Developing Successful Family Partnerships across Ethnically and Linguistically Diverse EC Learning Communities

1
Developing Successful Family Partnerships across
Ethnically and Linguistically Diverse EC Learning
Communities

• Linda C. Halgunseth, Ph.D.
• Office of Applied Research

2
Family Partnerships

• Components
• a) Two-way dialogue
• b) Team-oriented approach
• c) Relationship between Educator/Caregiver and
  Family

3
Not Parent Education

• Parent Education is not a true partnership
• Implies the professional has all the answers
• Disregards the knowledge-base and strengths of
  the family

4
Family Partnerships Help Children Succeed!

• Higher preschool performance and promotion to
  next grade 1, 2
• More positive engagements with peers, adults, and
  learning3
• Buffers negative impact of poverty on academic
  and behavioral outcomes4
• Benefits persist over time4

5
Demographic Shifts and EC Educators

• 44.9 of children ages 0-4 are of color5
• More than 16 of children in preschool programs
  speak languages other than English at home (50
  in some parts of the country)6, 7
• Many EC teachers do not feel they were properly
  prepared to work with culturally and
  linguistically diverse families8

6
Culture and Family

• Cultural Values9, 10
• Values Motivate Family Behavior9, 10, 11
• Diversity exists within each Cultural and Ethnic
  Group (No somos iguales Stress vs. Cultural
  Values financial strain, Hierarchy)10, 12

7
Language and Families

• Infant-toddlers
• innate capacity to learn and distinguish multiple
  languages from birth13, 14
• early dual exposure does not delay development in
  either language14
• Cognitive Social Benefits
• greater brain tissue density (language, memory,
  and attention)16
• more neural activity17
• stronger social skills, teacher-child
  relationships, and less likely to be bullied by
  peers18
• Long Term Benefits19, 20, 21

8
Why Change Practices and Policies?

• Demographic shifts will continue
• 2050 predictions ethnic-minorities will become
  the majority group22
• Identity formation starts in early childhood4
• Benefits of Family School Partnerships4
• Dual Language program predicts positive child
  outcomes15
• Old way is not working15, 22

9
Policy Recommendations

• Incorporate cultural competence in EC standards
• New Project QRIS NAEYC A.L Mailman
• Davida McDonald, Senior Public Policy Advisor,
  NAEYC 23
• Require all EC staff to understand first and
  second language development
• Continue to monitor the growth and achievement of
  young ELL children
• Require cross-cultural or inter-cultural
  competent staff
• Recruit and retain additional EC staff at all
  levels who are representative of the cultural and
  linguistic background of the children in your
  program

10
Practice Recommendations

• STRENGTH-BASED APPROACH
• including cultures enriches program different
  does not mean dysfunctional
• Self-Reflection (own background, history,
  stereotypes, values, customs, behaviors)
• Open Communication
• Include Family in Curriculum Development
• surveys, questionnaires (What are your familys
  goal for your child work together to achieve)

11
Practice Recommendations2

• Invite Community Role Models and Volunteers
• Build on Language Capacities of Child
• Phonetics
• Teaching Young Children (News From the Field,
  Handout)24
• Nursery Rhymes, Songs, Extended Vocabulary, Early
  Literacy Skills22
• Nonverbal Communication

12
Thank you!

• If the culture of the teacher is to become part
  of the consciousness of the child, then the
  culture of the child must be first in the
  consciousness of the teacher.
• Bernstein, 1972, p. 142

13
Footnotes1

1. Izzo. C. V., Weissberg, R. P., Kasprow, W. J.,
   Fendrich, M. (1999). A longitudinal assessment of
   teacher perceptions of parent involvement in
   childrens education and school performance,
   American Journal of Community Psychology, 27(6),
   817-839.
2. Mantizicopoulos, P. (2003). Flunking kindergarten
   after Head Start An inquiry into the
   contribution of contextual and individual
   variables. Journal of Educational Psychology,
   95(2), 268-278.
3. McWayne, C., Hampton, V., Fantuzzo., J. Cohen, H.
   L., Sekino, Y. (2004). A multivariate
   examination of parent involvement and the social
   and academic competencies of urban kindergarten
   children. Psychology in the Schools, 41(3),
   363-377.
4. Harvard Family Research Project. (2006, Spring).
   Family involvement makes a difference evidence
   that family involvement promotes school success
   for every child of every age. Harvard Family
   Research Project Harvard Graduate School of
   Education.
5. Bruner, C. (2008, June). Developing early
   learning standards that are developmentally
   appropriate from a multicultural lens A case
   study. 17th National Institute for Early
   Childhood Professional Development.
6. Clifford, R. M., Barbarin, O., Chang, F., Early,
   D. M., Bryant, D., Howes, C., Burchinal, M.,
   Pianta, R. (2005). What is prekindergarten?
   Characteristics of public pre-kindergarten
   programs. Applied Developmental Science, 9(3),
   126-143.
7. Olsen, L. Ensuring academic success for English
   learners. UC Linguistic Minority Research
   Institute, Newsletter v15, (4), Summer 2006.
8. Ray, A. (2008, June). The critical challenge in
   teacher preparation Developing early childhood
   practitioners who can effectively educate
   diverse children. Research Symposium 17th
   National Institute for Early Childhood
   Professional Development.
9. Lynch, E. W., Hanson, M. J. (1992). Developing
   cross-cultural competence. Baltimore, MD Paul H.
   Brooks
10. Halgunseth, L. C., Ispa, J., Rudy, D. (2006).
    Parental control in Latino families An
    integrated review of the literature. Child
    Development, 77(5), 1282-1297.
11. Halgunseth, L., Cushinberry, C., Bordere, T.
    (2003). Race, Ethnicity, and Parenting Styles.
    Points Counterpoints Controversial
    relationship and family issues in the 21st
    century. Los Angeles Roxbury Publishing Company
12. Rokeach, M. (1979). Understanding Human Values.
    New York Free Press.

14
Footnotes2

• 13 Kuhl, P. K. Early language acquisition
  Cracking the speech code. Nature Reviews
  Neuroscience, 5(11), (2004), 931-843.
• 14 Genesee, R., Paradis, J., Crago, M. B.
  (2004). Dual Language Development and Disorders
  A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language
  Learning. Baltimore, MD Brookes Publishing.
• 15 Espinosa, L. M. (2008). Challenging Common
  Myths about Young English Language Learners. FCD
  Policy Brief, Advancing PK-3, No. 8, January. New
  York Foundation for Child Development.
• 16 Mechelli, A., Crinion, J. T., Noppeney, U.,
  ODoherty, J., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R.,
  Price, C. J. (2004). Structural Plasticity in the
  Bilingual Brain, Nature, Vol. 431 (2004), 757.
• Kovelman, I., Bakers, S., Petitto, L.A.,
  Bilingual and Monolingual Brains Compared An
  fMRI Study of a Neurological Signature of
  Bilingualism. Paper presented at the annual
  meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Atlanta,
  GA. October, 2006.
• Chang, F., Crawford, G., Early, D., Bryant, D.,
  Howes, C., Burchinal, M., Pianta, R. (2005).
  Spanish-speaking childrens social and language
  development in pre-kindergarten classrooms. Early
  Education and Development, 18(2) 243-269.
• 19 Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., Ryan, J.
  (2006). Executive Control in a Modified
  Antisaccade Task Effects of Aging and
  Bilingualism. Journal of Experimental Psychology
  Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 323(6),
  1341-1354.
• 20 Bialystok, E. (2001). Bilingualism in
  Development Language, Literacy, and Cognition.
  Cambridge, U.K. Cambridge University Press.
• Campos, S. J. (1995). The Carpenteria preschool
  program A long-term effects study. In E. E.
  Garcia B. McLaughlin (Eds.), Meeting the
  challenge of linguistic and cultural diversity in
  early childhood education (pp. 34-48). New York
  Teachers College Press
• 22 Espinosa, L. M. (2007). English-language
  learners as they enter school. In R. C. Pianta,
  M.J. Cox, K. L. Snow (Eds.). School readiness
  the transition to kindergarten in the era of
  accountability. Baltimore Paul. H. Brookes.
• 23 The National Association for the Education of
  Young Children (NAEYC) has received a planning
  grant from the A.L. Mailman Foundation to
  determine the feasibility of developing criteria,
  as well as a tool, to measure the level of
  cultural competence in quality rating and
  improvement systems (QRIS). Contact Davida
  McDonald, Senior Public Policy Advisor (NAEYC),
  for more information DMcDonald_at_naeyc.org
• 24 For more information about Teaching Young
  Children, contact Derry Koralek, Editor,
  DKoralek_at_naeyc.org

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• Linda C. Halgunseth, Ph.D.
• Research Coordinator
• Office of Applied Research (OAR)
• National Association for the Education of Young
  Children (NAEYC)
• 1313 L Street, NW Suite 400
• Washington, DC 20005
• [phone]
• LHalgunseth_at_naeyc.org
• www.naeyc.org