We all live in a world of many different races, cultures, families and structures. In regards to early childhood education every child is unique and has their own story.
I have chosen to explore the diversity of family structure in the 21st century as a social issue in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The diversity of families in society intrigues me and I am interested to explore more about it. Throughout my three years of education, my personal views on people and society have evolved or changed in a professional and personal way. I do not know a lot about diversity of families as a social issue. But I believe that it has an impact on children emotionally, socially and intellectually and this can have negative and positive impacts on behaviour.
A moral obligation as an early childhood educator is to build and maintain relationships with the children and their families. Ministry Of Education (1996) explains that "Children’s learning and development are fostered if the well-being of their family and community is supported; if their family, culture, knowledge and community are respected; and if there is a strong connection and consistency among all the aspects of the child’s world" (p.42). Becoming aware of the diverse families and situations in my centre will help me improve my pedagogy to be able to approach and improve learning opportunities for each individual child.
So I found myself asking what types of diverse structures are there?
Diversity of family structure can fall in to many different aspects such as:
- Different types of relationships.
- Diverse cultures.
- Economics.
- The separation and divorce rate.
- Reconstituted families.
- Age.
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