The Importance of Multicultural Awareness

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The Importance of Multicultural Awareness, and Strategies to Promote Positive Development and Learning for Children of a Korean/Hispanic Multicultural Family

Relationships are very powerful, and our connections with each other are our foundation for positive development, learning, and change. In order for a community, school, and/or neighbors to achieve shared goals, caring and sturdy relationships between people and families must be formed based on understanding, respect, and trust. Neighbors form their own unique community in a small geographic area within larger communities, and neighborhoods can include families of many different cultures. For purposes of this paper, since I am not an educator, while including the positive influence of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to early childhood education, this author’s particular focus will be on a strategic and effective approach to communication, which, in turn, promotes positive development and learning.

In my diverse town of Irvine, to succeed and be an integral part of the community it is imperative that families learn and respect each other’s cultures to beneficially coexist. My family can be defined as mainstream middle-class American, single parent mother, with two daughters of mixed heritage. I was born in California and my mother was Irish, my father Austrian. My daughters’ father is a British citizen with Jamaican and Scottish roots. Many of our neighbors are Asian, Middle Eastern, and East Indian. I have chosen to build a relationship with a neighborhood family of a different cultural background. This family, the “Kim” family, is a nuclear family, with a Hispanic mother at home and a Korean father at home. Bo...

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...uilding Relationships with People from Different Cultures. (2013). Chapter 27, Section 2. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas. Retrieved February 8, 2014, from the Community Tool Box: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence/building-relationships/main.

da Costa, Kimberly. "Mixing it Up." Contexts. Fall 2005: 15-6. ProQuest. Web. 15 Feb. 2014

Derman-Sparks. L. “Anti-bias curriculum: Tools for empowering young children.” Washington, DC: National Association for Young Children, 1989.

Jackson, Kelly F., and Gina M. Samuels. "Multiracial Competence in Social Work: Recommendations for Culturally Attuned Work with Multiracial People." Social work. 56.3 (2011): 235-45. ProQuest. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.

Klein, D. , and D. Chen. Working with children from culturally diverse backgrounds. New York: Delmar Thomson Learning, 2001. 199-200. Print.

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