Search

A Chaldean Catholic immigrant mother from Iraq kept a journal about how her Arab American daughters (ages 9 and 15) visited museums for the first time and participated in museum-related activities that focused on them (1) understanding and developing empathy for all new immigrants coming to the U.S.; (2) understanding and developing appreciation of Arab American immigrants' culture; and (3) being exposed to limited Arabic vocabulary related to museum artifacts. The mother's anecdotal observations, informal conversational interviews, and photographs documented her daughters' learning processes and outcomes. The cognitive processes and outcomes (e.g., understanding, meaning making through personal memories, information-seeking skills, co-construction of knowledge, creative self-expression, new vocabulary) and affective processes and outcomes (e.g., empathy, appreciation, parent-- child--sibling socioemotional collaboration) are discussed within a Vygotskian sociocultural framework. The mother scaffolded the girls to reach their upper Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) using multiple Vygotskian cultural and physical tools (e.g., museum artifacts, visual and culinary arts materials, children's books, technology). Lastly in this report from the field, the lessons learned are discussed, including conclusions and recommendations for parents and teachers on museum education.

Perspective taking, which is seeing a viewpoint other than one's own, is critical in interpersonal understanding and in cross-cultural communication. It is especially crucial in diverse societies such as the United States as well as in countries where immigrants from other nations are living as one community. Hence, this article focuses on promoting perspective taking among African-American fourth graders, utilizing children's literature on immigrant families with follow-up activities. Scholars have frequently suggested using children's literature about immigrants in school classrooms. However, these scholars' works have three key limitations. First, such scholarship is not conceptually grounded in Selman's theory, Vygotsky's theory, or Bhavnagri's work with her colleagues on immigrants and children's literature. Second, these works do not suggest follow-up activities related to children's literature. Third, they do not recommend specific, empirically grounded strategies for teachers to assist elementary children in taking the perspective of immigrants. This article addresses these limitations and thus contributes uniquely to the field. The authors present a conceptual framework, related children's literature and follow-up activities promoting taking the perspective of immigrant children and strategies for teachers to promote perspective taking, based on empirical research as well as their experiences. (Contains 1 table.)

This is a report from the field, where an immigrant mother journaled about her Yemeni American daughters (ages 7 and 13, born and raised in the U.S.) visiting museums for the first time. Her diary documented how mother–child and sibling interactions in museum education contributed to building cognitive and affective skills required for academic success in formal schooling. Her diary entries included: (1) anecdotal observations, (2) interviews of her daughters and her immigrant father, and (3) reflective and photographic journaling. Her daughters’ journaling and photo documentations further supported their mother’s entries. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory is the conceptual framework for this project. The mother promoted her daughters’ immigrant identity via visits to museums and activities related to the museum and the family’s immigrant identity offered before, during, and after the museum visits. The project culminated with her daughters creating their unique family museum and dramatizing as docents. We recommend (1) museum-related interactive literacy activities, and (2) creating and dramatizing a family museum.We buttress these recommendations with research, Vygotsky’s theory, and our evidence-based practice. We conclude that the daughters demonstrated the cognitive and affective skills required for academic success in formal schooling while simultaneously developing their immigrant identity. We suggest replicating this project to promote immigrant identity among other cultural groups. We lastly present an educational case study of the grandfather’s immigrant experiences in the appendix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates evidence-based practice that integrates movement education with children's literature, in order to promote cooperation among Bengali kindergarteners, from an urban public school in Midwestern USA. First, the authors argue the need for this integration based on limitations of previous scholarship. Second, authors present their developmentally and culturally appropriate conceptual framework based on Bhavnagri and Samuel's research, along with the theory of cooperation and schema development. Third, children's understanding of cooperation concepts (helping, turn taking, sharing, dividing labor, negotiating, coordinating, exchanging information, and perspective taking) embedded in literature are analyzed. Concomitantly, children demonstrated same cooperation sub-skills during four movement activities related to the stories. Fourth, authors reflect that cooperation was successful because activities met Johnson and Johnson's guidelines of high social interactions, high emotional involvement, and effective communication. Finally, the authors recommend that integration of cooperation and movement education is beneficial for educational programs in diverse settings.

This study investigates the association between home computer experience and cognitive development among preschool children in inner-city Head Start programs. Approximately 200 children enrolled in four Head Start centers in Detroit, Michigan were recruited to participate in this study. Data was collected from parents regarding the children's experience with computers in the home environment, including their access to a computer, the amount of time spent on the computer, and types of programs used on the computer. Each child was assessed using the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) and the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts, Third Edition Preschool (Boehm-3). Results suggest that using a computer is positively correlated with some aspects of cognitive development. After controlling for parent's education and household income, children who had access to a computer in their home had significantly higher scores of the Verbal, Perceptual-Performance, and General Cognitive scales of the MSCA. Furthermore, frequency of children's computer use was related to scores on the Boehm-3. These results suggest that early computer use at home may be a positive influence in young children's cognitive development. (Contains 5 tables.)

Interagency collaboration is critically needed to address an exponentially increasing immigrant population in the United States. In this article, the authors, in presenting the case study on the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit (IIMD), advocate for interagency collaboration to help immigrant children and families, and provide reasons why it is paramount to support school personnel through interagency collaboration. They also examine the links between the historical case study and contemporary conceptual frameworks to deconstruct the concept of collaboration for serving children, and use the collaboration construct to appreciate IIMD's contributions to the current understandings of interagency collaboration.

Describes struggle of Maasai in Kenya and Tanzania to preserve migratory lifestyle while remaking their schooling system. Addresses goals, content and method, and outcomes for both indigenous and Western Maasai education. Considers educational implications for migratory lifestyles and recommends listening to, building trust with, and empowering marginalized groups by valuing their cultures and contributions. (DLH)

Recommendations for educators were offered by Chaldean (Catholics of Babylonian descent, majority immigrated from Iraq) adolescents. Themes from focus group interviews related to communication with family, peers, and in the academic setting. Recommended educational strategies included sustaining students' first languages, showing understanding of and empathy for immigrant students' experiences, and being culturally sensitive and respectful of different family values. (KB)

Introduces this special issue on migration and education, describing the common underlying organizational framework for articles in this issue. Presents five common content strands regarding global immigration and schooling, including multiple reasons for migration, initial marginalization of immigrant groups, gaining resilience from support systems, and using comprehensive programs to directly address needs of immigrant children and their families. (KB)

Discusses the importance of cultural sensitivity and specific cultural knowledge when providing care for infants and toddlers. Makes suggestions for responding to cultural differences. Describes dialogue and reflective-thinking strategies for identifying and responding to cultural differences. Asserts that caregivers need diversity training to see that quality care must be put in culturally relevant contexts. (KB)

Examines the rationale for expanding teachers' roles, using preschool education in the slums of Baroda, India, as an illustrative study, and its implications for teacher preparation in 21st-century United States. Considers the roles of child educator and advocate, family-life educator, environment educator, economic adviser, and health educator. (KB)

Investigated stress among low-income African-American mothers as predictor of their instructional strategies for promoting preschoolers' peer relationships. Found that, as stress increased, mothers more frequently used strategies reducing their child's antisocial behavior and less frequently used strategies promoting prosocial behavior. With increased stress, mothers used less frequently strategies in teaching their children's peers that would directly benefit them. (Author/KB)

Examines the benefits of art education that go beyond art production to encompass an expansive view of art. Describes a kindergarten project called "Painting with Scissors" that implements this approach to art education. Through it, art became a way of knowing, understanding, and viewing the world; of constructing and expressing ideas; of bridging thought and feeling; and of appreciating beauty. (TJQ)

Discusses cultural differences in sleeping practices, focusing on how child caregivers can provide developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive care. Describes co-sleeping as an accepted practice in many cultures with several benefits. Discusses the role of cultural values, beliefs, priorities, and goals and the importance of caregiver-parent communication to find creative solutions. (KB)

'I'm sitting in the back row.' 'Well, I'm just going to be absent that day.' These were typical student responses upon learning that their school would be visited by a [...]

We just can't understand why you minorities can't do what all of our ancestors did. Our great-grandparents also arrived dirt poor and still achieved the American Dream! Why can't you [...]

Migration and Education Our planet has become one global village. This is due not only to technological advancements such as E-mail, faxes, and cellular phones, but also, and equally important, […]