Education facilitates learning by developing knowledge, skills, attitudes, beliefs, and habits, and its importance for children in daycare centers cannot be overestimated. Narrating stories, having dialogues, playing, and training are all examples of educational methods, most of which are used in daycare. However, in some cases, the difference between cultures may create obstacles, which is why it is of vital importance for educators to follow cultural adaptation plans. The purpose of this paper is to create such a plan while comparing the ECEC systems of Canada and the Philippines.
Center Information and Visit Date and Time
Douglas College Child Care Center (location: 700 Royal Ave, New Westminster, BC V3M 5Z5) is a great place where trust, quality, safety, and positive interactions are promoted and valued. I visited this center on October 6, 2022, at 3 p.m. During my visit, I managed to get acquainted with how the center works and spot some differences between its practices and the practices of daycare facilities in the Philippines. Douglas College Child Care Center believes in the equality of all children and families. It provides “licensed group care programs for children from 30 months to 5 years old” (Douglas College, 2022). The objectives of this place are to ensure secure environments for kids to thrive, learn, and play, reflect social diversity through community-based care, and promote acceptance and inclusion.
Comparing Childcare Environments
In order for early childhood educators to make sure that they can adapt to the guidelines and requirements in a new county, they should have a clear cultural adaptation plan that includes a number of steps. Thus, an analysis of similarities and differences between the childcare environments has to be conducted. Noticeably, the Philippines’ childcare environment is unwelcoming, and it is challenging to find center-based early childhood development services of acceptable quality. Children in the Philippines are facing issues related to poor health and nutrition, restricted early education, and a lack of sufficient psycho-social care and stimulation (Alampay & Garcia, 2019). At the same time, the setting of child care centers in Canada is more kid-friendly: the educational opportunities at the Douglas College Child Care Center are of a very high standard, and safety guidelines are more adequate. Finally, more attention is paid by Canadian educators to playing and teaching kids, and a Filipino educator will need to become more involved and friendly when working with Canadian kids.
Assessing Materials
Materials used for building centers and interacting with children vary globally. Therefore, foreign educators may need to adapt to new materials and tools when beginning their work in another country. Since most daycare centers in Canada are located in public settings and receive funding from the government, the materials utilized in their construction are of high quality (van Huizen & Plantenga, 2018). Every child has easy access to the necessary supplies, including play mats, other toys, and learning materials. On the other hand, because of the weak status of the economy in the Philippines, there are not many daycare centers, the available materials are of low quality, and there is a constant lack of toys, books, and other supplies. As a result, an educator from the Philippines starting their work in Canada will have to learn to use all the available materials.
Comparing the Roles and Responsibilities of Educators
Early childhood educators in Canada and the Philippines have roles and responsibilities that are very similar to one another, meaning that a Filipino educator should find no obstacles during this step. Daycare workers plan, implement, and assess the children’s materials, activities, and environments. They prioritize addressing children’s social, physical, intellectual, creative, cultural, emotional, and developmental needs and interests, including those of kids with special needs. Educators foster children’s desire to learn and encourage play-based education that is centered on their current interests. Finally, they establish routines and provide guidance for positive behavior to allow kids to feel comfortable, welcomed, and safe.
Comparing the Roles and Responsibilities of Children
Further, the roles of children are also similar in both countries, and an educator from the Philippines should not find it difficult to ask Canadian kids to follow the rules. Like educators, children are responsible for contributing to their harmonious coexistence. They should listen to their teachers, follow their lead, avoid breaking the rules of the center, and, most importantly, be happy, friendly, and kind. Additionally, when age-appropriate, kids need to engage actively in learning activities. Finally, it is also required from kids to be compassionate, responsive, and protective of their friends, as well as to refrain from acting in ways that impede other children’s rights from being realized, such as engaging in bullying or disruptive classroom behavior.
Comparing and Setting Schedules
Differences in timetables can cause challenges to an educator who goes through cultural adaptation. Overall, activities and their hours mostly match in the two countries because children require similar care and attention. In the Philippines, centers can start their work as soon as at 7 a.m. and close at 7 or 8 p.m., while in Canada, most centers finish at 5:30 p.m. This fact and the higher availability of playing and learning materials make the schedule more intense in Canadian centers. Still, in both countries, they usually adhere to the following daycare routine:
- At about 7 a.m., children are brought to the facility.
- At 8 a.m., the educators feed the kids and help them change clothes and wash their hands.
- From 9 to 10:30 a.m., children can enjoy playing in the toddler room.
In Canada, quiet pastimes such as coloring books, puzzles, and other manipulative toys are usually introduced.
- 11 a.m. is lunchtime.
- Till 2 p.m., it is nap time.
- From 2 p.m. to 5:30-7 p.m., children play, learn, go outside to the playground, and engage with their educators in many other ways.
Again, in Canada, exercises on language, the calendar, the letter of the week, and an explanation of the day for a large group are often included.
As a consequence, it will be required from a Filipino educator to be more involved in the routine and play and engage with the kids more because of the higher availability of materials and tools.
Assessing Policies
In the Philippines, Act No. 8980 promulgates a comprehensive policy and a national system for early childhood care and development and provides funds. A daycare center is now mandated to be constructed in every barangay, and a program for the comprehensive development and protection of children is to be implemented in each daycare center. The Canadian government outlined similar purposes in its Budget for 2021 (Pierce et al., 2019). A plan to provide Canadian parents with regulated childcare spaces costs an average of ten dollars per day for children younger than six within the next five years.
Comparing Relationship Between Parents and Educators
Noticeably, since the family is the core of one’s social environment, parenting is essential in the Philippines’ society, and parents dictate children’s daycare programs. At the same time, in Canada, relationships between families and educators are equal partnerships. In most situations, they come to a consensus over what is best for the child and work together to find solutions to any problems, and Canadian parents tend to trust educators more. However, they also have higher expectations and want their kids to be engaged in developing activities, while parents in the Philippines usually just need their children to be safeguarded. Overall, a foreign educator working in Canada will have to adapt to this kind of relationship and remember about partnerships.
Adapting as an Early Childhood Educator in a New Country
To successfully adjust to a new setting, educators must prioritize the children’s well-being. Strategies that reduce the amount of danger faced by children while maximizing the number of opportunities are vital for gaining knowledge of the culture in which they live. Educators need to maintain a degree of adaptability when starting to use various materials, supporting the childcare environment that is usual for the particular country, setting schedules, and meeting other requirements. If I had to adapt to a new country, I would spend some time observing the behaviors of its citizens. Learning the appropriate ways to greet people in the new culture, using common words and gestures, and choosing how to dress are all critical aspects of an early childhood educator’s cultural adaptation.
Conclusion
To draw a conclusion, one may say that it is not always challenging for educators to start working at a daycare center in a foreign country. Especially if the country they arrive in provides more resources and funding to these centers, meaning that educators receive additional ways to engage children and interact with them. The paper outlines seven steps of an early childhood professional’s cultural adaptation, and completing these steps can enable them with a deeper understanding of the new culture.
References
Alampay, L. P., & Garcia, A. S. (2019). Education and parenting in the Philippines. School Systems, Parent Behavior, and Academic Achievement, 3, 79–94.
Douglas College. (2022). Child care. Web.
Pierce, A., Singh, S., Lee, J. H., Grant, C., Cruz de Jesus, V., & Schroth, R. J. (2019). The burden of early childhood caries in Canadian children and associated risk factors. Frontiers in Public Health, 7(328).
van Huizen, T., & Plantenga, J. (2018). Do children benefit from Universal Early Childhood Education and Care? A meta-analysis of evidence from natural experiments. Economics of Education Review, 66, 206–222.