Supporting Literacy Development among Children, a Teacher's Journey to Better Understand Culture - Assignment Example

Understanding Language and Literacy Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..……………. 2 Tasks: 1: Newsletter, Supporting Children’s Literacy development ……….…. 2-4 Task Two: SMART Targets Action Plan………………………………………………………. 4 -6 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………. References…………………………………………………………………….……………………………12 Introduction The world is an environment that has a diverse of cultures where different communities have an obligation to practice them. In that regard, children from these different communities also learn to communicate according to the norms and values of the society. From birth, children within a given community use their language and communication styles in their culture to connect in a meaningful form forming secure relationships amongst themselves that are intrinsic to healthy development. For teachers who practice at the early childhood stage, it is important that they establish supportive and respectful relations with both the families and the children. This will help the teachers in learning more about needs and strengths from a cultural point of view of each child within their care. In this collaborative relationship with families, teachers are able to acquire the information they need to know in order to support the children’s individual culture and literacy development. As such, this portfolio work is going to give a diverse understanding of this subject. Here, I start by creating an engaging newsletter that give parents a wide understanding of literary development to children. Thereafter, I focus on the SMART targets that would make my literary development progress before taking the next course. Finally, I will give my experience on what I believe is the best way to develop children’s literary development. NEWSLETTER: SUPPORTING LITERACY DEVELOPMENT AMONG CHILDREN; WHAT PARENTS SHOULD KNOW! People come from different communities and cultures that have different ways of upbringing and different cultural perspectives of things. And when these communities form various societies, they plant specific values, beliefs, culture, linguistics and many other norms (Abt-Perkins & Rosen, cited in Willis, 2000). Perhaps, it appears when the word literacy comes in; most people would have different perspectives when asked to define it. To start with, literacy when the colonial government came to Africa, they found that almost all the people were not literate and thus literacy was defined in the past as the ability to read and write. Conversely, some scholars have had a diverse opinion about this definition saying that the ever changing dynamic society should inspire us to reconsider literacy and the part it plays in our lives. The current world order is that where it is not in the class that knowledge is acquired for it is acquired in various ways through world news, friends, television, social networking sites etc. Additionally, the world is composed of different cultures and their practices and their ways of attaining knowledge thus they have their own ways of defining values, ways of learning, morality and literacy; most of which is achieved through the use of their own language contexts. The interactions between people and the environment have an impact and influence on their learning journey. Home language and the influence of home environment (e.g. family) directly contribute to children’s language and literacy acquisition. These differences in home environments impact the development of the children’s listening, speaking, reading and writing. Before the stage of learning, where children are taken to an approved curriculum in a school, children often grow up in a given culture environment and practice language in the same context, their language greatly impacts their ability to acquire and digest knowledge, literacy development and this is because children will often believe in the beliefs of their parents, their practices and moral values. As such, even though teachers take children through the learning process from their younger age, it has been observed that the foundation laid by the parents play a great role. As teachers who are given the primary responsibility of impacting literacy skills in respect to the desire and needs of children under their care, we are always have the burden of identifying children’s cultural environment they were brought up in have a rough idea of the culture and beliefs they have been taught to connect with their understanding and perspective. This we term as Self-knowledge, which is thoroughly getting to know and appreciate the group affiliation and the cultural roots (Haberman & Post, cited in Willis, 2000). When culture, language, social interests, goals and values differs from that of the surrounding community where the teacher has been posted to teach literacy in children, it can create a barrier in understanding; thus connecting with the community is our core focus thus the best working way to carry out learning activities and support it in a friendly manner in regards to the community under consideration. To better understand the cultural perspective of what they bring to classrooms (childhood), teachers first gain a better reflection of their own cultural beliefs and practices that touch on learning and teaching. As teachers become involve in the teaching field they get milestone in profession and here they gain a variety of knowledge patterns, as such their understandings is often diverse and the professional development skills acquired gives a cultural perspective on how to interpret behavior and skills of those that are under our care. This professional development curve gives educators a comprehensive understanding of best practices in teaching language believed to be of a developmentally appropriate skills for children. A teacher’s interaction and socialization with families, culture and children, may shine light of challenges in different forms on the professional standards they have already acquired. However, at some given extent, this process of reflection can become complicated when teachers are members of the mainstream culture. Minority cultural groups may be more aware of their identity because external images and practices often do not reflect their beliefs of their family or community. Nevertheless, when teachers become aware of their cultural backgrounds and values, they can begin to address any prejudiced views that could undermine their quest to consent, comprehend, and effectively teach children in their care (Willis, 2000). The view that cultural knowledge is a key to teaching literacy in children is supported by many scholars. Willis (2000) defines cultural knowledge as those aspects that culture stimulates to shaping children’s learning, behaviors, self-esteem and perceptions, amongst others. He then he continues to add that many research have found out that getting a substantial knowledge of children home cultures like languages, values and the literacy practices is core to helping teachers instill some interests on children and build their skills. Probably most teachers have always frowned at the task of learning a child cultural society for they believe it takes a lot of time and energy. However, we have learnt the best ways to learn about the culture by reading about the target community culture, study of community photographs & videos, involving the community in schooling activities to enhance socialization and interactions and more importantly is to keenly observe the channel and mode of communication amongst the children’s themselves. This is the key because we believe a teacher’s effort to understand and study culture of a given community will better aid them in individualizing curriculum that will be meaningful and relevant to the children they intend to pass literacy skills to. This will in turn enhance and propel the children’s successful skill acquisition. It is my belief that if parents got a bit of insights of how their cultures are very much important to a child’s literary development, then they would be the best to make background development of children before they meet teachers. As such I would encourage parents to take the importance of literacy development. I know when I say that, most parents would believe that I am putting them to task for they don’t have the capacity to do that and that is why they bring their children to school to be taught. However, that would not be sound because I have explained how parents also play a critical role in shaping their children. First of all, making your child learn some good norms and values is critical, then making your child to start getting the urge to read is the very key and this can be done by introducing interesting books that have pictures that attract. Again, buying as many books that can support child literacy is key. Most parents only believe that the books that are put as mandatory by the school are the only resources to budget for. That is not the case; we should buy as many books as possible to make our children have diverse literacy development. Engaging children for literacy development is not something that is difficult. As I have brought out in the above discussion; literacy development begins at home. This does not imply that parents have to be literate themselves to be able to read and write in English. Not really! One way in which a parent can do this easily is by setting up a reading area in the home that supports literacy and this will show the child that reading in the family is an important virtue. Materials that are written in native languages should not be ignored because the idea here is to make the child to love reading, which is a crucial element in literacy development in children. Then the choice of reading materials also matters. As a parent, you should put items that look very interesting to the child. I have particularly seen many parents furnishing their children’s rooms with pictures that gives an Alphabetical order and this makes the children to master the alphabet beyond classrooms. Again, reading bedtime stories and letting them read as you explain also ignites some interest. I believe if all parents can work towards these tips on literacy development at home, then children would grow when they are very sharp and the classrooms will never look scary to them. SMART Targets Action Plan SMART goal 1 Self-Knowledge Rationale for choosing goal Making an effort to pursue knowledge on one’s own explorations greatly helps in learning more about people, culture, language and linguistics and this will help when socializing and interacting with people from diverse cultures. Activity related to achieving goal Strategies to achieve goal People responsible Measures Timeframe Community activities and functions Participating in the community cultural events Reading more information and research about a particular culture and language Doing research based on a specific community The researcher (person interested in learning), The community to that is to be studied about Understanding the ways and practices of that community in relation to whatever topic of study you are researching on During school breaks, or free time SMART goal 2 Volunteer work Rationale for choosing goal The secret to learning about a given community’s way of doing things and their day to day life, that will impact on you literacy information about that community is to volunteer for some activities and staying amongst that given community Activity related to achieving goal Strategies to achieve goal People responsible Measures Timeframe Selecting a particular community to volunteer Doing activities for the community that makes you to be part of its daily routine Community, volunteer Understanding community’s daily way of life and routine 3 – 6 months time SMART goal 3 To use IT and ICT Rationale for choosing goal There are many computer applications that have been designed as references to a wide variety of subjects including the main subject of this research “Learning and Teaching”, these applications can be a great source of knowledge, some include “Google”, “Wikipedia”, a scholar can make reference to such applications as they are updated regularly. Activity related to achieving goal Strategies to achieve goal People responsible Measures Timeframe Purchasing a laptop or desktop computer and an internet connection Continual use of these applications in areas of research and further reading Myself and tutors Advanced knowledge on how to use the application 3 Months My personal Development A teacher’s journey to better understand culture cannot be easy unless they also learn to understand the communication styles and dialects used by people within a given community and more so the children they want to educate and pass on the literacy skills. By accepting culture and language this will in turn help them out to transition to a more standard form of language that is important to literacy development (Au, cited in Willis, 2000). As such, as an aspiring educator, I have noted that my personal development should start with engaging children and learn the basics they get at home and this I can achieve by pay attention to children as they communicate and talk, having chatting session with parents, and observe parents and children as they communicate and interact in their daily chores. With that strategy, I believe I may observe important cultural differences in these interactions and here, as Barrera in Willis (2000) point out, I should focus on the types of questions children are asked and some of the accepted answers they are expected to give, the professed uses of reading and writing, how story-telling and any type of narration is given, how children are allowed to converse with adults because some societies do not encourage children to talk too much in presence of adults, the welcomed mode of behavior and many more. I will further enhance their toolset by engaging the community through some volunteer programs and here get opportunity to ask about the literacy skills and language practices that are important to their children. This interactions and observations will help me to gain a better understanding of the strengths children and families bring with them in the schooling program. My belief is that this knowledge gained will greatly help me in supporting development of literacy and language skills, from the child’s current knowledge and interests. Conclusion Literacy development in children is one of the most important values in preparing a child towards academic achievements. As such, there is much more importance to involve parents and let them know how they can back up what the teacher does in class by creating a home environment that supports a child’s literacy development. I believe in this essay, I have given the parents a rough idea on what part they can play towards this cause. Also, I have discussed how I believe I can well develop my literacy to enable me to have some backbone knowledge to literacy development before taking the next comprehensive course. I believe my work might inspire someone. REFERENCES Derman-Sparks, L., & the A.B.C. Task Force. (2001). Anti-bias curriculum: Tools for empowering young children. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Jalongo, M. R. (2004). Young children and picture book (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Schirmer, B. R. (2000). Language and literacy development in children who are deaf. Allyn & Bacon, 160 Gould St., Needham Heights, MA 02494; Web site: http://www. abacon. com. Strickland, D. S. (1998). Principles of instruction. In M. F. Opitz (Ed.) Literacy instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse students: A collection of articles and commentaries (pp. 50–52). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Temple, C., Martinez, M., Yokota, J., & Naylor, A. (1998). Children’s books in children’s hands. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Willis, A. (2000). Critical issue: Addressing literacy needs in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. Accessed on 29 Jan 2014, from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li400.htm Yaden, D. B., & Tam, A. (n.d.). Enhancing emergent literacy in a preschool program through teacher- researcher collaboration. Accessed on 29 Jan 2014, from http://www.ciera.org/library/reports/inquiry-2/2-011/Report%202-011.html Read More