Bridging Cultures in Early Care and Education: A Training Module

By: Elise Trumbull, Carrie Rothstein-Fisch, Marlene Zepeda, Janet Gonzalez-Mena

This new resource extends WestEd’s well-established Bridging Cultures work into the early childhood arena.

The module’s flexible two-hour workshop script, with detailed facilitation notes, uses real-life dilemmas from early care and education settings to illustrate and fuel discussion about the two common and sometimes conflicting cultural norms of individualism (associated more closely with mainstream U.S. culture) and collectivism (associated more closely with immigrant communities).

Participants (e.g., early childhood educators, caregivers, social service providers) become attuned to culturally driven differences in child-rearing practices and gain insight into how to anticipate and mitigate potential misunderstandings.

The module includes handout and overhead masters; background information on the conceptual framework; guidance and suggested resources for extending the training; and an annotated bibliography.