ABSTRACT

Children served in early care and education classrooms increasingly represent a variety of racial and cultural backgrounds. Such demographic changes have led to renewed attention to the importance of teachers’ preparation and practices with children of color. Despite classroom demographics, early childhood teaching practices in the United States are informed by the dominant culture. Practices that do not respond to children’s individual cultural identities may have negative effects on children’s development, especially those children from marginalized cultures. This paper adds to the body of literature through semi-structured, qualitative interviews with 10 early childhood educators regarding their beliefs and practices with children of color and their experiences related to supporting racial and cultural diversity in the classroom. Results revealed limited knowledge and understanding of the role that culture plays in shaping child development and teaching practices. The lack of knowledge and minimal use of culturally responsive practices were largely influenced by teachers’ personal experiences and limited exposure to the concepts of culture and cultural identities within their teacher preparation programs. Our findings emphasize the importance of improving the curriculum in higher education for early childhood care and education teachers. Recommendations for teacher educators are included.

摘要

在早期护理和教育教室服务的儿童越来越多地代表各种种族和文化背景。这种人口变化导致重新关注教师准备和实践与有色儿童的重要性。尽管有课堂人口统计数据，但美国的幼儿教育实践受到主流文化的影响。不回应儿童个人文化身份的做法可能会对儿童的发展产生负面影响，尤其是那些来自边缘文化的儿童。本文通过对 10 位幼儿教育工作者的半结构化、定性访谈，就他们对有色人种儿童的信仰和实践以及他们在课堂上支持种族和文化多样性方面的经验进行了补充，从而增加了文献的主体。结果表明，对文化在塑造儿童发展和教学实践中所起的作用的知识和理解有限。缺乏知识和很少使用文化响应实践在很大程度上受到教师个人经历的影响，以及他们在教师准备计划中对文化和文化身份概念的有限接触。我们的研究结果强调了改善幼儿保育和教育教师高等教育课程的重要性。包括对教师教育者的建议。缺乏知识和很少使用文化响应实践在很大程度上受到教师个人经历的影响，以及他们在教师准备计划中对文化和文化身份概念的有限接触。我们的研究结果强调了改善幼儿保育和教育教师高等教育课程的重要性。包括对教师教育者的建议。缺乏知识和很少使用文化响应实践在很大程度上受到教师个人经历的影响，以及他们在教师准备计划中对文化和文化身份概念的有限接触。我们的研究结果强调了改善幼儿保育和教育教师高等教育课程的重要性。包括对教师教育者的建议。