Introduction
Christian doctrine lays prime significance on the subject of showing other people consideration and respect. In the Bible, there are seven whole verses that speak of all this important virtue of consideration for others irrespective of their social, economic and cultural backgrounds. As Christians, we should heed to Gods message and this includes the early childhood teachers. Statistics carried out in the United States indicates that enrollment to schools by people from cultural diverse backgrounds is increasing hence raising issues.
Main Body
Challenges in educating such immigrant kids arise due to existing barriers. Some of the barriers are caused by prevailing institutional practices and educators beliefs and attitudes (Cole, 2008). Many of the children from these minority groups fall under the category of English language learners which has been considered as our ethical dilemma in this article.
Virtually all educators are motivated when the students they tutor excel in their studies and succeed in life. One critical condition, of course, would be to have high expectations on the students. However, according to (Shatz and Wilkinson, 2011), some early childhood tutors lack an understanding of cultural differences and bilingual instruction. For instance, (Mitchell, 2015) states that the insufficiency of bilingual teachers in the United States undermines the learning of English by the English learning students.
In addition, the tutors do not continuously monitor the progress of the minority students hence leading to the students’ falling behind in their studies (Morrison, 2015). Tutors need to adopt a multiculturalism approach to teaching in order to achieve success in English language teaching.
A multicultural approach would not only heed to Gods message on consideration of others but would also improve the learning experiences of the English language learners. Multicultural teaching supports the cultural identities of all the children by ensuring that the resources and programmes are not only sensitive but responsive to the different cultures (Morrison, 2015). Furthermore, multiculturalism combats racism.
According to (Kremilniter, 2005), success in teaching English to the English language learners’ results from delivering instructions in the primary language that the students understand. If the English students understand the subject matter then they would understand much more of the instructions presented hence a better understanding of English language. In such a manner, then, the primary language will develop the necessary literacy that concurrently transfers to the second language (Lucido et al., 2006).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the article has noted the significance of tutors adopting a multicultural approach to teaching English language learners. For instance, by teaching English using the primary language of the students the students will appreciate the diversity resulting from the different languages.
References
Cole, W. (2008). Educating everybodys children: Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners. New York: ASCD.
Kremenitzer, J. (2005). The Emotionally Intelligent Early Childhood Educator: Self-Reflective Journaling, 31(1): 1-2.
Shatz, M and Wilkinson, C. (2011). The Education of English Language Learners: Research to Practice. Michigan: Guilford Press.
Morrison, S. (2015). Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education. Boston: Pearson Education Company.
Mitchell, L., Bateman, A., Ouko, A., Gerrity, R., Lees, J., Matata, K., Xiao, W., (2015). Teaching and learning in culturally diverse early childhood settings. Hamilton, New Zealand: Wilf MalcolmInstitute of Educational Research.
Lucido, F., Pohan, C., Canales, J., Delgado, C., Montague, N. (2006). Best Practices for English Language Learners. Texas: ISLA.