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Cultural Diversity: policy, care and education in multicultural societies

General information

Learning goals:

• Role of cultural diversity
  • Different theoretical models
  • Childrearing, parenting, child development & education
  • Importance for policy and practice
• Conduct qualitative study

Goal: develop cultural sensitivity » we moeten voorzichtig zijn in hoe we over andere(n)/culturele groepen praten

Cultural diversity wordt vanuit verschillende perspectieven belicht

»  The Developmental Niche is main theory in this course

Different theories on culture:

• Ecological theory of Bronfenbrenner
• Sociocultural theory
• Individualism vs. rationalism
• Developmental niche

Superdiversity in The Netherlands

• Ongeveer 26% van onze bevolking is van origine Nederlands
• Bijna 90% van de populatiegroei komt door internationale migratie
• Amsterdam, Rotterdam en Den Haag hebben de meeste culturele diversiteit, namelijk over 50%

Deze diversiteit komt door:

• Verhuizingen van buiten de EU (bijv. Turkije en Marokko)
• Toevoeging nieuwe EU-landen, waaruit mensen emigreren
• Toename instroom vluchtelingen aantal (bijv. uit Afghanistan en Syrië)

Superdiversity also relates to:

• Rural or urban neighborhood » this provides children different opportunities for education and development
• Religious or non-religious
• Differences in family composition
  
  • Single parent, nuclear (father, mother and a few children), extended family. Single parent and extended family (e.g. grandparents live in the same home) are very common. The nuclear family is no longer the ‘family standard’.  
• • Heterosexual vs. homosexual

All these different types of diversity provide children with differences in context (settings) and the view on their parents and their beliefs on what is        important in upbringing and childrearing

»  We can no longer say there is a majority of one cultural group

The weirdest people in the world

WEIRD-sample: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic

• Most behavioral science is based on this sample. The participants in research are usually from western, high educated (rich) families and industrialized and democratic countries
• Can we generalize findings based on this research to the general population? Is this sample representative for the general population?

What is culture?

(and how can we define it?)

Vélez-Agosto

• Bronfenbrenner ecological perspective:
  • Individual and cultural processes as separate entities
  • Culture as the ‘macro layer’: An external influence on the development of children
• Vygotksy & Weisner:
  
  • Culture as a system in which every human activity is realized and eventually internalized. We are all part of the culture and the way we act is related to the culture we grow up in. It’s an internalization process of cultural values and we learn how to behave within the culture.
• • It’s an transactional (bidirectional) process and contextual. We experience culture as something ‘outside’ of us but by internalizing it becomes a part of us.
• New model:
  
  • Culture as an everchanging system consisting of practices of social communities and the interpretation of these practices through language
  • Culture as inherently part of all settings (proximal and distal)
  • Daily cultural practices are very important for the way children develop

Rogoff et al.:

• Culture involves the way of life, including their way of thinking and orienting, of generations of people in communities that are shared among members of the community and in which individuals engage and which individuals contribute to maintaining and modifying »  The transactional/bidirectional relation is much more explicit formulated
• ‘Culture is shaped by individuals’ and ‘culture shapes individuals’ lives’
• It’s important to study the lived experiences of children to really understand the ‘rule’ of culture. Meaning that if we do research we should do it from an ecological perspective » see their development within the context in which they develop (instead of laboratory testing). 

Individualistic and relational cultural orientations

=  Een theoretisch ‘raamwerk’ dat veel wordt gebruikt in cross culturele studies

Twee verschillende typen van culturele oriëntatie:

• Individualistic orientation: focus on the individuals and their development » how can they reach independence and autonomy
• Relational/collectivistic orientation: they view the individual as related with others » focus on interdependence and loyalty between different members of the community

Parenting orientations

Parenting orientations can coexist

Main theoretical framework: Developmental niche

(Super & Harkness, 1986)

• Het kind staat in het midden
• Om het kind liggen drie componenten die allemaal aan elkaar gerelateerd zijn
  
  • Settings
  • Customs
  • Caretaker psychology
• Three components of a system aimed at homeostasis: change in one of the components affects the others as well
• Binnen deze systemen groeit en ontwikkelt het kind

1. Settings (physical and social)

        Physical aspects:

• • Housing arrangements (bijv. wonen in een appartement, flat of huis met tuin)
  • Family structure (welke familieleden wonen er in huis, welke relatie hebben de ouders)
  • Available material and toys (gerelateerd aan de mogelijkheden om te leren/ontwikkelen)
  • Neighborhood (in wat voor buurt staat het huis)
  • Housing arrangement and family structure are more about home environment, available materials and neighborhood are more about neighborhood        environment

         Social aspects:

• • Relations with family-members and significant others
  • Parental roles

2. Customs (and practices)

        What do parents do? Customs and practices are about the actual behavior of parents (like social traditions and sleeping arrangements).

3. Caretaker psychology » parental ethnotheories
   • Parental beliefs about children and processes of development and education (wat is belangrijk voor kinderen? Wat kun je als ouder doen om de ontwikkeling van je kind te ondersteunen)
   • Beliefs about milestones or ‘developmental timetables’ (bijvoorbeeld wat de ouder een gepaste tijd vind om te leren praten)
   • Beliefs on effecting parenting (beliefs on effective parenting can differ/vary per household)

Dutch vs. American culture

Beliefs and practices of Dutch and American parents about sleeping

• Implicit cultural models
  • NL: family: child + parent
  • US: family: child + parent
• Domain-specific beliefs:
  
  • NL: child needs sleep to grow, regular schedule of sleep is good
  • US: child sleep patterns depend on age and temperament
• Explicit ideas about appropriate practices:
  
  • NL: The three R’s: Rust, Reinheid en Regelmaat
  • US: uncertainty: expert advice and personal experience may conflict
• Ideas about outcomes:
  
  • NL: child grows well and child is well-tempered
  • US: stress for parents but child will mature
• Intervening factors:
  
  • NL:
    
    • Temperament is not important
    • Favorable parental schedules
    • No conflicting cultural models
  • US:
    
    • Temperament plays important role
    • Stressful parental schedules
    • Conflicting cultural models of independence, love and responsiveness
• Actual practices:
  
  • NL: regular schedule of sleep and naps
  • US: less regular schedule of sleep and naps. Practices to cope with night waking
• Actual outcomes:
  
  • NL: baby sleeps more and is more calm
  • US: baby sleeps less and is more aroused and active

Beliefs and practices of Dutch and American parents about development

• American parents focus more on child development and actively stimulating it
• In America is a more explicit focus on development and what you as a parent or professional can and should do in terms of stimulating the development
• Dutch perspective: children will develop in their own pace. There is less focus on what the parent or professional should do, but more on what the child will do and gradually will develop

Terminology

Be culturally sensitive

• Don’t use terms like allochtoon/autochtoon or western/non-western
• Categorization is exclusion
• Allochtoon/autochtoon wordt ‘foreign-born or not’
• Instead of western/non-western use country or continent names
• Preferably hyphenated (combinations like Turkish-Dutch) or self-ascripted terms