Scenes of a Center in Change
Why Language Diversity Propels Us To
Change, and How We Go About Adapting
Fairfax County Office for Children, Fairfax, Virginia

A Head Start center is the ideal environment in which to deal with the challenges and opportunities that occur when serving a diverse population. Fairfax County Head Start in Fairfax, Virginia, has four programs serving children and families with diverse language and dialects. Assuring in clusion of these children and their families in all aspects of the Head Start program continues to be a priority for the entire staff.

The following scenes from the Glen Ridge Head Start center illustrate the staffs commitment to diversity and to enhancing literacy:

SCENE 1: THE BUS RUN

Cynthia. Glen Ridge Head Start Center Bus Driver: "My aide and I just completed the new bus run. We pickedup a child who was not on the list. The child spoke no English. She was standing at the stop with a neighbor who could tell us only the child's first name. The mother had to rush off to her new job and asked the neighbor to put her child on the bus.

"I radioed the director to tell her what was happening. Obviously, we couldn't leave the child on the street. Since the neighbor was also on her way to work, we decided to bring the child to the center. By the time we arrived, a teacher who spoke the child's native language had come in. She found out that the child had been in the summer program which ended
two weeks ago, and was able to learn enough information to track down the parent."

SCENE 2: THE FIRST DAY

Anita. Glen Ridge Teacher: "I've prepared the classroom for the new group of 4-year-olds and have a wonlerful program planned for the day. I'm a little nervous about the three children coming in who don't speak my English, since I don't speak their anguages. I wonder if I'll be able to communicate with them enough for hem to be comfortable in their new environment. I want to reassure them, introduce them to our room routines, and stimulate their interest in activities.

"I remember that during enrollment, families' conversations were fluent and natural. A sibling interpreted for the parents only when necessary, while the other children observed and interacted with each other. My assistant and I had some ideas on how to handle this, but requested that the issue be an agenda item at our next staff meeting in stead."

SCENE 3: IN FORMATION

Patrick. Glen Ridge Secretary: "I've taken several calls from parents whore ceived center information in the mail. They were trying to find out what it was and what to do with it. Because some parents spoke a little English, and I know some Spanish, I was able to give the Spanish-speaking parents
an explanation and could clarify a few things. However, I don't know any Urdu and couldn't offer any assistance to those parents.

"I'm at a loss because I don't have any idea how much our non- English-speaking parents understand about what we send them. I worry that I may not be as helpful to them as I can be to other parents."

SCENE 4: ENROLLED

Teresa, Parent Involvement Coordinator "I'm so relieved that enrollment is over. We're at capacity, with a waiting list. Now I need to get ready for the first parent meeting. We'll have a potluck dinner before the session on parent activities. That's no problem. But several issues are surfacing. Families enrolled in the center are now so diverse. I can think of six families who speak different languages and dialects. How do I deal with written material to be handed out? What about interpreters? Should I have the flyers translated? Looking back at my component plans, I realize that we need to make some changes. We're going to have to deal with this at the very next staff meeting."

SCENE 5: THE PLAN

Michelle. Director at Glen Ridge: "I've been listening carefully to the conversations in the center. I'm acutely aware of statistics from the community needs assessment. Al though I expected some ethnic shifts in our population for this program year and had planned for some differences, I'm surprised to see that the population has changed so drastically since last year. Glen Ridge now serves Latinos, Asians, Africans, Middle Easterners, African Americans, and Euro-Americans. The list of staff concerns keeps growing. It looks like the staff meeting tomorrow will focus on language and how staff can serve the families of so many languages.

"I'm blocking out the entire afternoon to concentrate on diversity issues. At the spring conference I met a center director who talked about dealing with similar issues. I'll call her for advice.

"I'll also talk to staff about arranging monthly seminars around Head Start's 10 multi-cultural priniples. We'll figure out how to put the principles into action. Parents should be enormously helpful to us with this.

"I'll ask the education coordinator about training on literacy. As adults, we struggle to learn a new language. For children, language learning is active and natural. I think our goal is to keep up with the kids. They're more comfortable with practicing language. They are willing to keep trying rather than worrying about getting it right. We need to focus first on spoken language for real needs, and then to become more confident with the language-just the way children do."

Some of the suggestions staff have made also are useful, such as:

Writers and Books Available from PEN Reading Program

The PEN (International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists) Reading Program sends American writers and books all over the country to promote reading. Free. Groups serving as hosts pay nothing for the service. Publishers donate the books and the PEN American Center covers travel and incidental expenses of the visiting writers, who donate their time.
Literacy programs, schools, plus community and work project organizations which foster literary pursuits, are encouraged to apply for the service.

For an application, write to:

Stephen Friedman
PEN Reading Program
Application
PEN American Center
568 Broadway
New York, NY 10012
(212) 334-2181 Fax

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