Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Week 8
I am pretending that I am in my current position as a special educaiton teacher and my new student and family are from Bulgaria (more specifically from the Roma population). I talked with my brother because he is a Peace Corps volunteer in a very small village in Bulgaria.
For me to be culturally responsive I would need to consider the following information:
1) Children often do not have any concept of color or numbers or have any writing skills. The first time they are introduced to these concepts are in kindergarten, which in Bulgaria is a year later than in the United States.
2) Roma people have their own language and different dialects depending on the region they are from.
3) Currently, there has been an several missionaries in Bulgaria that have been Seventh Day Advent. My brother noted that often the Roma population will follow the prevailing religion and look at is as protection to follow that belief.
4) In a school setting (meetings, conferences, family nights) include all members of the family. Often the grandmothers (Baba's) are the caretakers of the grandchildren and they are highly regarded.
5) Kid's are not regarded as high importance (as there typically many children in the family). Roma populations are very male dominated and an example of this being that when food is served fathers eat first and then he decides when others (wife and kids) can eat. Most of the time it may just be the scraps. This would be very important to be aware about as a person from the outside it could be considered neglect.
I would hope that taking these considerations in before my student arrived would help me be more culturally responsive. I would be able to prepare for a student who might not have been taught academic certain skills yet. I would be able to know that this would be a cultural thing and not a disability. I would know that they whole family should be included in the meeting and events. I would also know to do a little bit of research to know where the family came from specifically in Bulgaria, so that I could hopefully learn a few words (although I may not be able to if it is a dialect not recorded).
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Hi Abby. Interesting place. Do you wonder if this family would realize there is a place in the education system for their special needs child? Is it something they would be familiar with in Bulgaria? Concerning the religion, I spent one semester in Taiwan where there is not religious censorship. Their were families who practiced every religion they knew about just to be on the safe side. There is control in this country. Part of the reasoning is that religion might get confused with the idea of affluence and success because the population was virtually closed off from the West for so long. The government sees censorship as protection, perhaps. Interesting to think about. Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeleteAbby,
ReplyDeleteWow! I enjoyed reading your blog and I don't know to start with commenting on your blog because all the information is interesting but I agree with Bobbie that there is a place in the education system for children with special needs. I guess all countries and families are different and they probably do not want the child to get any help.
Thanks for sharing!
Tracey
Great job specifying what you would do relating specifically for that population. From what I have read, the Roma people have been persecuted, and exiled from many places. Your preparations and their effect on the children in your class as well as the new student from Bulgaria would be a step toward a new attitude toward the Roma.
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