Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/cultural-w/5027288/
Educators are now more frequently engaged with young children and families representing a wide array of cultures, ethnicities, backgrounds, and origins (NAEYC, 2019; Wynter-Hoyte et al., 2019). Education programs, both at the post-secondary level and beyond, play a pivotal role in equipping educators with diverse cultural perspectives on child development and education (Gupta, 2020). Despite ongoing efforts to embrace diversity (Gupta, 2020; NAEYC, 2019), there is no one-size-fits-all solution for educators as they navigate novel, distinct, and culturally rich encounters in their field experiences (Wood & Bennett, 2000). Interacting with young children and families from various life paths, cultures, ethnicities, languages, experiences, and lifestyles is a common facet of educational environments (NAEYC, 2019). For instance, children’s pre-migration life experiences and educational backgrounds that lay the groundwork for learning may drastically differ from their post-migration realities. Consequently, pedagogical strategies must exhibit sensitivity and adaptability to the multifaceted nature of children’s diversity. However, a uniform approach to fostering early academic skills in children and families remains elusive.
In this article, we focus on ecological theories as frameworks for understanding the development of children and their families with diverse backgrounds (e.g., Arvola et al., 2020; Brosinsky, 2017; Vélez-Agosto et al., 2017). This exploration encompasses an ...