New understandings of cultural diversity and the implications for early childhood policy, pedagogy, and practice

ABSTRACT

Theoretical and empirical research is challenging long-held assumptions about how culture shapes children’s thinking, emotions, and actions. No longer is ‘culture’ thought to be a family-based characteristic that operates upon children’s development in predictable ways. Instead, culture is considered inseparable from the developmental process, in which children use cultural artefacts from multiple contexts to make sense of experience, and modify the cultural artefacts they employ. This dynamic model of individual variation, which defies broad or stable categorizations, poses a significant challenge to policy-makers and practitioners who seek a systematic approach to quality in early childhood education (ECE) programs. The ‘food, fashions, and festivals’ approach to cultural diversity in preschool classrooms is insufficient when learning is understood to be a cultural process that varies across time and place. Findings from a multi-disciplinary review of literature on culture and development are presented and implications for ECE pedagogy, practice, and policy are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural diversity
• child development
• early care and education
• preschool quality

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to our esteemed advisors, Hedy Chang, Eugene Garcia, Barbara Rogoff, and Hiro Yoshikawa.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr. Jeanne L. Reid is a Research Scientist at the National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University. She earned her Doctorate degree in Early Childhood Policy from Teachers College, and her Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Kennedy School at Harvard University. Her research includes studies on systemic supports for equity and excellence in early care and education, particularly the policy and practice implications of socio-economic and cultural diversity in preschool classrooms.

Dr. Sharon Lynn Kagan, Ed.D., is a Professor of Early Childhood Policy at Teachers College, Columbia University, and is recognized internationally for her scholarship related to the education of young children. Applying research to public policy issues related to early childhood systems; program design, quality, and evaluation; leadership and professional preparation; and standards and accountability, Kagan has worked with major international organizations (UNICEF, UNESCO, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and OECD) and with leaders in over 100 countries and all 50 states.

Dr. Catherine Scott-Little, Ph.D., is a Professor in Human Development and Family Studies at UNC-Greensboro, where she teaches in the Birth through Kindergarten teacher licensure program. Her research includes studies on state-level early learning and development standards (ELDS), teacher preparation programs, and teachers’ use of ELDS. She completed her undergraduate degree in Child and Family Development at UNCG and a Doctorate degree in Human Development at the University of Maryland at College Park.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Foundation for Child Development [Grant No. TCCU 9-2015].