Course

ECE 6: Culture and Diversity in the Early Childhood Classroom

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This course explores diversity, values, culture, racism and oppression from the educator's' viewpoint and the impacts these factors have on creating a positive multicultural classroom environment. You’ll learn various styles of communicating with parents, and role-play scenarios to practice handling awkward situations. Course assignments provide an opportunity to develop multicultural lesson plans that can be used in an early childhood classroom.

Learning Outcomes:
At the conclusion of the course, you should be able to

• Make a distinction between awareness and politics
• Define learning styles
• Define cultural diversity
• Develop self-awareness surrounding our own attitudes about students in our classroom(s)
• Create a distinction between prejudice, discrimination, and racism
• Discuss racism and oppression from the educator's point of view
• Understand, acknowledge, and plan for the needs of diverse learners
• Develop multicultural lesson plans for students in the early childhood classroom
• Recognize the qualities and benefits of a safe space that allows all students to thrive
• Create a multicultural learning environment that meets the needs of all children
• Understand the importance of parent involvement in early childhood development
• Brainstorm effective ways to involve parents in their children's learning
• Synthesize course information and plan for future implementation

Topics Include:

• Diverse learners
• Cultural diversity
• Racism and oppression
• Differentiated instruction
• Multicultural lesson plans
• Home-school partnerships
• Confronting bias and overcoming cultural conflict