilingual Head Start classroom, so having that support was imperative to the child's overall experience in my classroom, as well as building that family partnership. However, I found it very beneficial to have more than one interpreter on hand, as I often encountered situations where the scheduled interpreter was unable to attend important meetings with my immigrant families. In fact, I remember "muddling" through a conference with a Spanish-speaking mother who spoke/understood very little English because my interpreter cancelled at the last minute. This is definitely one of the biggest obstacles faced by an anti-bias educator. Thank you for sharing your insightful post. :)
Pamela
Zephirina,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you have gotten an interperter. I also appreciate that you have thought in advance of hidden bias and prejudice. This is important. I also think that all the steps that you have taken have been thorough and will show the family that you care and take inclusiveness and diversity very seriously.
Catherine