Description
Given the constant growth of a multicultural population, there is a need for educators to gain awareness of their own values and assumptions regarding culture. The purpose of this project was to create, implement and conduct a process evaluation of a program for early childhood educators in multicultural settings. The specific goals were to promote: 1) multicultural awareness, 2) self-reflection, 3) intercultural competence, and 4) active engagement with families of diverse cultural backgrounds. The program used the socio- cultural theory of development, and the Learning Zone Model. The core content of the program was developed in a study abroad experience in the city of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony, Germany. The targets of the intervention were Early Childhood Education (ECE) specialists who work or will potentially be working in the early childhood education field. The seminar was implemented in three settings: 1) graduate students of Child & Family Development at San Diego State University (SDSU) in the fall of 2015, 2) undergraduate students at SDSU in the spring of 2016, and 3) ECE teachers at a preschool. There were a total of 64 participants including educators and students from all settings. Overall, ECE teachers and CFD graduate students were more satisfied with the program than were undergraduate students. Participants in all groups described that key learning concepts from the workshop were cultural diversity and empathy. There were emergent themes from qualitative coding that also reflected other learning concepts throughout the groups. It is observed that intercultural competency programs can be effective for specialists in Early Childhood Education, or graduate students of child and family studies, calling for similar trainings to be established in the field.
