Do Preschool Teachers Perceive Young Children from Immigrant Families Differently?

Abstract

This article describes preschool teachers' espoused mental models (EMMs) or, in other words, their naïve understanding of young children's learning. Our research goal was to examine differences within the teachers' EMMs regarding the minds and learning of young children from different cultural backgrounds. The subjects included 18 preschool teachers from the center of Israel, all of whom belonged to the mainstream cultural background and taught in the national school system. Their classes consisted of 5-to 6-year-old children from the mainstream cultural group as well as children from Ethiopian immigrant families. We conducted individual semistructured interviews that were transcribed and analyzed to identify the original EMM structure. While analyzing the parts of the narratives that referred to Ethiopian children, we discovered a metacategory that did not exist in the original model: Culture. This finding contributes to the construct of espoused mental models for teachers of children from diverse populations. PrologueWhile serving in various posts in the field of teacher education, I periodically visited a regional school whose student population was multicultural and came from different socioeconomic backgrounds. During my observation of an activity led by one of our students in a first-grade classroom, I noticed that the teacher failed to integrate a child from an Ethiopian immigrant family into the group activity. The child was disruptive and finally left the group.The incident aroused my curiosity, and I asked the boy what his name was and why he was not interested in participating. He looked at me, asked my name, and told me that it did not interest him: that the other children were not his friends and that he did not want to spend time with them. I then asked him if he would draw a picture for me (the activity in class was to draw a picture to illustrate a story they had been told). He shrugged and went off to disturb the other groups. I asked the school's young division coordinator about this boy David and received a compelling explanation about how these (Ethiopian) children were behind in their reading and writing skills and soon developed a 2-year learning deficit in comparison to the other children. She said, "There's nothing we can do; that's just the way it is with them."As I was leaving the building at the end of my visit, David ran over to me and handed me a drawing with a dedication: "To Miriam from David!" I hugged him and thanked him; I have that drawing to this day. It is a lovely drawing made by a well-developed, intelligent, first-grade boy. Later on, I explored the question of the gaps that arise at the beginning of

An Examination of Adaptation Processes of Refugee Children to Preschool in Turkey

“…The adaptation process is one of these difficulties. In addition, the adaptation process becomes more difficult when refugee families continue to repeat their own cultural habits (Mevorach, 2008).…”

Are They Different in Their Relationship Perceptions? Cross-Cultural Comparison between U.S. and Turkish Preschoolers

“…Therefore, teachers should be able to understand children's cultural backgrounds, as well as their own cultural interpretations, to implement more effective strategies by covering various cultural characteristics, habits, and practices in classrooms (Gay, 2002). Recognizing cultural diversity and supporting classroom engagement of children with diverse backgrounds would be an important asset for an early childhood educator (Allison & Rehm, 2006;Mevorach, 2008). With this idea in mind, cultural variations should be integrated into curriculum to achieve the best representation of every child (family) in the program, and communication with children from diverse cultural backgrounds should be established based on this understanding.…”