Classroom challenges in developing an intercultural early learning program for refugee children

Abstract

The project described here was aimed at piloting an intercultural, multilingual, early learning program that was genuinely responsive to the circumstances and early learning needs of preschool refugee children and parents from three ethnocultural communities-Somali, Sudanese, and Kurdish-in a large city in Western Canada. We discuss the unique challenges faced by the classroom team consisting of a first-language facilitator for each of the three languages spoken by the children in the classroom and an English-speaking teacher. Because of the lack of sufficient time to consult families and communities about their cultural practices and expectations for young children before the beginning of the program, these challenges included setting up the classroom environments and routines, managing the four languages, negotiating the emerging curriculum content, and learning to work as a team in a multi-sectoral project. © 2011 The Governors of the University of Alberta.