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Should individuals from different cultural backgrounds do things 'our way'? We have to answer this individually because 'our way' means 'our culture' and this is a very personal matter.
The question of 'our way' cannot be answered quickly, regardless of how tempting it might be to give a resounding 'No, we have to provide for their culture and language in our service' or 'Yes, we are here to teach them how.' To answer we need to think about what culture is, how it affects each of us, and how to really understand people from our own and other cultures.
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What is culture?
Culture can be defined as the values, beliefs and practices of a group of people. It is passed on by families and caregivers to very young children without them even being aware of it.
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Culture is the things we regard as normal day-to-day living, such as eating, sleeping, caring for children and the ways in which we communicate. It includes shared values and special occasions: our rituals, customs and celebrations—everything from birthdays, sporting occasions, special holidays to religious celebrations. In fact, it's probably safe to say that the more ‘normal' we regard something, the more it is part of our culture.
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Understanding 'our culture'
To understand our own culture it is important to spend time in reflection and gaining self-knowledge: thinking about what makes us tick as individuals; how and why we act the way we do. It's also important to be as well-informed as possible: to try to understand different people and points of view by noticing things, talking to people, reading and watching films, listening to music and travelling.
It's also useful to try to describe ‘our culture' in the same ways as we describe the culture of others. For example, try to create a fact sheet about your culture. How easy is it? How many people of your culture agree with your description? What about how ‘we' bring up children? How easily would you, your friends and your colleagues of the same cultural background agree on all aspects of that?
Good questions to consider include:
- How much do you value group consensus and success, adherence to norms, respect for authority—compared to individual achievement, self-expression and personal choice?
- How much do you emphasise criticism, social skills and listening to authority—as opposed to self-motivation, cognitive skills and oral expression?
- What do you think about:
- individual materialism compared with communal good and relationships?
- child-centred learning compared with an adult as teacher?
- formality versus informality in relationships and interactions?
- the balance between verbal and other means of communication?
- expressing emotions or keeping them hidden?
- the relative importance of the present compared to the future?
We often find, first, that these qualities, values, beliefs and behaviours vary according to context; and, second, no two people are the same. Third, when we think about being Australian, we may observe that there are groups of people who seem to have more in common with one another: for example, people from the same socioeconomic groups; people who share the same environments or live in the same areas of a big city. This is the reality of culture: it is not fixed, but it changes according to the interactions between all individuals, their groups and their societies.
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Understanding other cultures
Given how complicated it can be to understand our own culture and to describe ‘our' way of thinking and doing things, how best can we approach people who appear very different?
1. Committing
First, we need to understand the benefit to children of reaching out, welcoming and respecting parents for who they are. Young children are very quick to pick up unspoken messages and, given that their parents are so important to them, it is logical that they feel good when they see their parents are welcomed and getting on well with carers. Many parents from other than English-speaking backgrounds want to be involved in their children's service but are unsure of what is required of them.
2. Preparing
It takes much more time and effort to communicate with people who have a different first language, strongly accented English, and/or different body language and communication styles than it does with people who use the same language and communication cues. Of course, this is true for both parties and it is even more demanding and tiring for the person using a second language.
Make time to learn about different communication styles—cross-cultural communication in particular. If you feel shy, or afraid you will do something ‘wrong', say so: you will probably end up laughing together! Being prepared means having time, skills and a willingness to experiment and enjoy the experience.
3. Being informed and sensitive
It is important to think about other cultures in the same way as we think about our own: they are as complex and there are just as many individual differences. This means that we should keep finding out as much as we can about different people and places as background information; but we get our best information from the families we are working with, and should try to build our work around our understanding of (and relationship with) individuals.
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Sometimes people will present us with dilemmas, in that they may not accept aspects of our professional best practice. When this happens we need to be particularly careful, proceeding slowly with openness to communicate and share information to reach mutually acceptable resolutions (which always have in mind children's safety and wellbeing). In communicating with parents, try to talk to them and come to understand the ‘why' of what they are saying, doing or requesting: and then see what can be done.
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Should others use 'our way'?
Given that there are so many different ways that could be called 'ours', the true answer is probably that we should work with others on an individual basis: talking openly and accurately about the things we do and our reasons for doing them, finding out the things they would like us to do or not to do, and their reasons. The end result should be a situation in which everyone wins—especially children.
Margaret Young
National President
Early Childhood Australia
Reference
Families First NSW and Lady Gowrie Child Centre NSW. (2007). Building connections. Sydney: Author.
| Observing and planning in early childhood settings: Using a sociocultural approach is a comprehensive theoretical and practical guide to implementing a holistic approach to learning. It is available from Early Childhood Australia for $37.95 (including p&h). To order, or to find out more, visit www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/pub37.
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