Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners and Preserving Native Languages Maryann Cornish, Higher Horizons Head Start Maryann Cornish is Director of Higher Horizons Head Start in Falls Church, Virginia, a position she has held since 1977. She manages a multi-funded, state-of-the-art Head Start program serving 300 children. Her responsibilities include: developing effective management systems; ensuring program compliance with all applicable standards and funding requirements; developing strategic plans for the organization; and forming collaborative partnerships with local government, profit, and not-for-profit resources. She also serves as a management consultant for the Region III Head Start Quality Improvement Center at the University of Maryland, University College, and as a peer reviewer for Head Start and Migrant Head Start programs nationally. Cornish previously served as Education Specialist for the Child Development Associate Consortium in Washington, D.C., where she conducted national training sessions for early childhood professionals. She also served as Program Director for the Child Development Learning Center in Washington, D.C. "We need to stay rooted in our communities and responsive to the families we serve." — Maryann Cornish Presentation Highlights As Head Start programs continue to grow and expand into culturally and linguistically diverse communities that may be underserved, creative strategies will need to be employed to meet the needs of the children and families in these unique communities. Challenges, successful approaches, and guiding principles associated with meeting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse children and families are explored in this presentation. Challenges There are many challenges involved in working with diverse languages in Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Staffing In order to appropriately serve the needs of children of diverse languages and cultures, it is necessary to attract and retain qualified staff who will be sensitive to the: Culture of each child; Social background of each child; Religious beliefs of each child; and Child-rearing practices within the family of each child. Community Support Systems In order to provide comprehensive services to children and families, it is necessary to develop bilingual and bicultural community support systems. Investment of Time and Resources In order to develop successful comprehensive services, it is necessary to go through a "trial and error" period during which it must be determined what works best for the program and then customize curriculum to meet the needs of those served within a program. This period may include: Hiring interpreters and/or partnering with local school systems and community organizations to retain translation/ interpretation services; and Staff development opportunities that offer training for working with families with cultural beliefs different from their own. Successful Approaches Some successful approaches to working with diverse languages in Head Start include: Supporting Head Start personnel through staff development, including offering second language courses for staff; Hiring staff reflective of the population served; Hiring parents as employees to ensure bilingual and bicultural staff; Partnering with colleges and universities for intern placements and to serve as training sites; and Maximizing the use of home visits to obtain as much information as possible regarding the child, family, language, and child rearing practices. DO’S & DON’TS of Infusing Multicultural Principles Into Curriculum DO—Provide a truly multicultural classroom that feels like home to each child. DON’T—Focus on a culture for a few weeks and then put the topic away for the rest of the year. DO—Learn at least several words in the child’s language. DON’T—Force a child to speak English or over-praise the use of English. DO—Explore a culture in terms of its many diverse contributions. DON’T—Reduce a culture to its heroes or a special holiday. Supporting First Language Head Start staff can support a child’s first language when they do not speak that language themselves by: Valuing parents’ diversity and unique contributions; Using curriculum to facilitate second language acquisition; Allowing children to talk to each other in their own language and recognizing the cultural diversity that exists; and Establishing strong community partnerships that extend on through the public schools and into kindergarten. Presentation Handout Print version of Maryann Cornish's 3-page Handout Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners and the Preservation of Native Languages Maryann F. Cornish, Head Start Director Head Start embraces a core set of values, including commitments to recognizing that the members of the Head Start community—children, families, and staff—have roots in many cultures. Head Start families and staff working together as a team can effectively promote respectful, sensitive, and proactive approaches to diversity issues. Many Head Start programs serve children who represent a variety of cultures and a variety of languages. As Head Start programs continue to grow and expand reaching deeper into communities that are underserved or in some cases not served at all, Head Start staff will need to develop creative strategies to meet the needs of children and families in these unique communities. Communities are changing and the faces served in Early Head Start and Head Start programs today may not be the faces we serve in Early Head Start and Head Start tomorrow. The issue of addressing children’s language in an early childhood setting becomes increasingly complex. There are over 130 languages spoken in the United States, and in Northern Virginia 15 languages are spoken in the Head Start programs. The public schools language banks recognize over 75 different languages. The Performance Standard that relates directly to this includes: 1304.21(a) iii Provide an environment of acceptance that supports and respects gender, culture, LANGUAGE, ethnicity and family composition. What does this all mean for a local Head Start program? There are many challenges and opportunities in working with diverse languages in a Early Head Start – Head Start program, they include: Qualified Staff. Attracting and retaining both classroom and non-classroom staff is a challenge, especially in large metropolitan areas. Responses to job announcements within Head Start organizations are generally high. Head Start staff and parents who participate in the selection process will need to fine-tune the selection process. Will the prospective candidate be able to understand and respect the child’s culture, social background, religious beliefs, composition and child rearing practices of each family? Interviewing prospective staff becomes critical, you will need to ask questions "As a Head Start employee: How would you work with a new enrollee who speaks another language? How would you incorporate a child’s home language into daily activities? Tell us strategies you would use to communicate with a child who speaks no English? Attracting resource staff who support the Early Head Start – Head Start program. How do you attract resource staff to support Head Start staff in mental health? Disabilities? Family support services? Resource staff who are bi-lingual and bi-cultural support and enhance Head Start programs in providing comprehensive services to both children and families. Surviving the Trial and Error Period. During this period management and line staff try to figure out the most effective plan of action for serving children who speak many languages. Most common questions asked are… Do we teach English and Urdu? How do I meet the needs of each child when there are six different languages – and I do not speak any of the languages? These commonly asked questions surface during the trial and error period. Programs may purchase costly translation equipment that translates literally and has no flexibility for the many dialects within a particular language. There are a variety of packaged curriculums and educational software available to support staff. Head Start staff needs support during this trial and error period and need to understand that there is no one best approach and that the ‘Band-Aid’ and ‘cookie cutter’ approaches will not work. There are no quick fixes! Head Start programs need to proceed with patience and understanding throughout this trial and error period. Hiring interpreters. Interpreters and translation services are generally costly and not accessible to local Head Start programs. They can, however support Head Start staff in developing written materials to support classroom and non-classroom staff and support the recruitment and enrollment process. Many of the resources needed to support Head Start programs can be found within the local community. This opens a window of opportunity to collaborate with local school systems and community organizations. Many school systems now require high school students to complete community service hours in order to graduate. High school internships with the local Head Start program is an excellent opportunity for individualized language support. Working with staff who makes basic assumptions about children and families because of the families cultural beliefs. Staff needs on-going training to keep them "in check" when working with children and families with cultural beliefs other than those shared by Head Start staff. Staff development opportunities should be offered for both classroom and non-classroom staff including management staff. Simple Successful Approaches include: 1. Hiring staff reflective of the population served. Parents sense a level of comfort when there are staff in an Early Head Start or Head Start program that’s familiar with their own language and culture. 2. Hiring parents as employees. Parents who meet the educational and experience requirements who are hired as Head Start staff can support preserving children’s native language in both the classroom and in home based options. 3. Collaborating with colleges and universities for intern placements and to serve as training sites. Interns in the classroom increase the child/adult ratios in Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms. This provides staff additional opportunities to research, plan, and coordinate activities that support each child’s language and culture. 4. Maximizing home visits. Early Head Start and Head Start staff are able to obtain additional information regarding the child and family regarding language, culture, and childrearing practices through home visits. The information obtained may be shared with all staff who will work with the family or child throughout the child’s enrollment in the program. 5. Supporting staff through staff development activities. Staff development activities must be regular and on going. 6. Offering second languages courses for staff. Many Head Start programs invest training resources to support courses for staff offered either at the local Head Start program or at community college. A bilingual staff member can become a valuable resource for the site/center/or organization. 7. Embracing the Multicultural Principles for Head Start Programs and use the principles as a starting point in establishing 'HOW WE DO IT' in your local Head Start organization by specifically addresses working with children and families to create that sense of belonging. For example, we do… learn at least several words in a child’s language. We do not… force a child to speak English or over praise the use of English. The development of written training guides can evolve through this process and the training guides support staff who are new to Head Start in your community. The most common question classroom staff asks is "How do I support a child’s first language when I don’t speak the language?" Some answers listed below may support your local program in addressing the many challenges in working with children and families from many languages and many cultures. Value parents diversity and their unique contributions. Continue to communicate in a child’s home language. Use the curriculum to facilitate second language acquisition. Establish strong partnerships in your local community. Share your strategies and serve as a resource for other local programs. Video of Presentation Presentation Highlights Presentation Handout List of Language Development presenters/presentations Information on how to view videos and view/download handouts

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