Dynamic Digital Día: Promoting Cultural Competence

in Digital Storytimes

Presented by Jamie C. Naidoo, Ph.D. Assoc. Professor & Author

Univ of AL - SLIS

Presented by Karen N. Nemeth Author & Educator

Language Castle LLC

Presented by Cen Campbell

Founder & Educator Little eLit

Overview « Diversity & Cultural Competence « Día Programming as Diversity in Action « Criteria for Selecting Diverse Materials « Exploring Diversity in Early Childhood Settings « Partnerships between Early Childcare Centers & Libraries

« Examples of Diversity-Related Tech for Storytime « Sample Pairings of books and digital media to

promote cultural competence (and non-recommended media)

Image Source: http://celebritybabies.people.com/2011/07/17/cool-ipad-childrens-books-round-up/

Cultural Competence Cultural competence is the ability: « to recognize the significance of culture in one’s own

life and in the lives of others;

«  to come to know and respect diverse cultural backgrounds and characteristics through interaction with individuals from diverse linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic groups

«  to fully integrate the culture of diverse groups into services, work, and institutions in order to enhance the lives of everyone involved

Patricia Montiel-Overall, “Cultural Competence: A Conceptual Framework for Library and Information Science Professionals,” The Library Quarterly 79 (2): 189-190.

Día! Diversity in Action « Founded in 1996 by award-winning Latina author and

literacy advocate Pat Mora with assistance by REFORMA

« Celebration of children, families, and reading that culminates every year on April 30th.

« Daily commitment to connect children to books, languages, and cultures. «  Increases understanding of the importance of serving

multicultural, multilingual populations. « Allows librarians to introduce families from all cultural

backgrounds to the rich diversity of other cultures from the United States and around the world; thus, promoting cultural literacy.

« Builds community and provides a logical avenue for community collaborations.

Día (Diversity in Action) Programming

«  Provides opportunities for children and their families to interact with high-quality children’s literature in the first language of the family.

« Offers exciting, culturally relevant, literacy programs in the library throughout the calendar year.

« Connects all children with rich materials (print and digital) that represent their cultural experiences.

Image Sources: http://analternativeeducation.com/five-things-look-education-app/; and http://papaswitch.nifty.com/blog/cat222/

« Demonstrates the importance of literacy to life-long learning.

«  Promotes cultural competence by creating a forum for facilitating understanding and acceptance of diversity based upon: «  culture «  ethnicity «  race «  linguistic ability «  religious preference «  gender identity «  physical ability «  domicile «  immigration status «  sexual orientation « And . . . .

Día (Diversity in Action) Programming

“American cultural hegemony is so strong that it is much more likely that a child living in France, Korea, or Kenya will read a book about the United States than that an American child will read a book that originated in one of those countries.” ~ Virginia A. Walter, 2010, p. 69. Twenty-First-Century Kids, Twenty-First Century Librarians. Chicago: ALA Editions.

Selecting Diverse Materials

10  Quick  Ways:  Council  on  Interracial  Books  for  Children  1.   Images  -­‐  stereotypes,  tokenism  2.   Storyline  –  agency,  gender  roles  3.   Lifestyles  –  class,  cultural  assumpEons  4.   RelaEonships  between  people  5.   Heroes  6.   Effect  on  child’s  self-­‐image  7.   Creator’s  background  8.   Creator’s  perspecEve  9.   Loaded  words  10.   Copyright  date  

Source:  “Ten  Quick  Ways  to  Analyze  Children’s  Books  for  Racism  and  Sexism” Council  on  Interracial  Books  for  Children  

­  Book apps can be evaluated according to the same criteria used for print media.

­  While interactivity is important, it can’t compensate for cultural inauthenticity or inaccuracies.

­  Materials should promote connections between cultures, greater understanding of and respect for cultures, & engagement with cultures

 

   

Selecting Diverse Materials - Basics

­ SophisEcated    ­ Developmentally  appropriate  ­ Free  of  grammaEcal  and  spelling  errors  ­ Free  of  factual  errors  ­ Free  of  stereotypes  and  culturally  offensive  content  ­ MulEple  languages  ­ Updates/Current  InformaEon  

Locating International & Multicultural Books

Growing Young Minds Report, June 2013: http://www.imls.gov/assets/1/AssetManager/GrowingYoungMinds.pdf

Growing Young Minds Report, June 2013: http://www.imls.gov/assets/1/AssetManager/GrowingYoungMinds.pdf

Information About Digital Media and Children

Karen N. Nemeth, Ed.M. •  Supporting 1st and 2nd language development in early

childhood education depends on appropriate use of digital resources to meet the individual needs of each child

•  www.languagecastle.com •  www.ecetech.net •  Karen@languagecastle.com •  Twitter @KarenNemethEdM

­  Language Castle: www.languagecastle.com

Karen’s Work

Partnerships Between Early Childcare Centers & Libraries

­ Partnering with early childhood education (ECE) programs can be mutually beneficial

­ By supporting early literacy, librarians are helping prepare children for school

­ Librarians need to understand what’s happening in the classrooms their children attend: ­ Public school, Head Start, Special education ­ Bilingual education, ESL, General education ­ Common Core Content Standards ­ Literacy curriculum

Partnerships Between Early Childcare Centers & Libraries

­ Librarians can extend the effects of their work by collaborating with schools and preschool programs to provide a seamless system of support for diverse young children

­ Librarians can benefit from collaborations with schools by accessing their knowledge and best practices about developing literacy in young children who are English learners.

Image Source: americanprogress.org

Head Start’s National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/cultural-linguistic

«  ¡Colorín  Colorado!:  http://www.colorincolorado.org/librarians    

National Association for the Education of Young Children: www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201101/GillandersR_Online0111.pdf

East Coast Migrant Head Start Program created their own class books using technology to take digital photos of scenes that were familiar to their children and compiling them into high quality printed books.

http://www.ecmhsp.org/

ECMHSP helps children who are DLLs connect with language and learning by using technology to create relatable materials for play and learning

http://www.ecmhsp.org/

LittleeLit.com– Cen Campbell

­  Haines Borough Public Library, Haines, Alaska

­  The only children’s book app based on Alaskan content

Homer Library, Alaska

­  Berries on the Tundra

I need a book that’s relevant

­  Alaskan book app project

…so I’m going to make some.

­  There are some great multicultural apps out there!

Or find some that are available digitally

Comienza en Casa/It Starts at Home: http://www.manomaine.org/programs/mep/comienzaencasa

Locating Culturally Diverse Digital Apps for Promoting

Cultural Competence

Apps with Multicultural Content & Book Pairing

Barefoot World Atlas

­  Stack the Countries: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stack-the-countries/id407838198?mt=8 and http://www.commonsensemedia.org/mobile-app-reviews/stack-the-countries

­  Books for Africa, Books From Africa: http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=553

­  Drum Kids App: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/drum-kids-for-iphone/id429211216?mt=8

Apps with Multicultural Content & Book Pairings

­  Up and Down: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/up-down/id560485488?mt=8

Apps with Multicultural Content & Book Pairings

Recommended App for Cultural Programming

­  My Story: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-story-book-maker-for-kids/id449232368?mt=8

Recommended App for Cultural Programming

­  Felt Board: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/felt-board/id492342753?mt=8

NOT Recommended App for Cultural Programming

­  Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rosemary-wells/head-shoulders-knees-and-toes/

NOT Recommended App for Cultural Programming

­  Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rosemary-wells/head-shoulders-knees-and-toes/

­ Images contains culturally loaded symbols and costumes (piñata, kimono, mariachi outfit, etc.) that have been used over time in children’s books, cartoons, etc. These images perpetuate stereotypes.

­ The use of bunny characters to represent the various cultures dehumanizes people from Japan, France, America, and presumably Mexico.

­ If a child is from any of the cultures represented, she may be confused by the depictions of her culture and wonder if something is wrong with her because she doesn’t look like the representation in the app.

Recommended App for Cultural Programming

­  Draw & Tell: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/draw-tell-by-duck-duck-moose/id504750621?mt=8

­  Diversity Programming for Digital Youth: Promoting Cultural Competence in the Children’s Library by Jamie

Naidoo. Libraries Unlimited, 2014.

Questions or Comments

Presented by Jamie C. Naidoo, Ph.D. Assoc. Professor & Author

Univ of AL - SLIS

Presented by Karen N. Nemeth Author & Educator

Language Castle LLC

Presented by Cen Campbell

Founder & Educator Little eLit