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Cultural Diversity and Early Education Report of a Workshop (1994) / Chapter Skim
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4 Implications for Early Education
Pages 27-33

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From page 27...
... For those concerned with the issues presented by an increasingly diverse student population, preschool education has become a focal point of differing views about how best to accommodate the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in American society and to prepare children from diverse backgrounds for school success (Jipson, 19911. Opinions range from those who advocate acculturation to mainstream educational materials and practices, including immersion in English language, to those who support instructional approaches that have as a primary objective the maintenance of children's home culture and language.
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From page 28...
... Luis Laosa noted that decisions about the general orientation that a particular school adopts involve consideration of the environments that children will face after preschool. The issue for research is not whether one goal—acculturation, intercultural exchange, or preservation of distinct cultures- is superior; the empirical challenge is one of identifying the most effective means of moving children towards the goal that is chosen by their community.
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From page 29...
... Given the range of possibilities that emerge in response to these types of questions, teachers who are well-equipped to gather information about children's cultural backgrounds and to apply this information to their own teaching practices may be in a better position to support children's motivation and learning in school than are their colleagues who are unable or unwilling to take cultural variation into account as they plan their instruct~onal approaches. The workshop participants called on Schon's (1987)
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From page 30...
... Deborah Stipek concluded: "At best, what this research can do for any particular preschool teacher in any particular school, is point them to a set of hypotheses about their children that they need to assess in their own local situation." But, she noted: "We still can't tell them precisely what to do about it." EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION IN DIVERSE CLASSROOMS In considering what is known about instructional practices that are appropriate for culturally and linguistically diverse groups of children, the workshop participants speculated that effective instruction for these children does not differ from that which is considered effective instruction for all children. Sharon Griffin summarized five principles of instruction that have emerged from research in cognitive science: (1)
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From page 31...
... Activities that encourage children to work directly with learning materials, in hands-on fashion, provide them with maneuvering room for tailoring a task to their own styles and pace of learning. Science and social studies units on dinosaurs or planets, for example, can be used to engage children in writing stories, generating reasons for past or future events, and acquiring concepts of relative size and shape.
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From page 32...
... Research on bilingual education, for example, has focused on children's language outcomes to the neglect of effects on children's relations with their parents. Workshop participants raised concerns about the possible threat posed to non-English-speaking parents when their child's school entry coincides with immersion in English.
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From page 33...
... These best practices typically include substantial opportunities for tailoring classroom practices to children's individual styles and approaches to learning. The workshop participants explicitly cautioned against losing sight of these universal educational practices in the search for culturally compatible instructional methods.
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Key Terms

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  • instructional practices
  • intercultural exchange
  • classroom practices
  • particular school

  • including immersion
  • children bring
  • effective instruction
  • powerful influence
  • instructional approaches

  • encourage children
  • work directly
  • patricia greenfield
  • linguistically diverse
  • worry tremendously

  • prepare children
  • view themselves
  • own interactions
  • particular preschool
  • learning materials

  • social studies
  • english proficiency
  • nor taught
  • substantial opportunities
  • homework assignments

  • own teaching
  • socializing children
  • school door
  • participants called
  • american family


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