Canadian Child Care Federation

“Interaction”

Volume 31

Number 2

Winter 2018

https://www.cccf-fcsge.ca/wp-content/uploads/InterVol31-2-ENG-4.pdf

Recently I have become a member of the CCCF – Canadian Child Care Federation which is why I have chosen this journal for my next 2 article reviews. I have to say; reading journals online is not my preferred way of enjoying a journal as I like to be able to hold the journal in my hands while sipping on a cup of coffee. When I do come across an article I am interested in, I will print it off to fully engage in it. The journal is however online interactive. The cover page along with page 2 and 3, some advertisements, and the embedded website/you tube URL addresses, click on them and instantly you are at the article that interests you.  I do like how the journal is in departments – Opinions – Practice – News. The news department offers information and updates across Canada, a calendar of upcoming conferences and resources. A quick way of staying informed. The lay out design I feel is interactive through the photography skills. I am drawn into the photos, experiencing the, in the moment scenario, and being present when reading the articles. The interaction journal team cleverly demonstrates professionalism. Could this lay out design be why they call the journal “Interaction?”

 

Practice Article 1

“Creating a Culturally Responsive Classroom: The Early Childhood Educators’ Reflective Process”

Authors: Oi Ling Helen Kwok, Michael Davis, Jennifer Carr, and Dr. Sharon QuanMcGimpsey

Page: 13 – 16

In my centre we have experienced only a few families with diverse backgrounds arriving to the Comox Valley from another country to start a new life here in Canada. At the beginning of our relationships I felt I fumbled my way through to establish a connection, felt embarrassed I did not know how to understand or speak their language, and at times I would catch myself thinking about how I wished I had better skills in communicating with the child and family from another country. From my own life experience moving from New Zealand to Canada, I could feel how brave the family were, the enormous changes they were going through, leaving their loved ones – extended family behind, to begin a new life. I could provide warmth, safety, and a beaming happy smile but that was all. How could these relationships grow only on non verbal communication? As an educator how could I gain better skills for my centre, for our children, and how to embrace a culturally response environment in our centre? How do I expand a two way connection/communication that enhances the relationships with the child and their family? So many questions that remained unanswered until know. 

In this article, four early childhood educators, worked as a team to learn, understand, create, brainstorm, and explore through self reflect on strategies to work with immigrant children and their families. What strategies are effective to support early childhood educators, how to encompass them into their pedagogical practices, how to build relationships with child/family language barriers, can they/we creative a positive and culturally response environments for children and families of diverse backgrounds?

Through a global perspective of culturally diversity lead to understanding families at a global perspective, which created a “fund of knowledge” (Kwok et al., 2018) for the early childhood educators. Each family and their homeland country have their own unique way of living, talking, communicating, traditions, education, and their very own pace/time of how they individually embrace their day to day life style.

“Fund of Knowledge”

The four early childhood educators felt it was important to first understand “what strengths would arise from developing a culturally responsiveness classroom.

  • Pursuing knowledge of an individual needs and experiences
  • Respecting children and families of diverse cultural backgrounds
  • Striving to self-educate about cultural diversity” (Kwok et al., 2018)

Along with knowing where the family are at, their interests, their background, what they like to do, what they are use to, and their home life. Seeing through the families eyes to help the educators to understand why they see things a certain way. To build a relationship together, step by step in the same life style pace/time as the family.

Next the educators explore the “major challenges in a culturally responsive classroom and came to these funds of knowledge concerns

  • Insufficient time for program/curriculum planning
  • Language barriers with children and families
  • A mismatch between professional expectations between the early childhood educators and the families” (Kwok et al., 2018)

And how to comfort a child when emotionally upset, parents feeling nervous and embarrassed, educators feeling anxious, parent and educators self-esteem deflating due to communication troubles.

Strategies were the next step for the early childhood educators to embark on so they “explored on strategies that would enhance culturally responsive practice

  • Time
  • Reflect
  • Concurrently and consecutively
  • New approaches” (Kwok et al., 2018)

Each early childhood educator evaluated and reflected on their own experiences and thoughts through “introspection – which is a process of critically analyzing personal experiences and state of mind to have three themes emerge:

  • The transformation of awareness
  • The discovery of oneself
  • The enhancement of inner strengths” (Kwok et al., 2018)

Then it was time to place the strategies into “action strategies to help mitigate the challenges

  • Building reciprocal relationships within families
  • Engaging families in the classroom
  • Adjusting the physical classroom environment and learning curriculum
  • Forming personal connections” (Kwok et al., 2018)

At the end of this process the four early childhood educators discovered how to develop a culturally responsive classroom environment through their “Fund(s) of Knowledge” (Kwok et al., 2018). Reflecting on ones thoughts and actions, their own perspective on cultural diversity, critical re-examination of their own experiences with children and families of diverse cultural backgrounds, being true to themselves of one’s own unconscious biases, opened the pathway to “implement reflection based strategies to address the challenges within their culturally responsive classroom” (Kwok et al., 2018).

Through self- improvement, self reflection, self educate, and self awareness, adjustments and adaptations, the four early childhood educators created a shift and respond to how they could improve their pedagogical learning and at the same time increasing one another’s knowledge, confidence and self esteem skills. Not only will they bring a culturally responsive environment to their children and families from another country, they will be bringing our amazing global world to all the children and families, educators, and community staff.

From this article I have learnt new ways of thinking and found a new strategy format to help me to resolve unanswered questions I had from my past in regards to understanding and embracing a culturally response environment for my centre. Benefiting all children and their families!

Comox Valley    –   Canada   –   Global    –   World

 

Practice Article 2

“Cultivation Creativity: Letting children be the captains of their learning ships”

Authors: Marie Poss

Page: 17 -19 

As soon as I read the title of Marie Poss’s article I was hooked into printing it off to enjoy reading it with my cup of coffee. I love creativity and to be your own captain in learning no matter how old you are, 3 years old – 70 years old is so empowering.

Naturally inspiring a young child to be the captain of their learning ship not only gives them empowerment, self esteem, and confidence, they are also developing lifelong lessons of how to become a critical thinker. And what better way to explore this skill through opportunities of creativity.

I strongly agree with Marie Poss’s points of view. “Through play based learning – inquiry, children can find out the answer on their own to personal questions about the world while experimenting in the learning process that is involved in this style of learning. Developing creative and critical minds through every day learning moments allows actual learning opportunities to magically unfold on their own, rather than the lost learning in a more structured traditional style setting. Let a child ponder, think, come up with great/big ideas, ask questions, explore, touch, challenge, create it, make mistakes, and dear I say it, let the child fail in their exploring. Which only opens up another door for the child to re-do their thinking and creatively start again to repeat this amazing process of inquiry play based learning to enhance their creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking skills” (Poss, 2018).

Feeling extremely passionate about this style of learning, while reading Marie’s article I feel we were in tune with one another. We both express what if we “gave the child the chance, support them in “their” personalized learning, encourage them to self-explore, and think about how to think, and not just what to think!” (Poss, 2018)  As an educator I am also a facilitator – teaching, acknowledging idea’s from the child, providing opportunities to explore and learning along side with the child. A partnership of true learning that has “valve, innate passion, entrepreneurial spirit, empowerment, and a lasting memory” (Poss, 2018). All of these moments and skills the young child learns, I truly believe will accompany them throughout their elementary – high school – college/university school years and into their workplace, home life and relationships.

From “George Land’s famous 1968 study – range of creativity (with the same children starting at the age of 5 years growing to the age of 25 years old),  98% at the age of 5 years old had a highly creative range, decreasing to 30% at the age of 10 years, then decreasing to 12% at the age of 15 years old, and further decreasing to only 2% at the age of 25 years old having a highly creative range” (Poss, 2018).

Let’s be the educators of today and the 21st century that increases the range of creativity, to engage in the moments in everyday learning, to allow our young children to ponder, inquire, achieve high level skills through their creativity and passion, to redefine our pedagogy practice to help lead a way together for a better tomorrow and future!