This module is designed for Early Years professionals who work directly with children. It discusses the value of and barriers to social inclusion in Early Childhood settings. It challenges ECEs to become observant, knowledgeable, accepting and proactive in making your centre or program safe and inclusive for each child, through interactions and curriculum. The knowledge and empathy developed in early childhood will carry on throughout children’s lifespans, and contribute to the Canada envisioned in the previous module.

This module provides an introduction and overview to the “big picture" issues of living in a multi-cultural country, the costs and harm of discrimination and exclusion and also looks to the solutions possible through understanding, respect, inclusion and celebration of diversity.

In the twenty-first century, societies are becoming increasingly varied. As an educator, it is likely that you encounter children from a wide variety of cultures and are called on to interact effectively with children and parents who communicate best in languages other than English. People who interact well with diverse individuals and groups are often said to have “cultural competence.”  In this module, we will explore ideas associated with cultural competence, safety and humility in relation to education, in an effort to characterize what is needed – and how it feels - to relate effectively with people from varied cultural backgrounds.

This module is about “quality.” On its own, that statement has relatively little meaning. Quality is difficult to define and means different things to different people. You will look first at the context in which programming is being offered, and then focus on ten established professional benchmarks of quality in early care and education to determine whether they continue to signal high quality care in settings serving diverse populations. If they don’t, you will have an opportunity to challenge those benchmarks and look at alternate ways of achieving quality.