Development of Alaska Cultural Guidelines for Early Childhood Educators

• In Event: Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Topic - Social Policy

Abstract

Culturally-responsive teaching within early childhood education programs is crucial for supporting young children’s heritage language development and cultural identity; integrating locally-relevant and place-based curriculum; and honoring and respecting families’ diverse culture(s) and language(s). The research project described in this flash talk addresses the overlapping topics of early childhood education practices, cultural diversity, and indigenous children and families. The primary goal of the flash talk is to outline the research process for the development of the Alaska Cultural Guidelines for Early Childhood Educators in Birth – Five Settings, including challenges faced as a non-Native, white researcher. The process integrated Indigenous epistemologies in Alaska Native ways of knowing and being, best practices and research in the area of early childhood development, and culturally-responsive teaching and learning.
Following recommended research practices for Indigenous methodologies (Chilisa, 2019), a community-based participatory research approach was utilized for this research project along with a pilot study to examine the reliability of the tool. The flash talk will provide a visual overview of the CBPR steps, including the validity and reliability processes. As part of the reliability process, a pilot study was conducted and included obtaining inter-rater agreement across seven early childhood classrooms, 22 teacher self-assessment ratings, and 42 administrator assessment ratings. This process resulted in the Alaska Cultural Guidelines for Early Childhood Educators in Birth – Five Settings, a tool designed to guide early childhood educators in using culturally-responsive practices in their early learning environments through their interactions with children and families, and in their program planning. The resulting tool includes three components and six indicators, with each indicator reflecting a 4-point scale (not yet observed/no opportunity, developing, proficient, and exemplary). The emphasis is to help early childhood educators identify his or her level of awareness and implementation of culturally-responsive teaching practices.
Although “Alaska” is part of the title, this tool is reflective of multiple Indigenous and cultural groups and may provide thoughtful reflection for how this tool may be used in other early childhood programs or in other states with diverse cultural and linguistic populations. Additionally, as the researcher shares her experience of engaging in a CBPR process with Indigenous groups it may elicit self-reflection of one’s positionality in the research process and the role of allyship in research.

Authors

• Hattie Harvey, University of Alaska Anchorage
  Presenting Author

• Diane Hirshberg, University of Alaska Anchorage
  Non-Presenting Author