Care situations
INTERCULTURAL EXPERIENCES AND HOW THEY CAN LEAD TO PARENT-EDUCATOR PARTNERSHIP CHALLENGES
Care situations throughout the world greatly vary. There are differences in size, starting age, programming, academic outcomes, financial situations and materials/toys all correlating with the specific view on childhood, families and parents working lives. Childcare can also differ by whether it is run by trained educators, or by parents, if it serves lunch, how long it is open, and whether it is compulsory or not, as well as the role of the educator (for example, as a care provider or as a classroom educator). The classroom structure/size/overall impression might be unfamiliar to families and potentially critical when settling-in their child to a new kindergarten.
If a child comes from a foreign education system, families might enter the new setting with specific expectations.
There could be families who are scared to send their child on field trips/excursions and extracurricular activities such as sleepovers/class trips. Unfamiliarity with the situation and insecurity could lead to apprehension towards certain activities.
“It is important to ask the family about their child’s previous experiences and information in kindergartens and care as well as establishing common expectations by being transparent regarding curriculum and creating an open dialogue to address these potential issues.
Arno’s educators may not know enough about his history, both in traumatic experiences and in his previous kindergarten if there was one. Though communication is tricky, there needs to be a way for them to learn more information from his parents. They can also use the materials provided for the children to help the parents, such as the settling in book, and show them what all the different parts of the day are. Once they do know more about his background, they can figure out if there are aspects of their classroom that are worrisome to the parents and therefore also causing anxiety or worries in Arno. ”