Indian family

The family in my scenario are from India, and the setting is a child care center.

The first thing I will do is to make their culture to be seen or felt in the classroom. As a new child in a new environment, if he/she can find something that is related to his/her culture, he/she will feel safe and comfortable in the new school setting. The culture of India in the classroom can be some posters of their culture’s celebrations, dolls of their skin color, the language display, the story books of India or Indian folk tales. In this way, the child will feel that he/she is related or bound with the new environment to help the child settle in school. Meanwhile, it is a good sign for parents to know that their culture is respected in school, and their family is welcomed by school.

The second thing I would do is to get to know some knowledge of India and Indian culture about children. I want to find out if there is something special in Indian culture about children. In China, children will wear jade and a red string when it is their zodiac year, so I would like to know if there is something similar to that in India too. It helps me answer the questions from other kids about India and their culture as well.

The third thing that I would do is that I would like to reflect on myself to see if I have any bias or prejudice about people from India. I have to make sure that I treat this child equally.  Meanwhile, I am the model for other children to copy and follow as well. It is important for me to show my equity and justice to everyone.

The fourth thing will be cultural related activities. I hope my children in the class can be open minded and caring to people around them regardless of their skin colors, cultural backgrounds, or languages. As a teacher I will organize and plan some cultural related activities for children to engage in to get to know other cultures better, and to offer a chance for others to get to know the new comer.

The fifth thing that I would do is to get to know the family. Only knowing of the Indian culture is not good enough to help me understand the family better, as each family has their unique home culture. I would start and take the initiative to talk to parents to have some specific knowledge of this family to figure out the best way to support their home culture at school.

Doing the above five things I think is a win-win strategy. Family and the child can settle down in the new environment with my help, and they will feel comfortable to talk to me anything that they want to share with me. They will feel respected and valued at school. They also will know that their home culture is supported by school as well.Meanwhile, I build up a good relationship with the family, so I have their support to help the child to integrate into the new school setting. For me, I have a chance to practice and respect diversity in my classroom, and it helps me rich my teaching activities. I hope the five strategies work out, so I can have a general idea of what do to with new students from a different cultural background, and I can help the family out when they need my help.