Photograph on page 10:
Karen Kenton, Head Start Home-Based Support Services
All other photographs and publication design:
Subjects & Predicates
Subjects & Predicates photographs copyright 1992, all rights reserved
THE 10 PRINCIPLES detailed here are the result of two years of effort
by the Head Start Multicultural Task Force, a group of people chosen from
the former network of grantees who provided training on the four multicultural
curricula developed by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families
(ACYF) as part of the Strategy for Spanish Speaking Children in the 1970s.
The Task Force was convened to consider the needs of grantees who serve
diverse populations. The original principles have been reviewed and expanded
by Regional and national staff within the Administration for Children and
Families and experts in the field of multicultural programming.
These principles stand as a challenge to Head
Start grantees and delegate agencies to focus their efforts on individualizing
services so that every child and family feels respected and valued and
is able to grow in accepting and appreciating differences.
These principles go beyond what takes place
in a Head Start classroom. They apply to all component services, to children
with special needs, and to the administration of the program. They form
the foundation of our joint efforts to help both the families we serve
and the staff we employ to make every effort to understand and respect
our differences.
I strongly recommend that each Head Start
Director schedule time to review and discuss these principles with all
of the component coordinators as a group, because the issue of multicultural
programming impinges on all of the Head Start components and services.
Wade F. Horn, Ph.D.
Commissioner
EFFECTIVE HEAD START PROGRAMMING requires understanding, respect, and
responsiveness to the cultures of all people, but particularly to those
of enrolled children and families. Since its inception in 1965, Head Start
has recognized the importance of nurturing the self-esteem of each child
and family in the program. The Head Start Program Performance Standards
stress the importance of enhancing the sense of dignity and self-worth
of each child and his or her family. Head Start grantees seek to develop
approaches that support this humanizing goal.
Children and their families come to Head Start
rooted in a culture that gives them meaning and direction. The same statement
is true of the staff and administrators who work in Head Start programs.
This culture is a set of rules that governs their world, organizes
their physical and social interactions, and shapes their understanding
and perceptions of behavior and ideas. This world is a milieu, a context,
in which people actively live, develop, and interact. Head Start staff
need to be helped to understand culture as functioning through their own
basic core beliefs and values. Because the child's culture and family provide
the foundation upon which the child's social competence develops, Head
Start staff must be sensitive to the role culture plays in child development.
Our hope is for each Head Start child to become
a world citizen through multicultural programming. For each parent and
each staff member to grow is also our goal. The Head Start program goals
are the foundation for this set of principles. These principles were developed
to guide Head Start grantees in meeting these goals. Section 1304.1-3 of
the Head Start Program Performance Standards (45 CFR 1304) states:
(a) The Head Start Program is based on the premise that all children
share certain needs, and that children of low-income families, in particular,
can benefit from a comprehensive developmental program to meet those needs.
The Head Start Program approach is based on the philosophy that:
(1) A child can benefit most from a comprehensive, interdisciplinary
program to foster development and remedy problems as expressed in a broad
range of services, and that
(2) The child's entire family, as well as the community, must be involved.
The program should maximize the strengths and unique experiences of each
child. The family, which is. perceived as the principal influence on. the
child's development, must be. a direct participant in the program. Local
communities are allowed latitude in developing creative program designs
so long as the basic goals, objectives, and standards of a comprehensive
program are adhered to.
(b) The overall goal of the Head Start program is to bring about. a
greater degree of social competence in children of low-Income families.
By social competence is meant the. child's everyday effectiveness in dealing
with both present environment and later responsibilities in school and
life. Social competence takes into account the inter-relatedness of cognitive
and intellectual development, physical and mental health, nutritional needs,
and other factors that enable a developmental approach to helping children
achieve social competence. To the accomplishment Of this goal, Head Start
objectives and performance standards provide for:
(1) The improvement of the child's health and physical abilities, including
appropriate steps to correct present physical and mental problems and to
enhance every child's access to an adequate diet. The Improvement of the
family's attitude toward future health care and physical abilities.
(2) The encouragement of self-confidence, spontaneity, curiosity, and
self-discipline which will assist in the development of the child's social
and emotional health.
(3) The enhancement of the child's mental processes and skills with
particular attention to conceptual and communications skills.
(4) The establishment of patterns and high expectations for success
in the child which will create a climate of confidence for present and
future learning efforts and overall development.
(5) An increase in the ability of the child and the family to relate
to each other and to others.
(6) The enhancement of the sense of dignity and self-worth within the
child and his [or her] family.
As the entire Head Start community implements
these principles in policies, procedures, and practices, the development
of children's social competence will be supported while the critical role
of the family will be acknowledged, reinforced, and enhanced. As a the
family, and the Head Start staff bec in a larger community. Multicultural
or culturally diverse programming celebrates individual differences.
The cultural, racial, and ethnic composition
of the Head Start community is becoming increasingly diverse as Head Start
reflects the demographic changes in America. To be successful, the Head
Start community must understand and commit to appropriate multicultural
programming that builds upon each child's culture and helps the child accept
the many differences among individuals and eventually deal effectively
with other cultures. Children enrolling in Head Start now will interact
in the future, if not today, with others unlike themselves in this diverse
society.
Head Start grantees must address issues of
cultural relevance and diversity if they are to help children achieve social
competence and reach their full potential. Cultural relevance supports
each child's background as an integral part of the child. Because children
are part of everyone who cares for them, people who work with cultural
issues must respect and nurture all the significant people in children's
lives. Culturally relevant programming in all Head Start components and
services incorporates approaches that validate and build upon the culture
and strengths of the enrolled children and their families. Such efforts
require that policies, practices, and personal philosophies be examined
for bias. This examination process is continuous and central to program
development and evaluation.
The following principles form the framework for multicultural programming. They can serve as steps or provide a structure through which participants can examine tasks and develop personal and organizational strategies to help children reach their full potential.
1. Every individual is rooted in culture.
2. The cultural groups represented in the communities and families of each Head Start program are the primary sources for culturally relevant programming.
3. Culturally relevant and diverse programming requires learning accurate information about the culture of different groups and discarding stereotypes.
4. Addressing cultural relevance in making curriculum choices is a necessary, developmentally appropriate practice.
5. Every individual has the right to maintain his or her own identity while acquiring the skills required to function in our diverse society.
6. Effective programs for children with limited English speaking ability require continued development of the primary language while the acquisition of English is facilitated.
7. Culturally relevant programming requires staff who reflect the community and families served.
8. Multicultural programming for children enables children to develop an awareness of, respect for, and appreciation of individual cultural differences. It is beneficial to all children.
9. Culturally relevant and diverse programming examines and challenges institutional and personal biases.
10. Culturally relevant and diverse programming and practices are incorporated in all components and services.
Discussion
1. Every individual is rooted in culture.
Culture is... everything that contributes to the life of a group of
people, from the objects in their daily experiences to their customs and
beliefs...a set of rules that govern group and individual experiences of
the world and (sometimes unconsciously) provides the reason for actions
and behavior. Culture affects how people perceive ideas and what they value
and devalue.
Because culture is rooted in people's emotional
commitments and guides their moral and aesthetic systems, it surfaces as
attitudes about and actions they believe to be the right way and
the wrong way. It is above all about valued relationships, about
what a worthy person is, and about how things become valuable. Culture
gives life meaning.
Each culture's rules affect everyone in that
culture. Culture may often seem invisible while operating within it with
persons who share the same cultural perspectives. This shared view is a
centric one, relative to the group supporting it; to the people in each
group, their own culture will be the valid one. However, each culture is
only one set of possible choices, and although assuming that one's own
culture is the valid one is natural, this form of arrogance Is not effective
in a diverse world.
Culture becomes most apparent when the individual
leaves it, breaks its rules, or when two cultures come into contact..
Studying other cultures, other ways of handling common needs and ideas,
is helpful for developing a perspective of tolerance. Culture is not simply
someone else's quaint ways-it is also your own quaint way.
Although culture is passed on from generation
to generation, it is dynamic and evolves and adapts to the contemporary
environment. People acquire culture through the daily process of living;
some aspects are formally taught. It is embedded in all institutions of
our society, and certainly in our educational systems.
Families' cultural identities must be supported in order for them to
foster their cultures in their children. The home language is the key to
this identity. Culture affects children's learning styles, values, and
self-concepts. In order to develop positive self-esteem, children need
to be recognized as valued individuals. Head Start, in its goal of bringing
about a greater degree of social competence in children, ensures the recognition,
value, and respect of all cultural backgrounds.
Successful programs for children respect and
incorporate the child's contemporary culture. Children must not be expected
to sacrifice their own cultural identity, but rather to take pride in themselves,
their families, and their culture. Cultural identity should not restrict
individual growth, development, and success; the task of an individual
is not to have to fit into a culture but to use the cultural context
as a vehicle to reach full potential.