Session 2
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| Course: | Early Learning and Child Care 30 Modules |
| Book: | Session 2 |
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| Date: | Thursday, 18 September 2025, 3:18 PM |
Description
Created by IMSreader
1. Session 2
Session 2: Respecting Cultural Diversity
Introduction
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Canada is a culturally diverse nation. This diversity also shapes child care facilities. Consequently, it is important for child care providers to understand and respect the uniqueness and diversity of all families, including their own.
This session highlights the importance of cultural diversity. It offers an introduction to cultural knowledge and skills to better support your interactions with children and their families.
1.1. Get Focused
Session 2: Respecting Cultural Diversity
Getting Focused Activity: Cultural Diversity—What Does It Mean?
Focus
In this activity you will explore what you already know and think about cultural diversity. As you complete this session, periodically return to this activity to see if and how your understandings are shifting and changing.
Directions
Step 1: Complete Part 1 of Getting Focused Activity: Cultural Diversity—What Does It Mean?
Step 2: Share your responses from Part 1 with a peer in your class and discuss similarities or differences in your responses.
Step 3: Complete Part 2 of Getting Focused Activity: Cultural Diversity—What Does It Mean?
Checking In
Save your completed learning activity in your course folder.
1.2. Inquiry 1
Session 2: Respecting Cultural Diversity
Inquiry 1: Considering Culture
Recognizing that Alberta’s population is culturally diverse, and children from diverse backgrounds attend child care programs, it is important for you to consider cultural diversity when preparing to work with children and their families.
Developing knowledge and sensitivities for working with children and families of diverse backgrounds, experiences, beliefs, and desires prepares you as a child care provider. This knowledge also gives you a better appreciation of what children and families bring to child care environments.
What Is Cultural Diversity?
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People can be diverse in some of the following ways:
- race
- gender
- lifestyle
- age
- occupation
- sexual orientation
- spirituality and religion
- ethnicity
- special needs and abilities
- language
- income level
It is important to realize how each person’s cultural understandings (including your own) shape her or his perspectives, motivations, desires, beliefs, and so on.
Why Is Cultural Diversity Important?
Cultural diversity provides insight and perspective towards others. Diversity enriches people by providing opportunities to discover, learn, and understand the world they live in. When people are exposed to and participate in a variety of human experiences, their quality of life is improved, they begin to understand who they are, and they become creative problem solvers able to appreciate differences. Growth in understanding diversity makes people stronger and unites them within society.
Self-Awareness of Culture
Being aware of an individual’s cultural identity helps the individual to explore, understand, and value her or his cultural background. When race, ethnicity, social class, gender, age, language, and so on are acknowledged, the individual gains insight into how she or he learns. The individual realizes that she or he has strengths, weaknesses, values, and emotions that are inherent in the individual and based on the individual’s culture.
When people acknowledge and understand their own differences, they relate to and understand the differences in others. They exhibit more understanding and are able to be more considerate when others experience conflict and tensions because they are more comfortable in their own personal dealings with culturally diverse individuals.
1.3. Learning Activity 1
Session 2: Respecting Cultural Diversity
Learning Activity 1: Shifting Location—Moving Your Understandings
Focus
Have you ever heard the expression, “You have to walk a mile in another person’s shoes to understand them”? While it is not possible to live another person’s life for a day, exploring what you would feel and experience in different situations allows you to consider what others might feel and experience in the same situations.
This is a two-part learning activity. In Part 1, you will either draw on your memories of moving or imagine what it would be like to leave your home or community. In Part 2, you will consider the needs of a family immigrating to Canada and to your community.
Directions
dialect: a variation of a language spoken among a particular group of people (for example, within a community or region, social class, profession, and so on)
immigrate: to move to a new country for the purpose of living there
In this learning activity, you will see the words dialect and immigrate.
Step 1: Complete Part 1 of Learning Activity 1: Shifting Location—Moving Your Understandings.
Step 2: Choose one of the following videos and imagine that the family in the story you chose moves into the house next to yours.
- The Chinese Violin by Madeleine Thien
- Lights for Gita by Rachna Gilmore
- “Iranian Family Becomes Canadian for Freedom!” (To find this story, search the Internet using “Tehran to St. John’s + CIC.”)
- “Closing the Circle” (To find this story, search the Internet using “Closing the Circle + CIC.”)
- “Building a New Life, One Cup at a Time” (To find this story, search the Internet using the title of the article + “CIC.”)
You may also choose to complete Part 2 by reading any of the following books:
- The Colour of Home, by Mary Hoffman
- My Name is Yoon, by Helen Recorvits
- The Name Jar, by Yangsook Choi
- Nadia’s Hands, by Karen English
- Allison, by Allan Say
- Dia’s Story Cloth, by Dia Cha
- Grandpa, Is Everything Black Bad?, By Sandy Lynne Holman
- Heather Has Two Mommies, by Leslea Newman and Diana Souza
- Home to Medicine Mountain, by Chiori Santiago
- Josepha—A Prairie Boy’s Story, by Jim McGugan
- The Lotus Seed, by Sherry Garland
- Marianthe’s Story, by Aliki
- The Memory Coat, by Elvira Woodruff
- Mr. Lincoln’s Way, by Patricia Polacco
- The Streets are Free, by Kurusa
- Way Home, by Libby Hathorn
Step 3: Complete Part 2 of Learning Activity 1: Shifting Location—Moving Your Understandings.
Step 4: Review the Student Rubric for Learning Activity 1: Shifting Location—Moving Your Understandings. Assess the quality of your work and make any necessary adjustments.
Checking In
Save your completed learning activity and your self-assessment in your course folder.
1.4. Inquiry 2
Session 2: Respecting Cultural Diversity
Inquiry 2: Respecting the Diversity of Families Who Have Recently Immigrated
Appreciating Differences
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Over your life, you’ve probably learned the following:
- People are alike in many ways and different in many ways.
- People might feel uncomfortable around people who dress, talk, or act differently than themselves.
- Various factors (e.g., interests, capabilities, values) contribute to the shaping of a person’s identity.
- People have different interests, motivations, skills, and talents.
The combination of similarities and differences is what makes a community. For example, there can be many people who share a desire to work with children. While some of these people may be interested in science and choose to become pediatricians, others might love literature and decide to teach language arts to children. Still others might choose to become child care providers or social workers. Together, their different interests combine to form a community that values and cares for children.
Consider the following reasons cultural diversity should be promoted in child care environments:
- to recognize every person as special and valuable
- to promote high self-esteem in children
- to support children in learning about their culture
- to encourage children and families to respect other cultures
- to teach children how to respectfully interact with others who are different from themselves
- to encourage children and families to live happily and cooperatively in a diverse world
Teaching Activity
To further develop your understandings about how to teach children to respect cultural diversity, you may wish to try the following activity with children at least five years old. This is a simple activity to look at how people can appear different on the outside yet be the same on the inside. This activity will help create sensitivity about prejudice or racism. Ask your teacher whether this is a required learning activity.
Materials
- one brown-shelled egg
- one white-shelled egg
- one bowl
Directions
Step 1: Show children aged at least five years old the brown-shelled and white-shelled eggs.
Step 2: Have the children discuss the similarities and differences in the eggs.
Step 3: Break each egg into the bowl and dispose of the shells.
Step 4: Ask the children questions such as the following:
- Can you tell which egg yolk came from which egg shell?
- Why do you think it is hard to tell which egg yolk came from which egg shell?
- How does this activity relate to people?
- How are people alike and how are they different?
Alberta’s Population Continues to Become Increasingly Diverse
The following statistics, which are as of July 1, 2006, were retrieved from The Daily, an online newsletter produced by Statistics Canada. The article was written on September 27, 2006. You might want to check the website for more recent information. To find the website, search the Internet using the terms “The Daily + Statistics Canada.”
Net international migration continues to be the main engine of population growth in Canada, accounting for about two-thirds of the annual increase in 2005/2006.
- Between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, Canada’s population increased by 324 000 to an estimated 32 623 500.
- During this period, the nation took in 254 400 immigrants, 9800 more than in the previous year. It was the highest level since 2001/2002 when 256 300 international migrants arrived in Canada.
- Alberta had the strongest growth rate among the provinces and territories, almost three times higher than the national average. This was due to Alberta’s booming economy and its highest-ever level of migration from other parts of Canada.
- The population of Alberta increased at the rate of 29.5 per 1000 in the year up to July 1, 2006—the fastest growth in the country and almost three times the national average. Alberta’s population has grown faster than any other province every year since 1996.
- During this period, Alberta posted a record high net interprovincial migration of 57 100 persons, which is 22 700 more than in the previous year. This migration accounted for 58.2% of Alberta’s population growth. Moreover, the Alberta natural growth remains the highest amongst Canadian provinces.
- Alberta has the youngest as well as the fastest growing adult population, with 57% of people in Alberta less than 45 years old last year.
Statistics Canada. “The Daily,” 27 September 2006. Statistics Canada, Quarterly Demographic Estimates, Vol. 20, no. 2 (91-002-XIE) and Annual Demographic Estimates, 2005/2006 (91-215-XIE), http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060927/d060927a.htm.
international migration: either moving directly to a region following immigration or moving to a region after having lived in another region
For example, Azam and his family immigrated to Canada and settled in Peace River. Li and her family also immigrated to Peace River, but they lived in Toronto for a year when they first arrived in Canada.
immigrant: a person from another country who has come to live in Canada
migration: moving from one region or country to another
interprovincial migration: moving to a province from another province
1.5. Page 2
Session 2: Respecting Cultural Diversity
Introducing Culture to Young Children
As you read the following article, consider the following questions:
- What is the tourist curriculum approach?
- What are a few key concepts to avoid the “tourist trap” in multicultural early childhood programming?
- What considerations should be taken into account when planning cultural celebrations?
- What kind of programming would you consider as a child care provider? What considerations would guide your decisions?
- After you have finished reading, you may find it helpful to discuss these questions with a peer from the course.
Introducing “Culture” to Young Children
When thinking of developmentally appropriate ways of introducing “culture” in child care settings, it is important that teachers be sure that young children can easily understand, relate to, and connect what they learn to their own lives. In the past, multicultural and anti-bias early childhood programming often did not stress this relevance and connection. Some teachers would “do” a particular culture or country for one or two weeks and then move on to another one. This leads to what is called the tourist curriculum (Derman-Sparks).
A tourist curriculum is likely to teach about cultures through food, fun, and festivals. The weakness of this approach is that cultures are represented only though special events in a centre and not in the ongoing daily program for the children. For example, if the only recognition of Chinese culture in the classroom is the yearly celebration of Chinese New Year when we make dragons, wear “Chinese” clothing, cook “Chinese” food, and eat with chopsticks, we are falling into the “tourist trap.”
The danger of the tourist approach is that it can be patronizing and stereotyping if we only emphasize the “exotic” aspects of culture, such as celebrations and entertainment. Children only “visit” the culture or country and then “go home” to the daily life in their classroom. (It is important to note that the “dominant” or “mainstream culture” is seldom portrayed in the food, fun, and festivals manner.)
One of the dangers of the tourist curriculum is that the approach fails to develop real understandings of others.
In order to avoid the “tourist trap,” implement the following Key Concepts of Multicultural Early Childhood Education:
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Emphasize human similarities before differences.
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Make learning concrete and interactive.
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Represent the range of cultures and family lifestyles present in your program, and then in the wider community.
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Reflect mainly local and contemporary cultures, rather than those that are international or historical.
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Incorporate multicultural, anti-bias programming in each curriculum area and every learning centre.
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Support and encourage a child’s home language.
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Provide both “known” and “new” experiences and materials for each child in your program.
To Celebrate or Not: A Question for Careful Consideration!
Holidays often serve as a focal point for multicultural programming in early childhood care and education. More recently,
a number of well-respected researchers and authors have critiqued this approach and alerted us to some of the pitfalls of a “song and dance” focus.
In our efforts to ensure culturally sensitive child care and to integrate diversity education into our programs, we have several options to consider with regard to the role of holiday celebrations. We can choose to celebrate all holidays, we can choose to celebrate no holidays, or we can find a comfortable place somewhere in between.
Coming to consensus about the role of celebrations in your program can be challenging. While some staff and families may have no strong feeling about this issue, others may hold very particular beliefs for or against holiday activities based on roots, religion, and the visibility of holidays as a symbol of cultural expression. To help inform and clarify your decision making, consider the following approaches:
Let’s Celebrate Everything!
This perspective presents an opportunity for an inclusive, proactive approach to “living multiculturalism” in your program.
On the one hand, celebrating everything can
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affirm children and their families in expression of meaningful cultural activities
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provide opportunities to expand children’s horizons
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introduce children to new knowledge about cultural diversity
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build respect and appreciation for our human similarities and differences
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offer enriching cross-cultural learning
On the other hand, celebrating everything has the potential to
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overwhelm our program with a theme-based rather than an emergent curriculum approach
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promote commercialism and consumerism
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reinforce overgeneralizations and stereotypes about holidays and festivals
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contribute to a “song and dance” exotic or tourist approach to multicultural education
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result in tokenistic and superficial learning
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create dilemmas and conflicts regarding religious issues
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cause unintended hurt or offence to families
Let’s Celebrate Nothing!
This perspective can help us avoid the risks and challenges identified above.
On the one hand, celebrating nothing can
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provide more opportunities for child initiated, flexible, and open-ended program planning
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ensure greater sensitivity to children and families in low income or poverty situations
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decrease the potential for trivializing religious or cultural elements of holidays
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reduce the possibility of conflict between and among staff and families
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eliminate the potential for developmentally inappropriate programming with respect to holiday celebrations
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downplay the emphasis on our differences and increase opportunities to focus on our similarities
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refocus our efforts and energy to celebrate other kinds of events, issues, or successes that are meaningful for children
On the other hand, celebrating nothing can
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diminish opportunities for cross-cultural learning
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prevent children from participating in a host of hands-on concrete and enjoyable activities
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decrease opportunities for staff to learn and integrate new cross-cultural understanding
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reduce the potential for meaningful family involvement in the program
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limit “teachable moments” for children
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limit staff ability to implement the program’s active commitment to diversity philosophy and practice
Your choices about holiday celebrations will be influenced by your own and other families’ values, beliefs, environment, and experiences. We invite you to reflect, consider, and engage co-operatively with co-workers and families as you decide upon the role that holiday celebrations will play in your program. Consider the following framework to assist staff and families in deciding whether or not to include celebrations in their child care settings.
A. The process of how we ask and answer the question “to celebrate or not?” is, in itself, key. Together, staff and families can make a commitment to questioning, sharing, listening, and incorporating different perspectives in overall decisions and plans. By being respectful, inclusive, and open-ended as we examine whether or not we include celebrations, we are, at the adult level, engaging in the actual practice of cross-cultural and anti-bias learning. If we model this process in the presence of children, we show them not only how we solve a particular issue, but also that similarities and differences are a natural part of human life which can be accepted and incorporated as part of positive problem solving. So for our own sake, and for children’s, the process of asking and answering questions about celebrations is as important as the outcome.
B. Beyond process considerations, it is important to consider celebrations within a broader context. If we agree with Louise Derman-Sparks’ “Four Anti-Bias Curriculum Goals,” then we can balance how celebrations might become part of overall curriculum. We can plan a celebration that
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fosters each child’s construction of a knowledgeable, confident self-identity
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fosters each child’s comfortable empathetic interaction with people of diverse backgrounds
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fosters each child’s critical thinking about bias
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fosters each child’s ability to stand up for herself/himself and for others in the face of bias
With these goals in mind, celebrations, as a human commonality, may be something we want to share as part of our anti-bias curriculum, but only if we do it accurately, appropriately, and in ways that do not overshadow other learning. This suggests that answering the questions “to celebrate or not,” an all or nothing approach, denies the opportunity to introduce children to the full spectrum of human experience, aspirations, and cultural expression.
C. A third general consideration is implementation. As with all other programming choices, how we include celebrations will strongly affect whether learning outcomes will be reflective of our overall anti-bias goals. Implementation choices involve decisions about what songs to teach or what art materials to offer. But more importantly, adult modelling is crucial. The way we introduce celebrations, ask questions, and link similarities and differences to children’s own experiences makes a profound difference to what children do or do not learn. We can use celebrations as the basis for respectful and thoughtful inquiry into diversity—instead of just going through the motions of superficial “song and dance” activities.
Taken together, process considerations, context issues, and implementation strategies suggest that “all or nothing” approaches are not the most supportive of broad anti-bias goals. As staff and families consider options with this in mind, they may decide to include some celebrations within their child care setting. Many excellent resources are available on what, how, and when to offer developmentally appropriate and contextually relevant programming. If staff and families answer “yes” to the question “to celebrate or not?” they can then use these resources for fine-tuning celebration activities as part of a broad-base, anti-bias, multicultural curriculum.
1.6. Learning Activity 2
Session 2: Respecting Cultural Diversity
Learning Activity 2: Cultural Diversity Interview
Focus
When cultural diversity is promoted in child care environments, there are opportunities to
- recognize that every person is special and valuable
- promote children’s self-esteem
- teach children and families awareness of their cultural understandings
- introduce children and families to, and model respect for, other cultural understandings
Interviewing or having conversations with others about how cultural diversity can be promoted in child care settings will help you gain ideas that you can use when working with children and their families.
Important: Depending on the time the Director of the child care facility has, you might complete this learning activity in small groups rather than by yourself.
This activity can be completed with the Director of the child care facility where you have been completing other learning activities, or it may be completed in another child care facility.
Directions
Step 1: Complete Part 1 of Learning Activity 2: Cultural Diversity Interview.
Step 2: Arrange a convenient time for you to interview the Director of a child care facility.
Important: Not in the mood to respond on paper? Talk to your teacher about recording your interview in video or audio format. Do you have another creative idea? Run it by your teacher.
If necessary, you may complete the interview by phone.
Step 3: Meet with the Director and complete Part 2 of Learning Activity 2: Cultural Diversity Interview.
Checking In
Save your completed learning activity in your course folder.
1.7. Learning Activity 3
Session 2: Respecting Cultural Diversity
Learning Activity 3: Self-Reflective Journal Entry
Focus
In this learning activity you will compose a journal entry where you will have the opportunity to think critically about your beliefs and attitudes about children. You will also reflect on how your beliefs and attitudes shape your practices with children and families.
Engaging in this critical thinking will support you in further understanding how, as a child care provider, you can live by practices in child care settings that honour the diversity of children, families, co-workers, and yourself.
Directions
Step 1: Brainstorm and record ideas for how you could describe and/or incorporate the following into a self-reflective journal entry:
- your views and attitudes toward supporting children’s development and the guidance of children
- how your experiences in this and the other Early Learning and Child Care courses have influenced your practices with children
- how you will apply what you have learned about cultural diversity to your work with young children and their families
- a minimum of four ideas for how a child care facility could be welcoming to, and inclusive of, diverse children and families. Consider the following examples:
- dolls with different skin tones
- books in different languages
- photographs of the children and families who attend the facility (be sure the photographs are at eye level for the children)
Step 2: Reread what you wrote in the Session 2 Getting Focused Activity: Cultural Diversity—What Does It Mean? As you do so, consider how your views have changed.
Step 3: Review the Journal Entry Exemplar.
Step 4: Complete Learning Activity 3: Self-Reflective Journal Entry.
Step 5: Review the Student Checklist for Learning Activity 3: Self-Reflective Journal Entry. Assess the quality of your work and make any necessary adjustments.
Checking In
Save your completed learning activity and your checklist in your course folder.
1.8. Session 2 Summary
Session 2: Respecting Cultural Diversity
Session Summary
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Review Session 2 to prepare for writing the quiz. As you review, note the sections that connect with the following points:
- Alberta and Canada’s populations are becoming increasingly culturally diverse.
- Alberta had the strongest growth rate among the Canadian provinces and territories.
- People can be culturally diverse in the following areas, among others:
- race
- gender
- lifestyle
- age
- occupation
- sexual orientation
- spirituality
- religion
- ethnicity
- special needs and abilities
- language
- income level
- Developing an increased knowledge, awareness, and sensitivity will provide you with a better appreciation of what children and families bring to the child care environment.
- Learn about each family’s diversity from the family members. Do not make generalizations or stereotypes about them based on their diversity.
- Avoid the “tourist trap” when introducing culture to young children.
- Carefully think through guidelines for including or not including celebrations. Be sure you are getting information about how each family celebrates a specific holiday or event; otherwise, you will risk making generalizations and stereotyping.
- Recognize that the commonalities between human beings are greater than the differences between cultural backgrounds.
- When families and child care providers work together, the environments of both the home and the child care program are enriched and become more supportive of the child.
- It is important to understand that making generalizations and stereotypes about children’s and families’ cultural diversity creates barriers to positive relations between families and child care providers.
- It is important to reduce barriers to open communication.
Session Quiz
Checking In
Contact your teacher to decide together when and where you will complete the Session 2 Quiz.