Multicultural education is a reform movement in education that refers to the learning of appropriate knowledge, attitudes and skills with respect and appreciation of different cultures and other differences (Abdullah, 2009). It is important for early childhood educators to promote and teach children about multiculturalism because children notice differences as young as 3 years old (Phoon, Abdullah, & Abdullah, 2013b). They are not free from bias and prejudice because they can see what is valued and not valued through observations, which can develop into positive and negative feelings about the differences (Abdullah, 2009). Early childhood educators play a critical role in supporting multiculturalism in early childhood classrooms in order
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They claimed that reflection on their values, beliefs and attitudes about the different cultures and viewing diversity as a critical element in relationships can help them to think more deeply about the different cultures, which in turn increases their respect and appreciation for diversity (Abdullah, 2009; Chen, Nimmo, & Fraser, 2009). This critical reflection and evaluation encourage educators to question their practices, knowledge, skills and attitudes in promoting multiculturalism. Upon completing the self-reflection, they will be more aware of the skills needed for effective multiculturalism which enhances their teaching practices in the …show more content…
A Canadian elementary school also showed little signs of incorporating multiculturalism into the classroom. As stated in Guo (2006), the school system showed a lack of commitment to the English as a Second Language (ESL) parents by predominantly using English in most of their communication. As mentioned in her article, educators used excessive educational jargon when communicating with parents during parent-teacher conferences. Moreover, since these parents have limited vocabulary or understanding of the English language, their children, who are participating in the ESL programme, are expected to translate and interpret letters and dialogues. This shows that the school is not culturally responsive to the needs of the ESL parents. In conclusion, early childhood educators do play an important role in advocating multiculturalism in early childhood classroom. Recognising the importance and benefits of integrating multiculturalism into the early childhood classrooms are one of the few beliefs that educators need to support multiculturalism. However, they were honest in claiming that they are unsure of how to incorporate multiculturalism into their practices and thus, adopted the “tourist approach” that has been practiced for
They claimed that reflection on their values, beliefs and attitudes about the different cultures and viewing diversity as a critical element in relationships can help them to think more deeply about the different cultures, which in turn increases their respect and appreciation for diversity (Abdullah, 2009; Chen, Nimmo, & Fraser, 2009). This critical reflection and evaluation encourage educators to question their practices, knowledge, skills and attitudes in promoting multiculturalism. Upon completing the self-reflection, they will be more aware of the skills needed for effective multiculturalism which enhances their teaching practices in the …show more content…
A Canadian elementary school also showed little signs of incorporating multiculturalism into the classroom. As stated in Guo (2006), the school system showed a lack of commitment to the English as a Second Language (ESL) parents by predominantly using English in most of their communication. As mentioned in her article, educators used excessive educational jargon when communicating with parents during parent-teacher conferences. Moreover, since these parents have limited vocabulary or understanding of the English language, their children, who are participating in the ESL programme, are expected to translate and interpret letters and dialogues. This shows that the school is not culturally responsive to the needs of the ESL parents. In conclusion, early childhood educators do play an important role in advocating multiculturalism in early childhood classroom. Recognising the importance and benefits of integrating multiculturalism into the early childhood classrooms are one of the few beliefs that educators need to support multiculturalism. However, they were honest in claiming that they are unsure of how to incorporate multiculturalism into their practices and thus, adopted the “tourist approach” that has been practiced for