Developing Cross-Cultural Competence

Developing Cross-Cultural Competence

A Guide for Working with Children and Their Families, Fourth Edition

Authors: Eleanor W. Lynch, Ph.D., Marci J. Hanson, Ph.D.

Early Childhood, Higher Education

The gold-standard text on cross-cultural competence, the fourth edition of this trusted bestseller prepares professionals to honor different customs, beliefs, and value systems as they work with young children and families.

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Product Details

• STOCK NUMBER: 71639
• ISBN: 978-1-59857-163-9
• COPYRIGHT: 2011
• PAGES: 568
• AVAILABILITY: Available Stock

As the U.S. population grows more and more diverse, how can professionals who work with young children and families deliver the best services while honoring different customs, beliefs, and values? The answers are in the fourth edition of this bestselling textbook, fully revised to reflect nearly a decade of population changes and best practices in culturally competent service delivery.

The gold-standard text on cross-cultural competence, this book has been widely adopted by college faculty and trusted as a reference by in-service practitioners for almost 20 years. For this timely NEW edition, the highly regarded authors have carefully updated and expanded every chapter while retaining the basic approach and structure that made the previous editions so popular.

Key Features:

• Get a primer on cultural competence. Readers will examine how their own cultural values and beliefs shape their professional practice, how the worldviews of diverse families may affect their perceptions of programs and services, and how providers can communicate more effectively with families from different cultural backgrounds.
• Deepen their understanding of cultural groups. Learn from in-depth chapters with nuanced, multifaceted explorations of nine different cultural backgrounds: Anglo-European, American Indian, African American, Latino, Asian, Filipino, Native Hawaiian and Samoan, Middle Eastern, and South Asian. Readers will get up-to-date insights on history, demographics, traditions, values, and family structure, and they'll examine the diverse ways each culture approaches child rearing, medical care, education, and disability.
• Discover better ways to serve families. Readers will get concrete recommendations for providing more effective, sensitive, and culturally competent services to children and families. They'll find practical guidance for every step in the service delivery process, from initiating contact with families to implementing and evaluating services. Vivid case stories and photos bring the principles of cultural competence to life, and the helpful appendixes give professionals quick access to cultural courtesies and customs, key vocabulary words, significant cultural events and holidays, and more. Plus an expanded list of resources points readers to books, films, theater, and other media that will enhance their understanding of other cultures.

New to this edition is a revised chapter on African American roots; thoroughly updated and expanded chapters; expanded coverage of disabilities; more on spiritual and religious diversity; and strategies for helping families make decisions about language use (English-only vs. preservation of native language).

Equally valuable as a textbook and a reference for practicing professionals, this comprehensive book will prepare early interventionists and other professionals to work effectively with families whose customs, beliefs, and values may differ from their own.

Reviews

Midwest Book Review Education Shelf - March 2, 2012: "Any educator's collection strong in multicultural interactions will find this a winning guide pairing case stories with discussions of applied cultural competence."

Lillian Durán, Assistant Professor, Special Education & Rehabilitation, Utah State University - May 19, 2011: "Avoids stereotyping, while at the same time providing a much needed window into common beliefs and perceptions that may be held by a diverse range of families. From intake through service delivery this volume will serve as invaluable guide to helping practitioners build strong and respectful relationships with the families and children they serve."

Karen Diamond, Purdue University - May 3, 2011: "An invaluable resource for students and practitioners . . . one that I would recommend to colleagues teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in early childhood education and intervention."

Linda Espinosa, Former Professor of Early Childhood Education, University of Missouri-Columbia; author and consultant - May 3, 2011: "Updated examples help to clearly position this book in the complexities of the 21st century. This text should be required reading . . . we all need to deepen our understandings of the role of culture in our professional lives."

Volume Editors: Eleanor W. Lynch Ph.D., Marci J. Hanson Ph.D. Invited Contributors: Sam Chan Ph.D., Deborah Chen Ph.D., ...

Courses:

1. Family-Centered Early Intervention and Cross Cultural Competence - Undergraduate
2. Cultural Diversity in Early Childhood Programs - Undergraduate (CDEB 93)
3. Working with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families - Undergraduate/Graduate
4. Sociocultural Perspectives: Building Family, Community, and School Relationships - Graduate (EDCG 406)
5. Multicultural Issues in Disability Studies - Graduate (DIS 691)
6. Diversity in Human Development and Family Systems - Graduate (HDPS 4330)

Additional Resources

Check out the resources, checklists, and videos in this free Cultural Diversity Toolkit