CHAPTER 5 ENGAGING FAMILIES AND GROWING ANTIBIAS PARTNERSHIPS

CHAPTER 5 ENGAGING FAMILIES AND GROWING ANTI-BIAS PARTNERSHIPS CD 42 Dr. Gallegos

Chapter 5 The Framework for Working with Families An Inclusive View of Families ■ Families include single-parent families, same-gender families, extended families, blended families, two-parent working families, foster families, and adoptive families. ■ Families also belong to various subgroups (e. g. racial, ethnic, socioeconomic class), which affects their everyday lives. ■ In anti-bias family partnerships, early childhood programs see families as reservoirs of knowledge and expertise, central to understanding the children they serve. ■ The program sets the one for dialogue and learning. ■ Leaders and teachers also must feel comfortable sharing power with families. ■ Learning about families is a process and not a one-time event.

Introducing Anti-Bias Values and Expectations Preadmission ■ Families come to a program with varying levels of commitment to the community and its mission. ■ Be intentional about including ABE language as a priority in any tour of the program that families attend Intake and Orientation Process ■ Make sure that wording and questions of application and admissions paperwork refelcets respect for diversity and acknowledges that the child’s primary caretakers may be other than a mother or father (using guardian or caregiver) – Family Goal Form – Program Open House – Family Handbook and Program Website – Anti-Bias Newsletters

Introducing Anti-Bias Values and Expectations ■ Create Family Visibility and Connection (pgs 78 -80) – Reaching Out – Family Walls – Welcome in different languages – Family Artifact Bag – Family boxes – Family Book Bag

Family Anti-Bias Education and Dialogues: A Two-Way Street ■ The leader must take into consideration how the adults that they are surrounded by (parents, teachers and staff) learn, preferred communication styles, and where families are in their antibias journeys. ■ Four topic-focused discussion sessions – Identity and Memories of School – Ethnicity and Language – Unlearning Stereotypes about Indigenous People – Community Activism

Promoting Family Partnership and Leadership ■ Family Support System – Being available – Resources information – Diversity dialogues group ■ Families as Allies of Anti-Bias Education – Families Advocating for Differences – Family leadership and Initiative