Working with children in a Diverse World - Essay Example

? A MULTI-ETHNIC AND MULTI-CULTURAL HANDBOOK (Working with Children in a Diverse World) of (affiliation) Professor’s Name: Date of Submission: A. TITLE - A MULTI-ETHNIC AND MULTI-CULTURAL HANDBOOK This handbook shall be called as “A Multi-ethnic and Multi-cultural Handbook” to be used by teachers, mental health professionals, health care providers, and babysitters who are charged with the care of young children. A main purpose of this handbook is to help these people take better care of kids and young children under their watch by using a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural approach in dealing with them by being aware of cultural nuances and differences in order to avoid the pitfalls common in cross-cultural dealings with them and their parents. B. CHAPTERS Chapter 1- Introduction Chapter 2 - Background Chapter 3- African Americans Chapter 4 - Hispanic Americans Chapter 5- Asian Americans Chapter 6 - Arab Americans Chapter 7 - Native Americans C. CONCLUSION D. REFERENCES Chapter 1 – Introduction Although relatively a brief handbook, this handbook attempts to give the basics or the Do's and Don’t's when it comes to dealing and interacting with children of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Adults may not be aware of these subtle forms of differences but children today are very smart and can easily detect any bias or prejudice seemingly perpetrated by adults who have no intentions of doing so but purely out of sheer ignorance of these minor differences. It is necessary to be aware of these differences in order to not hurt the feelings and sensitivities of young children who will inadvertently become self-conscious of these things in their lives. Moreover, this handbook equips people with the knowledge and skills in how to properly deal with these young children's feelings in order to fully integrate them and make them feel accepted in their learning environment and hopefully to become well-adjusted and productive adults. The idea is to expose adults also to multiculturalism and assimilation issues. Chapter 2 – Background Many people today migrate to other countries in order to seek a better future in terms of new job opportunities, business endeavors, higher educational attainment, for love and marriage, to escape political persecution, for religious freedom, and a new group or class of migrants who are fleeing from the adverse effects of global warming and climate change, such as those escaping from rising ocean levels in the low-lying Pacific island-countries like Vanuatu, Samoa, Micronesia, and Nauru. International migration is growing fast and people will eventually meet people of other cultures and should know how to deal with them (Lustig & Koester, 2009).. Chapter 3 – African Americans The black people in America, or otherwise called as black Americans, descended from the slaves taken from Africa during the slave trade in prior centuries. As such, they are sensitive to certain words or phrases referring to them as slaves that tend to denigrate or be derogatory. People should avoid any overt or even subtle remarks to this divisive topic. Some blacks even prefer to be called as just plain Americans like everyone else, not as African Americans because they were born in this country and deserve to be treated as citizens with all civil, social, political, and economic rights. Some resent any references to Africa whatsoever and one should avoid it. Although African Americans had achieved a lot of equality since abolition of slavery, it is a fact that many still suffer from latent discriminatory practices and thereby many of them are in the lower socio-economic classes due to inadequate schooling and hence, employment. People tend to stereotype black people as lazy, ignorant, and poor with a tendency to commit crimes but as the present administration shows, one of them can become president too in fulfillment of the dreams of one of the greatest leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, Mr. Martin Luther King. Chapter 4 - Hispanic Americans There are many Americans who are of Spanish descent and there are also many varied segments of this Spanish-speaking population in America. There are Mexicans, Latinos, Cubans, and other Spanish-descent people from Central and South America (or Latin America) and a person need to know there are variants in the language, customs, beliefs and even traditions. A common thread among all Hispanics is a strong family-value system and a firm faith in religion. Hispanics and Latinos have a strong culture of male dominance, leading to a common perception of stereotyping the males as always striving to subdue or dominate the females. This is why the term “machismo” was invented in reference to this unique cultural predilection. Machismo has a strong relation in the context of perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood (Mirande, 1997). There is a lack of harmony between the sexes in this so-called “Chicano culture” although there are also many notable exceptions to this general rule. Moreover, these population segments claim a strong sense of ownership to America, because their ancestors were already in America long before the United States came into being as a nation state, such in in New Mexico and Florida as early as the sixteenth century, and then later in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in parts of modern-day California, Texas, and Arizona (Arreola, 2004). Chapter 5 - Asian Americans People tend to lump all Asian Americans as either Chinese or Japanese although there are other sub-groups within this segment, such as Koreans, Taiwanese, Thais, Vietnamese, Laos, Cambodians, and also the brown-skinned Asians like the Filipinos, Malaysians, Indonesians, the Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and Sri Lankans. One characteristic quite common among the Asian Americans is their strong work ethic; these people tend to be over-achievers in school, in academia, and in employment. They strive harder than most other people, and so a lot of Asian Americans are eminently successful in America, using their mean or average income levels as an indication or measure of achievement in life. However, a big majority of Asian Americans have a poor grasp as speakers of English as a second language (ESL) and thereby tends to not communicate very strongly their feelings and ideas due to this inherent language difficulty. This communication problem only exists in first- or second-generation immigrants except in the latter generations (Nesbitt, 2004); those who were already born and grew up in America from a mixed marriage can of course speak the language as well as any native. Furthermore, many of them are very reserved in their character due to being socially conservative (Liu, 2001), as a lingering influence from Confucianism. Perhaps because of this influence, many Asian American children are seen as obedient to parental authority (Ang & Dyne, 2008) with a strong cultural and religious link to ancestral worship of departed relatives. Chapter 6 - Arab Americans Americans of Arab descent owe their origins to various countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Most of them are Muslims or believers of the Islam faith and so it is important for people to know that in most Arab countries religion, politics and society are one and the same. There is no distinction or separation between the Church and the State, unlike in most Western countries where the Constitution expressly forbids such confluence. In this regard, the Islamic influences on their lives is quite prevalent and extensive such as in diets, their social interactions, manner of dressing, and wearing of beards for the men as something compulsory. With the current worries about international terrorism, of which Arab Americans are most likely to be alluded to or made references of, it is absolutely necessary to impart to the kids they are not being singled out for discrimination or stereotyping to prevent bullying. It is also imperative to implement mitigation measures to prevent probable conflicts between kids who may be influenced by their parents or peers or older siblings by linking terrorism to them; it is to avoid racial profiling (Malkin, 2004) and to encourage civic participation (Abraham, 2011). Chapter 7 - Native Americans Native Americans or American Indians were in America long before Columbus came to “discover” in his search for the passage to the land of spices, which is India, and to break a long-standing monopoly of the trade in spices by some European countries. Native Americans number more than 200 different tribes but the early Spanish conquest in the name of God, gold and glory decimated their population due to the introduction of non-native diseases such as smallpox for which these tribes had not developed a natural immunity against during the epidemics. Native Americans are the first-ever environmentalists, since they take good care of their food sources such as rivers and forests by a concept of being responsible stewards towards a sustainable community development of these open common resources (Nies, 2012). They practice the concept of conservation (wise use of the resources) and merged it with their own brand of preservation (letting certain areas unexploited). Children of these tribes are taught all of the myths and legends of their ancestors to instill in them native pride; Native Americans have a strong sense of community involvement with their tribe members and youngsters are taught and guided by their elders in their old ways to perpetuate their traditions (Pritzker, 2000) and child rearing is considered as more than just a parental obligation but also a community responsibility. C. CONCLUSION Basic knowledge of ethnic cultures is necessary to acquire cross-cultural competence in a world that is now highly diversified. Cultural diversity is a hallmark of America because this is a nation of immigrants and native tribes; this handbook provides that crucial knowledge. References Abraham, N. (2011). Arab Detroit 9/11: Life in the terror decade. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press. Ang, S. & Dyne, L. V. (2008). Handbook of cultural intelligence: Theory, measurement, and applications. New York, NY; M. E. Sharpe. Arreola, D. D. (2004). Hispanic spaces, Latino places: Community and cultural diversity in contemporary America. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Liu, J. (2001). Asian students’ classroom communication patterns in U. S. universities. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group. Lustig, M. W. & Koester, J. (2009). Intercultural competence: Interpersonal communication across cultures. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Malkin, M. (2004). In defense of internment: The case for “racial profiling” in World War II and the War on Terror. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Incorporated. Mirande, A. (1997). Hombres y machos: Masculinity and Latino culture. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Nesbitt, E. M. (2004). Intercultural education: Ethnographic and religious approaches. Portland, OR: Sussex Academic Press. Nies, J. (2012). Native American history: A chronology of the vast achievements of a culture and their links to world events. New York, NY: Ballantine Books. Pritzker, B. (2000). A Native American encyclopedia: History, culture, and peoples. New York, NY: Oxford University Press US. Read More