The Iceberg Concept of Culture

Like an iceberg, the majority of culture is below the surface.

food ƒ dress ƒ music ƒ
Surface Culture visual arts ƒ drama ƒ crafts
Above sea level dance ƒ literature ƒ language
Emotional load: relatively low
celebrations ƒ games

Deep Culture
courtesy ƒ contextual conversational patterns ƒ concept of time
Unspoken Rules
Partially below sea level personal space ƒ rules of conduct ƒ facial expressions
Emotional load: very high nonverbal communication ƒ body language ƒ touching ƒ eye contact
patterns of handling emotions ƒ notions of modesty ƒ concept of beauty
courtship practices ƒ relationships to animals ƒ notions of leadership
Unconscious Rules tempo of work ƒ concepts of food ƒ ideals of childrearing
Completely below sea level theory of disease ƒ social interaction rate ƒ nature of friendships
Emotional load: intense
tone of voice ƒ attitudes toward elders ƒ concept of cleanliness
notions of adolescence ƒ patterns of group decision-making
definition of insanity ƒ preference for competition or cooperation
tolerance of physical pain ƒ concept of “self” ƒ concept of past and future
definition of obscenity ƒ attitudes toward dependents ƒ problem-solving
roles in relation to age, sex, class, occupation, kinship, and so forth

Indiana Department of Education ƒ Office of English Language Learning & Migrant Education ƒ www.doe.in.gov/englishlanguagelearning
“Acknowledge, Ask, Adapt: A Scenario for Discussion
Adapted from A Guide to Creating Partnerships with Families, pp. 52-53

Scenario:

Several families in the center strongly believe that keeping their toddlers clean and neat during the day
demonstrates caring and the teaching of healthy behavior on the part of the caregiver. At home,
whenever the toddlers get messy or dirty, an adult immediately cleans them. On the other hand, the
childcare provider believes an essential part of children’s healthy development is for children to
participate actively with materials such as sand, water, and paint, to feed themselves, and so forth. That
means that toddlers do get messy. She also believes that toddlers should help clean themselves. The
provider does help them clean up at points during the day (after an activity is over, before eating, and
before nap); but if she cleaned every child as soon as he or she got messy, the provider would be
spending most of her time cleaning up. She does not think that is necessary.

There has been some tension around this issue lately. Several families have been frustrated and
concerned to find their children (and their clothing) somewhat messy or dirty when they get picked up
from the center.

Step 1: Acknowledge. What could the provider say to herself and to the parents to communicate her
awareness that this is a problem that they need to solve jointly?

Step 2: Ask. What questions could the provider ask the parents to get information that will help her
understand more precisely the parents’ concern and what they think is an appropriate practice?

Step 3: Adapt. How can the provider open a negotiation with the parents about what to do? The
provider does not want to stop children from being active with materials or stop them from learning
how to take care of themselves. How can the provider explain why she allows children to get messy
without immediately clearing them and also communicate that she wants to find ways to meet the
parents’ needs? What modifications of child care practice might the provider explore with the parents?
What is fair to expect parents to accept as modification of their home behaviors while they children are
at the center?
 Welcoming Dual Language Learners
It's important for teachers to create a welcoming environment for
children and families from all cultures and who speak different
languages. Here are a few quick tips to make great beginnings
for young dual language learners (DLLs):

1. Find out what languages will be spoken by children in your class and
focus your classroom setup on what will most effectively support children
who speak those languages.
2. Stock bookshelves with bilingual and monolingual books in each
of the languages needed. Look for storybooks and nonfiction books
that come with CDs or books available as apps with sound to help
you learn to pronounce words in each child's language. Wordless
books are also great for multilingual classes.
3. Ask families to send in photos of things that are meaningful to
each child, such as foods, celebrations, and family activities. Ask them
to help you label the images with words in both English and the
home language to give you lots to talk about with the children. Use
the pictures to make personalized posters, displays, and class books that
children can relate to.
4. Add labels that reflect the represented languages. Ask families or
volunteers to help with the proper and the phonetic spelling. Labels don't
build language and literacy unless you and the children really use them.
5. Play music from different countries and in different languages. Ask
families to send in their favorites to build that home-school connection.
6. Learn to say 10 to 20 key words in each child's home language to help
them feel welcome, safe, and comfortable starting from their first day. Use
an online translation app like Google Translate or ask parents to record
words for you to learn. Try hello, my name is, eat, drink, hurt, bathroom,
your parents will be here soon, wash your hands, help, yes, and no to
start.
7. Make a picture communication board to help all children
communicate their needs and feelings. Post photos of the children
looking sad and happy, helping each other, cleaning up toys, going outside,
solving a conflict, and participating in daily routines.
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/aug2016/welcoming-dll
Teaching Young Children August/September 2016 Vol. 9, No. 5
Supporting Culturally Diverse Families: A PITC-Influenced Training Module
Points to Consider (Adapted from “A Guide to Creating Partnerships with Families”, p. 51)

• What are some ways you can relate in a positive way to families different from you?

• If a family in your program speaks a different language from you, do you have an interpreter
who can share important information with that family about the program and their child? If
not, how do you cope with this issue?

• List some ways you can learn about the cultures of the families you serve in your program.
How do you express your interest in their varying cultures?

• How does your child care program’s environment reflect the cultures of the families in the
program? (i.e., do you use food, music, and/or language from a families’ native culture to help
them feel at home)?

• Are you aware of the different cultural values, beliefs, structures, child-rearing practices, etc.
that affect the children in your care?

• How do your own cultural values and practices influence the manner in which you provide
care to children in your program?

Copyright 2010, Maryland Child Care Resource Network

 Skills needed to become Culturally responsive to Families

“Ten Keys to Culturally Sensitive Care”

If we think of caregiving as being essentially about developing partnerships with families, then we can
look at the following keys as representing the specific skills we need to gain.

Uncover Your Cultural Beliefs

Skill of Being Able to name our experiences
• Being able to describe your beliefs and values to others
• Learning to talk about the history that contributed to who we are.
• Naming the “unnamable”- the fear, shame, pain or anger that keeps us stuck and separate from each
other.

Be Open to the Perspective of Others

Skill of Listening and Being Willing to learn from others
• Being able to suspend our own cultural lens long enough to hear another person’s experience
• Describes the strength we all gain when we hear each others stories
• Reminds us that we have many things to learn, and in fact are always learning from others.

Seek out Cultural and Family Information

Skill of Gathering Information
• We must develop the courage to “risk asking” about what we don’t know or understand
• Partnership develops our understanding of why parents do what they do
• Information is our most powerful tool in changing awareness—It is the opposite of ignorance, which
keeps us struck and powerless to change situations or circumstances.

Clarify Values
Skill of Communication and creating dialogue
• Reinforces the importance of developing strategies for checking our cultural assumptions
• Describes the give and take necessary to create meaningful relationships
• Effective communication is the foundation of change.

Negotiate Cultural Conflicts

Skill of Collaboration and Negotiation
• Emphasizes the shared role of parent and caregiver in working toward the common good for the child.
• Requires us to take responsibility for our own beliefs and feelings while trying to understand and find
common ground.
• Collaboration can only happen when there is “equal input into solving the problem”

Adapted by Christina Lopez- Morgan from: Mangione, P.L., Lally, J.R & Signer, S. (1993) Essential connections: Ten Keys to culturally
sensitive child care [Video Magazine] (pp. 9-14). Sacramento, CA: CDE Press. This document may be reproduced for educational purposes.