Adopting a Multicultural Perspective in Out-of-School-Time Programs

Article Link: http://www.exchangepress.com/article/adopting-a-multicultural-perspective-in-out-of-school-time-programs/5016845/

When I was a young child, a teacher asked me to “show and tell” my “native dress” �" a kimono. She was mistaken. A kimono was the native dress of my ancestors; for me and my mother and my grandmother our native dress was an American skirt and blouse. This experience reduced my ancestry to an “exotic” difference and made me feel not-American. I wondered why I was singled out? I recognized that I looked different from my White classmates, but did this “show and tell” make me feel any more understood as a minority? No. It did not offer my classmates any understanding about my ancestry other than to highlight the differences between us. Multicultural, pluralistic, and anti-bias are loaded terms; they bring up strong feelings that relate to values taught at home. Creating culturally responsive early childhood programs has become an expectation for our field. The challenge for programs, including those designed for out-of-school-time, is to develop a vision, philosophy, and strategy for welcoming children and families that is inclusive of community resources and supportive of a global world view. Vision The first step in this project is to organize a team of teachers, administrators, parents, and the community to ...