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Planning For Linguistic and Cultural Diversity–We Must Continue to Respond

Head Start has always embraced the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity of its enrollment and the communities in which it operates. Head Start programs have responded to diversity as an opportunity for children and families to learn about different cultures and customs. Instead of reducing opportunities for bilingualism among children, Head Start has built upon the skills and culture that each child and family brings to the program.

Multicultural Principles in Head Start

To formalize Head Start's commitment to diversity in enrollment, program design, and services, Head Start developed Multicultural Principles for Head Start Programs and distributed it in 1992. In 1996, these principles were expanded and incorporated into the revised Program Performance Standards, which became effective on January 1, 1998.

Four elements of Head Start's overall philosophy are particularly relevant to the task of developing and implementing multilingual and multicultural programing: building trusting relationships, being sensitive to cultural preferences of families, building bridges between cultures for both children and adults, and acknowledging that staff and parents are in a true partnership.

The Administration on Children, Youth and Families has completed a "Descriptive Study of Head Start Bilingual and Multicultural Program Services." This study revealed that, across the country, families enrolled in Head Start programs speak more than 150 languages and dialects. For more than 160,000 of Head Start children (nearly 20 percent), the language spoken in the home is not English. Though Spanish is the most common, Chinese, Hmong, and Vietnamese are also spoken by a significant number of Head Start children and families.

Resources

There are a number of publications and web sites that can help Head Start programs expand and refine services to bilingual children and families and to speakers of languages other than English (see p. 35). As an example, the NAEYC web site includes "Responding to Linguistic and Cultural Diversity – Recommendations for Effective Early Childhood Education." NAEYC's position statement reads, "For young children, the language of the home is the language they have used since birth, the language they use to make and establish meaningful communicative relationships, and the language they use in constructing their knowledge... The home language is tied to children's culture, and culture and language communicate traditions, values, and attitudes."

One final example from NAEYC summarizes the importance of encouraging linguistic and cultural diversity in all early childhood programs: "For the optimal development and learning of all children, educators must accept the legitimacy of children's home language, respect (hold in high regard) and value (esteem and appreciate) the home
culture, and promote and encourage the active involvement and support of all families, including extended and nontraditional family units."

Related literature suggests a number of guidelines for curriculum planning that respond to diversity, including:

• Becoming conscious of personal biases and working to overcome them.
  
  
• Learning the most important child-rearing values held by each family.
  
• Supporting children's speech patterns and emergent language.
  
  
• Structuring some child experiences and activities around materials contributed by parents.
  
  
• Reflecting parents' occupations and talents in classrooms, on home visits, in community celebrations, and in other program activities.
  
  
• Avoiding a "holiday syndrome" or holiday-driven approach to curriculum.
  
  
• Developing some activities in which groups of children can focus on "alikeness" as well as difference.

As programs continue to grow and change in keeping with both the Program Performance Standards and community and family design, there are always new sources of useful information.

Michele Plutro is an Education Specialist at the Head Start Bureau. For more information, contact her at T: 202-205-8912 or by e-mail at mplutro@acf.dhhs.gov. For more information on the Head Start Bilingual and Multicultural Study, contact Henry Doan at T: 202-260-2667 or hdoan@acf.dhhs.gov.

Web Site Resources

The Center for Study of Biracial Children
http://www.csbc.cncfamily.com

The National Academy of Sciences
http://www.nap.edu

The National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org

The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OIIA/Hispanic

Yahoo's Education web page
http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/

Additional multicultural resources are listed on page 35.

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