Issues related to immigrant children and parents participation in and access to early learning and child care programs and to how well EL & CC programs meet the needs of diverse groups of families in Canada.
Many workshops at the annual George Brown College Summer Institute this year (held in Toronto) address issues of diversity, including:
Listening to Families: Presenting findings from a research project that demonstrates effective strategies for service providers in meeting the values and priorities of diverse families. Presented by Dr. Mehru Ali, Ryerson University.
See the web page at George Brown for the full details of the 2009 Summer Institute.
The Frankfurt Office of Multicultural Affairs has partnered with city schools and day nurseries to offer a 2nd language learning class – for immigrant parents and their children.
The “Mums Learn German – even Papa” program pairs newcomer parents and children together two mornings a week where they both learn German. The program is a unique language learning experience, where the language lessons are built around the practicalities of life in a new country. Mothers learn about the school system and what their children do in school, helping form a foundation for parental involvement and a strong relationship between parents and the school. (Source: Cities of Migration).
The landmark Early Years Study, subtitled The Real Brain Drain, was released on April 20, 1999.
See also a “very brief history” of the Early Years Study posted on the Health Nexus Santé (formerly the Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse) blog in March 2005, including links to the follow-up report The Early Years Study: Three Years Later, recounting how the early years initiative was rolled out in Ontario via the Ontario Early Years Centres.
Fraser Mustard and the Council on Early Child Development continue to work to raise awareness of and support for an early childhood learning and care program for all children and their families across Canada as the first tier to the formal school system.
See the upcoming conference sponsored by the Council on Early Child Development May 13-15 in New Brunswick, Putting Science into Action: Equity from the Start Through Early Child Development.
How responsive have the Ontario Early Years Centres been to immigrant and refugee families and young children?
As profiled on immigrantchildren.ca before, the initiative mylanguage.ca promotes the importance of newcomer children retaining their ‘home language’. Research shows that retaining and regularly using the mother tongue helps children learn a 2nd and 3rd language and is a proactive way for families to keep their culture alive as they integrate into Canadian society.
The mylanguage.ca website has added a power point presentation of key points in this discussion. Find it in their Resources section. Also available in Russian and in Ukranian.
Related immigrantchildren.ca posts:
The Bernard van Leer Foundation‘s annotated bibliography of resources and publications in social inclusion and diversity is called “Valuing the Learning“.
The resource is organized in three main sections.
Section A: Theories, concepts and ways of viewing concerns with resources that mostly focus on theory and key concepts and include the following overlapping sections:
Diversity, belonging and positive identity, such as inclusion and access, linguistic diversity, relationships, place identity, self-image.
Children as citizens, child participation, the visibility of children, spaces for children.
Early Childhood Education and Care as democratic process and the relationship between ECEC and social inclusion, social capital and well-being.
Section B: Working with children, parents, early childhood practitioners and trainers includes the following:
Engaging, involving and listening to children.
Engaging, involving and listening to parents.
Changing attitudes, behaviours and structures and advocacy strategies.
Innovative training and professional development.
Creating spaces to belong.
Part C: Information exchange and dissemination of information, including:
Networking.
Communicating, through shared knowledge, conferences, publications, translations.
Researching and documentation.
Source: Kernan, M. 2008. Valuing the learning: An annotated bibliography of the resources and publications of the Bernard van Leer Foundation and its partners in the area of Social Inclusion and Respect for Diversity (2002-2008). Online Outreach Paper 6. The Hague, The Netherlands: Bernard van Leer Foundation.
The Joint Learning Initiative on Children and Ethnic Diversity presents Early Childhood Education in Contexts of Racial and Ethnic Divisions Conference, April 29/09 at Ghent University, Belgium.
“The conference will consist of three to four round table discussions with the experts on common strands about delivering programs of early childhood education in contexts of ethnic division. The experts will meet two days prior to the conference to discuss these strands and will continue their discussion with the audience. Consequently, there will be no programm with distinct individual key-note speeches. Rather, participants will be able to follow in-depth discussions and participate in them”.
Some of the invited experts include representatives from Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, Hebrew University, UNICEF/OSI/REF, University of Melbourne and the Bernard van Leer Foundation.
The Bernard van Leer Foundation has released a working paper (another in its series on child development). Developing Programmes to Promote Ethnic Diversity in Early Childhood reviews case studies from Northern Ireland for promising practices in promoting ethnic diversity in early childhood.
The paper examines the effects of ethnic divisions on young children and explores some of the responses of the early childhood sector and concludes with challenges and suggestions on the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and Ethnic Diversity, co-founded by Paul Connolly, one of the authors of this working paper.
Some dual language picture books (and publishers) recently recommended on the child_lit listserv:
Titles
Sun Stone Days/Tonaltin/Dias de Piedra. 2007. Ianna Andraadis. Ill by Felipe Divalos. Groundwood Press.
Angels Ride Bikes and Other Fall Poems/Los Angeles andan en bicicleta y otros poemas de otoao. Francisco X. Alarcan, Ill by Maya Christina Gonzalez. Children’s Book Press. 1999.
My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aqua hasta alla. 2002. Amada Irma Pirez. Ill by Maya Christina Gonzalez. Children’s Book Press.
Arrorra, mi Niao: Latino Lullabies and Gentle Games. 2004.
The Bossy Gallito/El gallo de bodas: A Traditional Cuban Folktale. 1994.
A Gift from Papa Diego/Un regalo de Papa Diego. 1998. Benjamin Alire Saenz. Ill by Geranimo Garcia. Cinco Puntos Press.
Mama Goose: A Latino Nursery Treasury/Mama Goose: Un tesoro de rimas infantiles. 2004. Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy. Ill by Maribel Suarez.
Hyperion Books for Children. Lucia M. Gonzalez. Ill by Lulu Delacre. Scholastic.
Calling the Doves/El canto de las palomas by Juan Felipe Herrera. 1995. Children’s Book Press.
Counting Ovejas. 2006. Sarah Weeks. Ill by David Diaz. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
The Empanadas that Abuela Made/Las empanadas que hacia la abuela. 2003. Diane Gonzales Bertrand, Ill by Alex Pardo DeLange. Pinata Books.
Icy Watermelon/Sandia fria. 2001. Mary Sue Galindo, Ill by Pauline Rodriguez Howard. Pinata Books.Deditos/Ten Little
Fingers and Other Play Rhymes and Action Songs from Latin America. 1997. Jose-Luiz Orozco, Ill by Elisa Kleven. Dutton Children’s Books.
Magic Windows/Ventanas magicas. 1999. Carmen Lomas Garza. Children’s Book Press.
Paco and the Giant Chile Plant/Paco y la Planta de Chile Gigante, Ill by Elizabeth O. Dulemba. Raven Tree Press.
My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo. 2007. Maya Christina Gonzalez. Children’s Book Press.
Publishers
Review Article
The Winter 2007 issue of MultiCultural Review includes a piece on the publication and selection of bilingual (English/Spanish) picture books. See “Descubriendo el sabor: Spanish Bilingual Book Publishing and Cultural Authenticity” by Jamie C. Naidoo and Julia Lopez-Robertson.
Any other recommendations?
The European Union‘s Committee on Culture and Education has adopted a motion on educating the children of migrants.
In a report written by Hannu Takkula, entitled Migration and Mobility: Challenges and Opportunities for European Education Systems, the motion address several key issues in migrant education and calls for “integration to be encouraged through sports and other extra-curricular activities, as this can also help to combat social exclusion of those from less privileged backgrounds. The earlier and more successfully that migrant children are integrated into schools, the better they will perform through school, further education and eventually in the labour market”. (Source: European Parliament press release).
An excerpt from the press release:
Migration can be greatly beneficial to schools as it can enrich them both culturally and educationally, but at the same time it can present significant problems if cultural differences hamper understanding between pupils or between pupils and teachers. The report, drafted by Hannu Takkula wants to encourage a more effective means of incorporating migrant children in national education systems, as he believes that workers within the Union will be less likely to move abroad ‘if there is a risk that their children will suffer educationally’.
The US-based Society for the History of Children and Youth is holding an online discussion through their listserv, H-Childhood. Responses will help shape the next Society for the History of Children and Youth newsletter.
Facilitators have posted two general questions that they hope will spark a good discussion. Here are the questions:
Discussion ends April 3rd.