I have noticed
that when I am with people of different groups and cultures, I sometimes take
on the accent or speech patterns of those people. Sometimes this happens in the
classroom. I have seen another teacher catching herself when using low speech
with the students and switching to higher language. I believe I should do the
same if I find myself speaking similar to the low language of another teacher
because sometimes I am in a class or even home to teach the type of English
that I usually speak.
I also
find it harder to discuss conflict with a person from another culture, so I am
less likely to bring up the conflict. Parents and caregiver seem to each have their
own unique parenting culture, so this is one of the hardest types of conflict
to bring up. Unfortunately, since early childhood is the field I have chosen, I
need to develop strategies to discuss difference of opinion with caregivers and
parents. Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond discussed some strategies for communicating
with people of different cultures. These could be applied to discussing
conflict. They mentioned that a professional should develop knowledge of the
other culture.
The
three strategies I am suggesting involve developing knowledge of a parent or
caregiver’s culture.
1. The first strategy involves exploring the
difference of opinion about caregiving in depth. Rather than just knowing that
a parent uses a different bedtime routine for his or her infant, for example.
The alternate caregiver should ask the parent why the parent considers this way
of doing things important. The parent could then explain more about the parent’s
own culture and the reasoning behind a particular way of doing things. If we
are to do things in a way we are less comfortable with, it really helps if we
understand why we are doing things that way.
2. The second strategy is to generally learn more
about another caregiver’s culture. A person could search the internet or talk
to colleagues who also are from a particular culture. This knowledge may also
help a professional understand another caregiver’s way of doing things, but it
is important to keep in mind that each caregiver has his or her own culture and
each caregiver has his or her own reasons for doing things a different way.
3. Spending more time with people of a different
culture gives a person a better sense for why things are done than research
alone can do. It is important to actively try to spend more time with people of
that culture.
Beebe, Beebe,
and Redmond also mentioned that speaking even a few words in the other person’s
language can help make discussion with that person more comfortable. As a Head
Start teacher in a Spanish/English classroom, I found that despite my inability
to speak Spanish well, my attempts were appreciated by parents at parent
conferences. Usually parents could speak better English than I could speak
Spanish. But by my attempting to speak Spanish, they could see that they were
superior to me in their ability to speak another language. Once this was
established along with the fact that I didn’t feel superior because I could
speak English, we were able to muddle through by the parent speaking more
English, my being able to understand more Spanish than I could speak, and my
speaking mostly English but a little Spanish. I also found that the more I
listened to and comprehended Spanish, the more I was able to eventually speak
phrases my ears had become familiar with. Frequently, both parents would come,
and one parent spoke English better than the other. Often I could understand the
mother’s concern about something the child was doing at home, for example, but
if I didn't, the father would interpret.
