I am a director of a child care center and a family from Ivory Coast just migrated to the United States and would like their young children to be registered in my program. I will find out more about the family and their culture because I have the information that they do not speak English, they only speak French.
I would prepare myself to be culturally responsive to this family by:
(I) Gathering all the enrollment paper works to a translator who can help me translate them to French and I would make sure that we (myself and staff) learn some French words to help the family and their children. (II) Finding out on the internet or the library about the family’s cultural traditions, their values, beliefs, food, their ways of communicating (greetings) and also the cultural events they celebrate.
(III) Having an interpreter come to the school on the day of their registration to interpret and give them a tour of the school.
(IV) Finding out a local Ivory Coast organization to help the family adjust and have someone call and speak to them about their new environment and how to go about getting some necessary things (resources) they need to survive.
(V) Helping the children adjust to the new school through combined effort of my staff and I in learning more of their language with flash card, so that we can bring the home and school together to help their children adjust to their new school. The use of relevant books, pictures, and television programs in French would enhance our collective success.
My hope and aim is to help the new family and my staff to make the change an easy task on their parts. Every family would appreciate and understand that we always adjust to take care of families’ needs knowing that people’s rich culture is hard to part with. With our help, every family would understand that their cultural diversity is part of their identity and we are here to help them believe in and preserve what they know.
I think you covered most if not all of your bases in preparation for this new family to enroll in your center. Where do you find access to an interpreter? They are hard to come by in my area.
ReplyDeleteGetting an interpreter is important so the family can understand every thing you discourse. are you going to employ an interpreter because getting one everytime you communicate with them might be really expensive.
ReplyDeleteJoy,
ReplyDeleteIn response to your question because I could not post the reply on your blog.I will have student volunteers or friends come in and fill in as interpreters but if it is really necessary I will hire someone. It is good that you thought about this point because it got me thinking. One of my friends have students come in to volunteer in her school.