1. Families, Culture and Early Years Environments
ECS Year 2
Early Childhood in a Diverse Society

2. What do we mean by a community?
Family
School
Village
Town
Racial grouping
Language group
Faith group

3. Watching and listening to infants and toddlers, I have come to the view that
being part of a culture is a need human beings are born with – that culture, whatever its contents, is a natural function.
(Trevarthen, 1995, p. 5)

4. Service provision for young children from particular groups of the community and parenting practices.
Inclusion and Diversity: Children at risk (Ofsted, in Bruce, 2006)
Girls and boys
Minority ethnic and faith groups
Travellers, asylum-seekers and refugees
Pupils who need support to learn English as an additional language.
Pupils with special needs
Children who are gifted and talented
Children who are looked after by the local authority
Sick children, young carers and those whose families are under extreme stress.

5. Identity
Think about:
How old you were, when you first became aware of your race or ethnicity?
How different racial/ethnic groups were viewed in your family or community?
How different racial/ethnic groups were viewed in your schooling?
Has anything changed since then?

6. Identity Think about: The groups or communities you belong to.
Does everyone perceive you in the same way?
Do the different communities have the same values?
Do you behave the same way in different communities?
How and why?

7. Identity Think about: The different aspects of your identity
What contributes to them?
How do they affect how you are seen by others?
Identify one aspect of your identity that you like and …
One that you would change.
Why?

8. Identity formation…
is multifaceted: social class, gender, ethnicity, dis/ability, religion, language.
Identifying ourselves as one thing we simultaneously distance ourselves from something else.
We all have an ethnic/racial, linguistic, gendered and cultural identity.

9. Identity Race & ethnicity
“Race”: understood as referring to physical characteristics in peoples;
“Ethnicity”: understood as the cultural characteristics of a group, who may have developed their own language, religion, social customs and family practices over time and space;
A child is born with “racial” characteristics but acquires ethnic/cultural characteristics (including language in early childhood).

10. Identity Gender Biologically; Socially constructed
Sexual characteristics are fixed.
Gender identity is constructed, gender markers, differential treatment, expectations.
Gender specific characteristics often go unchallenged
Women drivers
Male mathematicians
Gendered nature of caring

11. Identity How children acquire a cultural identity?
Develop self-identity from birth, through interactions with others
Parents, media, school, perceived cultural heritage (‘hidden curriculum’).
‘11 month old felt excluded. In excluded situation the child made more attempts to interact with peers (showing off, interposing body, naming toys, smiling)’ (Tremblay & Nadel, 1996)
Construct their own understandings of physical and cultural differences
They can identify “race” categories by the age of 3
Adopt “current adult prejudices” on race
Learn the effect of racist name-calling from other children

12. Defining Family and Values
The concept of "family values" is rooted in each individual culture thus making the values different for different societies. In addition, cultures change over time in response to economic, political, and cultural developments. Therefore, "family values" vary from household to household, from country to country, and from generation to generation.
Gillis, John R. A World of Their Own Making: Myth, Ritual, and the Quest for Family Values. New York: Basic Books, 1996.

13. Family as a community Nuclear family Extended family
Single parent family
Who are the parents/carers
Being a parent
Different parenting and child rearing styles and practices
Family values

14. Defining Family and Values
What does family time mean to you?
What are your traditional family values?
How do you determine your family values?
Whose definition(s) of family and values is/are valid? Why?
Who has the power or authority to define family and values?

15. How do we ‘practice’ respect?
It is a ‘value’ that we can construct when we interact with each other.
In a multi-cultural environment we should make clear what we understand/expect from the others.
We are still learning about ‘respect’.

24. School as a community Children Parents and carers
Teachers and educators
Support staff
Volunteers and helpers
Others?

25. Service provision for young children from particular groups of the community and parenting practices.
Inclusion and Diversity: Children at risk (Ofsted, 2000 in Bruce, 2006) Girls and boys Minority ethnic and faith groups Travellers, asylum-seekers and refugees Pupils who need support to learn English as an additional language. Pupils with special needs Children who are gifted and talented Children who are looked after by the local authority Sick children, young carers and those whose families are under extreme stress.

26. Policy framework Every Child Matters (2005) Every child is able to:
Be healthy
Enjoy and achieve
Stay safe
Make a positive contribution
Achieve economic well-being

27. Policy framework National Curriculum (2000)
Inclusion is one of the four national standards:
Teaching to respond to pupils’ needs
Suitable learning challenges to be established
Overcoming of barriers to assessment and learning.
Entitlement to the curriculum

28. Policy framework Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (2000)
Birth to Three matters (2002)
Early Years Foundation Stage (2007)
Developmentally appropriate practice
Individual needs
Partnership with parents/carers
Acknowledging and respecting linguistic and cultural diversity

29. Inclusive Practice Inclusion for girls and boys
Think about how your setting:
Promotes inclusion and anti-discriminatory practice taking into account:
Strategies for supporting individual children.
Working with parents.
Whole-school policies and practices.

30. Involving Parents and Families
A parent who is in employment is not always able to participate in a parental involvement scheme that requires attendance on a regular basis.
A parent who has English as an additional language may not feel confident in being in a totally English-speaking environment.
In some cultures, including some members of the white working- class culture, the tradition may be to deliver one's child to the school or playgroup and leave the rest to the professionals who work there.
Home visit before the child joins the nursery or playgroup can help cement initial relationships with reluctant parents.
The home visitor must be mindful not to draw stereo types from a person's home and thus label the child and its family on the strength of a snapshot picture.

31. Recommendations for Working With Young Children
To support and validate the experiences of children, their families and practitioners
To reinforce connection to cultural roots
To celebrate both similarities and differences in children’s lives
To stretch children’s awareness and empathy
Bisson (1997)

32. How do we ‘practice’ respect
It is a ‘value’ that we can construct when we interact with each other.
In a multi-cultural environment we should make clear what we understand/expect from the others.
We are still learning about ‘respect’.

33. Respect—for children, parents and teacher
Gonzalez-Mena (2001) describes the essential requirements for providing culturally competent care as:
Respect—for children, parents and teacher
Parents and teachers understanding that each may have different perspectives on early childhood education
Parents, teachers and caregivers understanding that the values embedded in an early childhood education programme may differ from family values
Parents and teachers finding ways to accommodate the differences, and for teachers and parents to create ‘ongoing dialogues’ with each other

34. Identities and Values
Families and communities often have shared sets of values. What does the term “British values” mean to you? Are these values the same for every group in British society? Making assumptions