Saturday, August 17, 2013

Week 7 - Welcoming Families From Around The World

Robin C. Miller                                                                                                           EDUC – 6164
Blog – Week 7

            I chose the Cambodian culture. The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country of about 8,000,000 people, approximately the size of the state of Missouri, located in Southeast Asia. It is bordered on the west and northwest by Thailand, on the north by Laos, on the east by Vietnam, and on the south by the Gulf of Thailand (Bankston III, 2013). In order to better understand and welcome a child and their family from this culture I would prepare myself by learning…
1.     The history and origins of the Cambodian community
2.     The heritage behind the culture such as traditions, holidays, dances
3.     The language
4.     Greetings and common expressions
5.     Family and Community Dynamics
Each area that I learn will help me gain a better understanding of the child and his/her family lifestyle. In order to help the family feel comfortable when meeting for the first time I will make sure that I have a basic understanding of their native culture. In this preparation I would learn how to address the family such as whom to talk to in regards to who has the authority in the family. In some cultures only the parents speak and the children stay silent out of respect. I would hope that learning somewhat about the Cambodian culture would ease the family into openly sharing any information that could help with their child’s education which will benefit both them and me. I would also give them an opportunity to help share their culture with the class, which would be a great learning experience, so that everyone can learn about Cambodia and its culture.


Reference
Bankston III, C. L. (2013). Cambodian Americans. Retrieved from            http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Cambodian-Americans.html


2 comments:

  1. Robin it was nice reading your post. You chose a very interesting country. After reading your post it made me want to conduct my own research.

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  2. Robin,

    Thanks for the post! I think that you gave some good examples of how to prepare for the new student. We have learned that we cannot serve children without serving their families. I think that it is important to accept and embrace the family culture. I believe that these examples would most certainly help in your efforts to get a better understanding of the child and the family.

    Amber

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