Self-study modules
Facilitate access for children and families to daycare centers and childminders
Introduction to self-study modules
Many educational professionals would like professional support in the fields of multilingualism, intercultural cooperation with parents, teaching the German language and bridging intercultural differences between children and families. Ruhr University Bochum and Paderborn University have developed four self-learning modules on these topics.
Link to YouTube video: "Introduction to self-study modules"
Working with parents in the context of difference and diversity
In the following self-learning module, theoretical and practical considerations for intercultural cooperation with parents and families are presented by the expert Dr.' Berrin Özlem Otyakmaz.
Link to YouTube video: "Working with parents in the context of difference and diversity"
Overview of the building blocks
Summary of recommendations for action:
Families with a refugee background are highly heterogeneous. This heterogeneity can be seen on several levels. First and foremost, socio-cultural heterogeneity characteristics can be identified, such as nationality, religion and ethnicity. In addition, there are heterogeneity characteristics that result from the respective migration, flight and residence situation. There are also individual heterogeneity characteristics that are derived from a person's personality, biography, marital status and level of education. For educational work, it is important to take these dimensions of heterogeneity into account so that the families' patterns of thought, perception and action can be better understood.
Reflection questions
- What knowledge do I have about the parents'/families' life situation, biography and culture?
- To what extent do I know how the (early childhood) education system is structured in the families' countries of origin? (Link to the profiles on Kita.NRW)
- To what extent are the life situations and biographies of the parents/families reflected within my educational offering?
Summary of recommendations for action:
Knowledge of the parents'/families' biographical and lifeworld references is also important in order to better understand the families' patterns of thought, perception and action. In particular, parents'/families' ideas about childhood and parenting practices are shaped by their biographical (own childhood etc.) and lifeworld (living space, education etc.) references. Educators should therefore be aware that parents/families may have different subjective ideas about childhood and upbringing. Knowledge of the parents'/families' life history and lifeworld helps to understand these subjective ideas.
Reflection questions
- To what extent am I aware of the different subjective ideas about childhood and upbringing between the parents/families and myself?
- To what extent can I understand the different subjective ideas about parenting based on the parents'/families' life stories and lifeworld?
- To what extent do these subjective ideas about parenting influence my pedagogical actions?
Link to YouTube video: "Knowledge of biographical and lifeworld references of parents/families"
Summary of recommendations for action:
Parents/families can demonstrate parenting practices, parenting ideas and behaviors that are contrary to their own beliefs and values. These behaviors can be perceived as inappropriate or irritating by educational (professional) staff, which in turn can lead to misunderstandings and disagreements between parents/families and educational (professional) staff. It is therefore important for the educational (professional) staff to first try to better understand themselves in the situation by reflecting on what was felt in the situation and which of their own values, convictions and principles were affected. It is then important to talk to the parents/families and explore their biographical and lifeworld reference system. Hypotheses are then formed in order to explain and understand the parents'/families' behavior. This knowledge is then used to negotiate common norms and interim solutions that guarantee successful and harmonious cooperation.
Reflection questions
- What does my frame of reference look like within my pedagogical work and to what extent does it deviate from the frame of reference of others?
- To what extent do we consult as a team to identify and, if necessary, explain certain parental behavior
Link to YouTube video: "Dealing with perceived irritating parental behavior"
Summary of recommendations for action:
Parents'/families' own and institutional perceptions of parenting, education and parenthood can differ considerably. This can lead to pedagogical (specialist) staff perceiving parental behavior as deficient and accordingly exhibiting a deficit-oriented attitude. Consequently, it is of great importance that educational (specialist) staff reflect on their own and institutional parental image in order to clarify for themselves what expectations are placed on parents/families and against what background parental behavior is assessed. This enables educational (specialist) staff to better understand parental behavior and develop an appreciative and prejudice-conscious attitude.
Reflection questions
- What does my own image of parents and the subjective image of parents/families look like? To what extent do they differ?
- To what extent do I value the performance of parents/families and recognize their parenting attitudes?
- What influence does this have on my pedagogical practice?
Link to the YouTube video: "Reflecting on your own and institutional parental image"
Summary of recommendations for action:
In addition to taking into account the biographical and lifeworld references of families and reflecting on their own image of parents, it is important that educational (specialist) staff create an appreciative and participatory collaboration with parents/families and a working atmosphere. All convictions, values and ideas of the pedagogical (specialist) staff, children and parents/families should be heard when making pedagogical and administrative decisions. It is also important to create a pedagogy of diversity in which all dimensions of heterogeneity are taken into account and recognized.
Reflection questions
- What opportunities do parents/families, children and pedagogical (specialist) staff have for democratic participation in my pedagogical provision?
- To what extent do I take different dimensions of heterogeneity into account in my educational provision and to what extent do I respond to them?
Summary of the self-study module "Working with parents in the context of difference and diversity"
Literacy in consideration of multilingualism and diversity
In this learning module, the importance of literacy education and the support of language education according to the principle of dialogical picture book reading are presented, among other things. Multilingualism and the diversity of personality traits are taken into account.
Link to YouTube video: "Literacy taking multilingualism and diversity into account"
Overview of the building blocks
Summarized recommendations for action:
Literacy is a collective term for experiences related to reading, storytelling and writing culture and is considered an essential precursor skill for later reading and writing. This means, among other things, familiarity with books and written language, the joy of reading, but also the competent use of other media, especially the internet. Literacy development depends on the experiences that children have in these areas at home and in educational programs. Accordingly, literacy education is anchored in almost all educational plans. This development can be supported above all by looking at picture books, reading aloud/retelling stories, free storytelling, the natural and targeted integration of written characters into everyday educational activities and the like.
Reflection questions
- In which areas do you incorporate written language elements, such as symbols, letters or word or text elements to support oral language, into your educational activities?
- What opportunities do the children have to look at (pictures of) books alone and together with you within the educational program?
- To what extent do you incorporate finger plays, circle games or rhyming games into your everyday educational program? "On the importance of literacy and literacy education"
Summary recommendations for action:
School learning content primarily requires the ability to understand complex facts, texts and abstract concepts or to recognize causal relationships. The essential skill required for this is the decontextualized form of language. A form of language that is predominant in written language. Written language differs above all from everyday oral language in its linear argumentation, no repetitions or mental leaps, precise use of words or the omission of filler words. Storytelling in particular supports the ability to use decontextualized language. With targeted questions
Reflection questions
- What opportunities do the children have in your educational program to talk about everyday or specific topics, to report or to exchange ideas with you?
- What narrative-stimulating and narrative-supporting methods do you use to help the children build a narrative?
- How often do you read to the children and what different genres do you use?
Link to YouTube video: "Differences between spoken and written language"
Summary of recommendations:
Entering into a dialog with children supports the natural language learning process and, according to current scientific findings, is one of the most effective forms of language education. Dialogic picture book reading is a technique that supports precisely this dialogic process between the adult and the children by the child becoming the narrator, contributing their own thoughts and experiences and setting their own priorities in the story. The joint creation (co-construction) of a story in a picture book is also an optimal prerequisite for learning new words (lexicon), but also complex formulations (morphology, syntax).
Reflection questions
- To what extent do you allow the children to contribute their own thoughts and experiences when looking at a picture book together?
- What questions do you ask the children to support the child's storytelling? Do you tend to use closed questions (yes/no questions)? What types of open questions do you use (why, wherefore, wherefore, when, etc.)?
- To what extent do you take the children's interests and world into account when looking at picture books together?
Summary of recommendations for action:
Children experience extensive literacy experiences in a variety of settings. As literacy experiences also have an impact on identity development, the respective family languages and the different environments in which the children live are of particular importance. Multilingual children in particular construct their personal, social and cultural identity in their different languages.
The selection of picture books and other material is therefore particularly important. The selection should take into account what influence it has on social norms and values. It should be checked whether stereotypical or discriminatory expressions are present that are not clearly recognizable as such for children, but can indirectly reinforce prejudices, racist exclusion and devaluation. By actively selecting books and materials, diversity can be experienced as normality, dealing with it can be practised, questions can be actively addressed and conflicts can be dealt with.
Reflection questions
- What do you look for when selecting picture books?
- What different personality traits can you observe in the children in your educational program?
- To what extent do the materials and picture books in your program reflect different characteristics and different lifeworlds?
Link to YouTube video: "Literacy experiences reflecting children's diversity"
Summary of recommendations for action:
Children experience extensive literacy experiences in a variety of settings. As literacy experiences also have an impact on identity development, the respective family languages and the different environments in which the children live are of particular importance. Multilingual children in particular construct their personal, social and cultural identity in their different languages.
The selection of picture books and other material is therefore particularly important. The selection should take into account what influence it has on social norms and values. It should be checked whether stereotypical or discriminatory expressions are present that are not clearly recognizable as such for children, but can indirectly reinforce prejudices, racist exclusion and devaluation. By actively selecting books and materials, diversity can be experienced as normality, dealing with it can be practised, questions can be actively addressed and conflicts can be dealt with.
Reflection questions
- To what extent do you support families in shaping their family learning environment?
- What opportunities are there in your pedagogical offer to familiarize families with methods to promote literacy?
- Do you involve families in your pedagogical offer to carry out joint activities to promote literacy?
Summary of the self-study module "Dialogic picture book reading with consideration of multilingualism and diversity"
Multilingualism in child daycare or in an educational program
A professional approach to multilingualism in childcare or educational services means that services are designed with linguistic diversity in mind. With the expert Professor Dr.' Panagiotopoulou, various topics are discussed and reflected upon in this learning module.
Link to YouTube video: "Multilingualism in daycare or in an educational program"
Overview of the building blocks
Summarized recommendations for action:
Multilingual children have a complex language repertoire that they use flexibly to communicate effectively and pragmatically. They also try to adapt to the linguistic abilities of the other person. It is important to reflect on your own ideas about multilingualism and to value the child's multilingualism as a competence and resource.
Reflection questions:
- What is your image of a multilingual child?
- To what extent do you consider the characteristics of multilingualism shown in the module to be a normality in your institution or educational provision?
Link to the YouTube video: "what characterizes a multilingual child?"
Summarized recommendations for action:
For multilingual children, it is normal to use words from other languages in linguistic utterances. This phenomenon, which many educational (specialist) staff still refer to as code-switching, is described by the concept of translanguaging. Children should therefore not be admonished to speak in only one language in daycare centers or in educational practice.
Reflection questions:
- To what extent do you consider it normal for children to use their language repertoire flexibly?
- To what extent is the children's non-German family language given space in your work?
Link to YouTube video: "Uncertainties in dealing with multilingualism"
Summary of recommendations for action:
Pedagogical (specialist) staff often feel unsure about how to organize a multilingual educational routine. However, authentic communication situations are very important for children. These can be created by pedagogical (professional) staff commenting on games and activities and at the same time incorporating the children's languages.
Reflection question:
- To what extent do you comment on joint activities in your pedagogical work so that authentic communication situations can arise?
Summary of recommendations for action:
Pedagogical (specialist) staff are often unsure about how they should incorporate the multilingualism of children without their own language skills into everyday pedagogical practice. However, language skills in the individual languages are not necessary in order to incorporate the children's multilingualism in an appreciative manner. Pedagogical (specialist) staff should encourage children to introduce elements such as words or songs in their own languages so that they realize that their own multilingualism is valued in everyday pedagogical life.
Reflection question:
- To what extent is the multilingualism of children taken into account in your facility or educational program during activities (e.g. games)?
Link to YouTube video: "Incorporating multilingualism into everyday pedagogical life"
Summary of recommendations for action:
Multilingualism is a phenomenon that does not only affect migrant families. If you think about the different regions in Germany, you can see that there are different regiolects here too. It is important to recognize that languages shape family relationships and that different family languages should therefore be valued by educational (specialist) staff.
Reflection questions:
- Which languages do you speak? And also consider the language skills you use on vacation or in restaurants, for example.
- How many languages are you confronted with in your everyday life (advertising, restaurants, internet, friends, books, technical devices, etc.)
Summary of recommendations for action:
Even if educational (specialist) staff only want the best for children and are very committed to them, it can happen that they (unintentionally) fall into negative language. It is therefore important to think about how you speak about multilingualism. Language that devalues children's multilingualism should be avoided. It is worth thinking about the concept of translanguaging. Multilingual pedagogical (specialist) staff, on the other hand, should serve as good linguistic role models by also incorporating their own multilingualism into everyday pedagogical work.
Reflection question:
- To what extent is reflecting on your attitude towards multilingualism part of your pedagogical work?
Link to YouTube video: "Reflecting on your own attitude and language"
For those who would like to learn more about the theoretical and pedagogical concept of translanguaging, a further module with three videos is offered in which the concept is explained by Professor Dr.' Panagiotopoulou explains the concept.
Module G1: Translanguaging as a theoretical construct
Module G2: Translanguaging: Implications in practice
Module G3: Examples to understand translanguaging
Summary of the self-study module "Multilingualism in the daycare center or in a pedagogical offer"
Prejudice-conscious education and upbringing
In an expert discussion with Caroline Ali-Tani and Prof. Dr. Timm Albers, theoretical and practical considerations in relation to dealing with diversity in educational settings will be discussed and impulses for the implementation of prejudice-conscious education and upbringing will be given.
The Fachstelle Kinderwelten has adapted the approach of prejudice-conscious education and upbringing for the conditions in Germany and is systematically developing it further. The approach is understood as a contribution to educational equality: every child has the right to education and every child has the right to protection from discrimination. The approach pursues the goal of inclusion, combining respect for diversity with the non-acceptance of exclusion and discrimination. Its principles provide orientation for inclusive educational practice. Further information at: https://situationsansatz.de/fachstelle-kinderwelten
Link to YouTube video: "Prejudice-conscious education and upbringing"
Overview of the building blocks
Summary of recommendations for action:
In working with young children, diversity is often taken for granted and is seen less as a pedagogical challenge than in the school sector, for example when it comes to assessing performance. Nevertheless, diversity is not perceived and valued neutrally and equally within society and therefore also in early education practice, which means that many children and families are confronted with barriers to participation and exclusion on a daily basis. Discrimination against families or children is not arbitrary, but relates to certain diversity characteristics, such as language. In practice, this means analyzing not only the interactions, but also the equipment of the facility, the play material, etc. with regard to one-sided representation of diversity, with the aim of creating a participatory welcoming culture in which all families and children can find themselves.
This module uses the example of language to show how the participation opportunities of children and families can be increased and what practical consequences this has for the implementation of inclusion.
Reflection questions
- How can I welcome all families and children?
- What value do I place on the participation of families?
- What does inclusion mean for educational practice?
Link to the YouTube video: "Theoretical foundations of inclusion and diversity"
Summary of recommendations for action:
Based on a practical example, the hanging of flags in educational settings is discussed and reflected upon. The flags and thus the variety of nationalities are often intended to symbolize and reflect the diversity in the facilities and services. However, origin is only one part of a family's identity and nationality has an individual significance for each family. This video presents a more differentiated view of diversity, which focuses on the individual values of families and is described using the concept of family cultures. It is also important to start with commonalities and then look for individual differences on this basis, with the aim of breaking down binary perspectives and stereotypical collective groups and making the broad diversity of all children and families visible. How generalizations and one-sided views of children and their families can be avoided is presented using practical examples.
Reflection questions
- How do I manage to ensure that the diversity of families is reflected in my services?
- What does origin (nationality) mean to me in connection with my identity?
- How can I look for and raise awareness of the similarities in the children's group?
- What opportunities are offered by addressing similarities instead of differences?
Link to the YouTube video: "Dealing with diversity in educational settings"
Summary of recommendations for action:
The attitude of educational (specialist) staff plays an important role in dealing with diversity. The example of the diversity characteristic "gender" illustrates stereotyping in dealing with girls and boys. Although age and gender are diversity categories that are constantly present in every educational setting, they are rarely consciously perceived, such as ethnic-cultural origin, socio-economic status or mental/physical abilities. In educational practice, it is all the more important to be aware of your own ideas of normality and stereotypical assumptions and to regularly reflect on your attitude in this regard.
This video uses a study to discuss how your own attitude and pre-expectations of children can lead to children being disadvantaged in everyday educational settings.
Reflection questions
- Be aware of your own idea of "normality"! Which diversity characteristics or behavior irritate you and why?
- How do diversity characteristics influence your thoughts and actions?
- What expectations do certain external characteristics, for example, trigger in you?
- Consider how and in what form messages about diversity are communicated to children! Think about children's books, for example! Which one-sided and stereotypical representations appear again and again and what consequences could these have on children's self-image?
Summary of recommendations for action:
In the practice of prejudice-conscious education and upbringing, the aim is to enable children to experience diversity and to consciously address this, as mere contact with different people is not necessarily enough to refute prejudices. Children should learn to feel comfortable in the presence of people who differ from them in their behavior or appearance and to develop empathy towards them. Children discover similarities, on the basis of which differences can then also be discussed. This is integrated into everyday life and takes place through play. Language barriers to families can be minimized with the help of picture cards and books. Proven tools such as the Index for Inclusion are available for the further development and concept development of facilities and services.
Reflection questions
- To what extent does the diversity of children and families influence the further development of my educational services?
- What options do I use to facilitate contact with children and families?
- To what extent is the diversity of children reflected in the everyday material?
Summary of the self-study module "Prejudice-conscious education and upbringing"
Parents' brochure provides information in 12 languages
The parents' brochure "Welcome to daycare!" invites immigrant parents to register their children in daycare and thus benefit from the educational opportunities in North Rhine-Westphalia at an early age.
The information includes brief descriptions
- on the work of the daycare facilities, the registration procedure at the daycare center,on the services offered by the daycare center,
- the role of parents and
- the reference to the KiTa-Finder .
The brochure is available for download as a complete brochure as well as in the individual languages German, Arabic, Dari, Farsi, English, Pashto, Russian, Sorani, Albanian, Tigrin and Urdu.