Introduction

Culture, Equity, and the Early Learning Guidelines

The Early Learning Guidelines define culture as a set of shared understandings or shared expectations. Culture fuels every aspect of every human’s development. From the moment of birth, all families engage in childrearing practices designed to promote the healthy adaptation of the baby to social life in the community. Each family’s cultural beliefs and values enable their children’s development.

Childrearing practices reflect the family’s worldview and are so deep and complex that they are often difficult to describe. For example, it may be easy to talk about the holidays a family celebrates, but harder to describe how a family believes people should cooperate in groups. The unconscious assumptions that make up each family’s childrearing practices result in different expectations for the ages at which children should achieve developmental milestones.

There is not one universally “right” or “correct” age at which a child should achieve a developmental milestone. One family’s expectations are not more valid than another family’s expectations. The “norms” that are often referred to as developmental milestones are derived from decades of research that primarily includes white middle-income children who live with two heterosexual parents and who speak English as their home language. Historically, these norms have privileged children from these families while placing other groups at a disadvantage.

For example, lists of developmental guidelines traditionally state that two-year-olds should be able to feed themselves with a spoon. However, many families do not expect two-year-olds to feed themselves. Some educators have used this developmental milestone to suggest to families that their children or their childrearing practices should change. This way of using the developmental guidelines can shame and marginalize children and their families.

The professional knowledge base on child development is evolving to become more inclusive of children from historically marginalized families. Professionals now recognize promoting one cultural group’s expectations as the “norm” may harm children; additional research and new forms of communication are required to describe child development more equitably.

The revised New York State Early Learning Guidelines include the phrase: “what the educator might observe.” This language reminds users to take an inclusive view of development. Educators may not observe any or all of the items. Educators are invited to think critically about these norms and be aware of the ways in which they may privilege one group over another.

Educators are encouraged to begin by talking to families about the family’s expectations for child development. Educators may approach these conversations with an awareness that families may view the educator as the “expert” on child development. Families may not feel that their own observations and expectations will be valued. To demonstrate that their input is important, educators may invite the family to speak first, maintain a stance of curiosity, and be genuinely willing to learn.

Educators are also invited to reflect on the origins of their own developmental expectations. Self-reflection helps educators to recognize how their own preferences, culture, and biases affect their judgment when observing and analyzing children’s development. If the educator’s own developmental expectations are not in accord with a family’s expectations, defer to the family as the expert on their own child.