Welcoming Families From Around the World

Scenario for blog post:  

I am working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. I receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country I know nothing about will join my group soon. I want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, I am enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated I need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

For this blog post, I will pretend first choose a country that I know nothing about that will serve as my new family’s country of origin.  I will name at least 5 ways in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive I will end with a brief statement describing ways I hope these preparations will benefit both me and the new family. 

The name of my country is Peru.  I choose Peru because I have heard the name of the country many times but I really do not know much about the country.  I did some research to find about Peruvian families.  In Peru, families are typically traditional nuclear families.  There is typically about 5 members in a Peruvian family.  The father is seen as the family head and the mother does have the ability to make decisions concerning the family but it is not generally a “recognized” role.  Women do work like the men to help support the family financially.  Families in Peru walk in a single line according to the family hierarchy.  So, fathers are first, mothers are second and children are last.  Many couples in Peru do not marry because they cannot afford the ceremony. Peruvian families value and respect their elders and families thrive on unity, purpose and integration among the generations.  Peruvians also value self-control, especially over their feeling and emotions. The main religion is Catholic and the three major holidays are Independence Day, Battle of Arica and Carnival.  Granted, I'd still have a lot to learn about the country's deep culture. 

The five things I plan to do to be culturally responsive to this family are:

1.    I’d want to start off by researching about the country.  I’d want to find out more than just surface culture, I’d want to find out about the country’s deep culture so that I’d better understand the background and actions of the family and perhaps find connections between us.  
2.    I’d perhaps create some scenarios and role play them out so that I am sure I do not make any microaggressions or make them feel marginalized because they are different than me or the other kids in the class.
3.    I’d locate translation services in case I needed them so nothing would get lost in translation. I’d make sure all papers are in both English and the native language of Peru. 
4.    I’d search for some books, songs, toys, posters that reflect some of the Peruvian culture so that the family feels part of our classroom community. 
5.    I’d be sure to prepare a questionnaire so that I can gather some information about the traditions, family background, culture, values, etc. of the family so that I can better understand the family and serve them best.  This also might need to be translated for the family.  Knowing everything I can about the child outside the school is just as important as knowing them inside the school. 

I feel that these preparations would help me become aware of both the similarities and differences between my culture, the cultures of my students and the culture of this family. This information would help me make connections with the family and find similarities between our values, morals and traditions. Finding those ways that we are fundamentally the same despite looking and acting different on the outside is what truly will make us a blended classroom and school family where everyone is valued and accepted know matter where they came from. 


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