Diverse Family Structure

Literature Review
Brenda Oliver
Children &Families in a Diverse Society
Professor Deborah Hibbs
March 27, 2017

As early childhood educators, we need to think about the types of families nthat our students come from. Today, it is not the norm for families to be mom, dad and child, families can be described many ways. We have single parent families, mom or dad, grandparents raising grandchildren, gay and lesbians raising children domestic and adopted from another country and multicultural families, some bilingual. Just to name a few. I have done some research on diverse family structures and its relevance to a child’s education. Some of the research I have found discussed the way children are affected by the different roles and how children’s education is affected. Plus, the teacher and parent communication, relationships and how the
teacher teaches the class. Single parent families themselves have had some changes. Now you can have a single parent raising a child from another race or mixed race. Single-parent multiracial families (SPMF)must not only contend with societal challenges related to their single-parent status, but also racial issues related to their multiracial children. Harris, H. J. (2013). So, teachers need to be prepared and even receive more traing and and get to know the families of their students. So, in effect, I cannot say this enough, but with the research I am finding, a teacher cannot be too prepared for a multicultural class. Early childhood teachers and educational programs are expected to be the primary resources as children experience different and sometimes conflicting cultural contexts. Souto-Manning, M., & Mitchell, C. (2010). Studies have shown teachers need to improve their abilities to understand, respect, and respond to diverse situations resulting from their interactions with young children who bring a multitude of home cultures and values to the classroom. Culturally relevant methods are teaching that incorporates the cultural knowledge, experiences, and learning/communication styles of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Curenton, S.M., & Iruka, I.U. (2013). It encompasses all aspects of development, cognitive, social and emotional. Anti-bias curriculum is teaching that focuses on the social justice inequalities and prejudices that run rampant in our social structures and our cultural stereotypes. As teachers, it is our job to be as educated and trained to not teach with bias. This will ensure our students are receiving the best education. Diverse family structures refer to the main topic of this paper. Families today come in many different forms and as educators we need to be prepared to teach students coming from every background. Multicultural education challenges and rejects racism, classism, sexism and other forms of oppression in society by emphasizing social justice and democracy and by promoting the concepts of human rights, equitable distribution of power, and equal participation in decision making. Curenton, S.M., & Iruka, I.U. (2013).

A few books that I have found to help teach about different family structures are
Buttermilk Hill by Ruth White, Unfinished Portrait of Jessica Peck,1993, It’s Not Your Fault Koko Bear Lansky 1998.That is a good way to start building your library for teaching children from diverse family structures. A good way to start our careers off in the teaching roles is to work on a relationship with the families of our studentships is especially true today with children coming from so many different family structures and having such diverse histories. Children and their families go through so much, that a solid educational foundation should be the one thing they can count on. It may be more challenging with language and customs but the children deserve the adults in their life to be there for them.

References
Halme, N., Åstedt-Kurki, P., & Tarkka, M.
(2009). Fathers’ involvement with their preschool-age children: How fathers spend time with their children in different family structures. Child & Youth Care Forum, 38(3), 103-119. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database
Deanna, P. G., & Bell, K. (2006). We are family: Using diverse family structure literature with children. Reading Horizons, 46(4), 279-299. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/236464680?accountid=32521

Krueger, P. M., Jutte, D. P., Franzini, L., Elo, I., & Hayward, M. D. (2015). Family structure and multiple domains of child well-being in the United States: a cross-sectional study. Population Health Metrics, 13(1), 1. doi:10.1186/s12963-015-0038-0

Harris, H. J. (2013). The Family Journal:Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families . Sage Publications, 21(4), 386-395. doi:10.11777/10666480713488526
Souto-Manning, M., & Mitchell, C. (2010). The Role of Action Research in Fostering Culturally-Responsive Practices in a Preschool Classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(4), 269-277.
doi:10.1007/s10643-009-0345-9