Introduction
The world is full of many radically different communities. It means that there are various family unit structures. The role of educators at the childcare center is to help children develop comprehensively and strengthen family relationships. Therefore, it is their responsibility to know in detail the cultural, linguistic, and religious differences of diving families. This work aims to analyze two video materials about diverse families and compare data from them with existing knowledge.
Diverse Family Structure and Kinship
There are several fundamental differences between the family structures present at the childcare center and the diverse families. One of them is that some diverse families, especially those from India, consider non-blood-related persons, such as neighbors or family friends, as family members (pacercenter, 2014). Such a type of family is called an extended one. In Western society, the nuclear family is widespread. It is “a group of people who are united by ties of partnership and parenthood and consisting of a pair of adults and their socially recognized children” (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2021, para. 1). Knowing this nuance, family specialists can attract non-blood-related relatives to work with diverse families and better the development of the child.
Diverse Family Structure and the Number of Children
Another difference lies in the number of children within the diverse family. Two or more children are typical in this type of family structure, especially for those from the region of Latin America (pacercenter, 2014). In contrast, most families whose children attend the childcare center have one child. Parental advocates and trainers can put this knowledge into practice to help socialize and develop communication skills in children from diverse families.
Diverse Family Structure and Bilingualism
During the study of video materials, another interesting fact was discovered. Parents and children in diverse families usually speak two or more languages, while members of nuclear families in the Western community, especially children, know only one (usgovACF, 2019). However, “despite their positive stance toward bilingualism, immigrant parents struggle with encouraging their children to continue developing skills in their heritage languages” (Song, 2019, p. 254). Having this knowledge, educators can implement native language programs for children of diverse families into their practice to strengthen family relationships and bonds.
Diverse Family Structure and the Role of Religious Figures
It is no secret that religion is an essential component of the life and identity of diverse families. According to Marks et al. (2018), the prevailing religious doctrines in diverse family structures in the United States are “Judaism, Islam, Latter-day Saint (Mormon), and Jehovah’s Witness denominations” (p. 247). Religious leaders and spiritual guides are viewed there as respected figures and even as family members. This social phenomenon is especially characteristic of the Muslim community (pacercenter, 2014). On the contrary, both adults and children in the United States have agnostic or atheistic views, and the overwhelming majority of Western society is secular. Educators may involve religious figures to work with diverse families and to avoid possible offensive practices.
Conclusion
In this paper, information from two video materials was summarized, and two-family structures were compared, namely those from the childcare center and diverse ones. It was found that differences exist in family ties, an average number of children, proficiency in different languages, and religious views. There was also described how the knowledge gained can be implemented in practice. It is worth noting that the webinars provide necessary knowledge for novice advocates and trainers.
References
Marks, L. D., Dollahite, D. C., & Young, K. P. (2019). Struggles experienced by religious minority families in the United States. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 11(3), 247-256.
pacercenter. (2014). Serving diverse families: Strategies for early childhood service providers [Video]. YouTube.
Song, K. (2019). Immigrant parents’ ideological positioning on bilingualism.Theory Into Practice, 58(3), 254-262.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2021). Nuclear family. Encyclopædia Britannica.
usgovACF. (2019). Supporting cultural responsiveness in diverse child care settings serving infants, toddlers and thei [Video]. YouTube.