Diverse approaches to teaching frames content in current issue of Young Children

(Washington) - Diversity is often the umbrella term our society uses when referring to ethnicity and race. In the July 2010 issue of Young Children, the award-winning journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the definition is expanded to examine and embrace differences in home languages, faiths, and family structures. Readers are challenged to examine various facets of diversity in teaching young children as it relates to children’s diverse needs and circumstances. Some of the headlines in this issue include:

• The Fun Thing about Studying Different Beliefs Is That…They Are Different” –Kindergartners Explore Spirituality / Ben Mardell and Mona M. Abo-Zena
• Young English Learners’ Interlanguage As a Context for Language and Early Literacy Development / Gregory A. Cheatham and Yeosun Ellie Ro
• A Head Start/College Partnership: Using a Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Approach to Help Working Teachers Earn Degrees / Marilyn Chu, Bárbara Martínez-Griego, and Sharon Cronin
• Supporting Transnational Families / Eun Kyeong Cho, Dora W. Chen, and Sunghee Shin
• Optimizing Mothers’ Social Networks:  Strategies for Sharing Information / Cynthia O’Nell Lashley with Liana Giannoni

“We need only look in our classrooms and communities for evidence of the diverse cultures, ethnicities, languages, interests, and family structures of children, families, and educators in the United States,” said Derry Koralek, editor-in-chief of NAEYC publications. “Diversity is the norm, not the exception.”

NAEYC continues to be dedicated to supporting and advocating for diversity within early childhood settings and in relationships with families and communities. Last year, NAEYC updated the Where We Stand position statement on “Responding to Linguistic and Cultural Diversity.”  NAEYC recommendations emphasize that “early childhood programs are responsible for creating a welcoming environment that respects diversity, supports children’s ties to their families and community, and promotes both second language acquisition and preservation of children’s home languages and culture identities.” NAEYC also published a much-anticipated follow-up to Anti-Bias Curriculum earlier this year titled, Anti-Bias Education for our Children and Ourselves. Authors Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards created this second edition to support children’s full development in our multiracial, multilingual, and multicultural world, while also integrating the core goals of anti-bias education in developmentally appropriate ways throughout a child’s education.

Because of the known value of strong family partnerships, NAEYC has also expanded its efforts to share information about successful engagement strategies development by exemplary early childhood programs. Through the Engaging Diverse Families (EDF) project, NAEYC has named 10 programs from around the country that have demonstrated these strategies. For more information about EDF and for the full list of selected programs, visit NAEYC’s website.

NAEYC is also determined to see diversity embraced with our system building with the implementation of the Quality Benchmark for Cultural Competence Project (QBCCP). The project was created to determine the key elements of cultural competence for early childhood programs and ways to meaningfully integrate these concepts within quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) criteria. More information about the project, including a tool that can be used for measurement of cultural competency, can be found on NAEYC’s website.

NAEYC’s focus on diversity will continue with the November issue of Young Children - Lessons Learned from Early Childhood Educators Across the Globe. For more information about Young Children and other NAEYC publications, visit www.naeyc.org/publications.

Founded in 1926, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has nearly 90,000 members worldwide.  The association is the largest and most influential advocate for early care and education in the United States.

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