Developing Cross-Cultural Competence: A Guide for Working With Children and Their Families

By Eleanor W. Lynch

Book Overview

Developing Cross-Cultural Competence highlights the cultural and ethnic diversity of families in the US The book is designed for a broad audience of pre-service professionals and interventionists who work with families and children with disabilities from diverse backgrounds, whose customs, beliefs, and values may differ from their own. This third edition has been thoroughly updated and includes a new chapter on South Asian roots. Also, each Roots chapter now includes an openended case example focused on ethical dilemma.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557667446
• ISBN13: 9781557667441
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Brookes Publishing Company
• Length: 518 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.8" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

A Good Start

As an educator who started her journey as a daycare worker, assistant director in a daycare, an educational support person for elementary, then middle/high school, and finally an elementary teacher I can honestly say that in those early years this book was a great introduction to aiding my cultural awareness and ability to work with parents of different cultures. The disclosure of the nine cultures presented in this book with the explication of their own culture, linguistic backgrounds, beliefs, values, and behaviors. Even their educational believes were eye opening. The author covers Anglo-European, Native American, African American, Latino, Asian, Pilipino, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, and Middle Eastern in this book. Mind you, you need to keep in mind that the information presented is a "general" overview. Do not assume that what is said is the same for every ethnic background. Working with families and students will allow you to test and assess what the book offers you in understanding those cultures. Overall, this book provided me with a basic support and understanding which was very helpful when working with the diverse population I work with. If you have never worked with a diverse population this is a good book to start with. But do not let it be the bible to interaction either.

Great resource!

I got this book for a speech-language pathology graduate course on multicultural issues in the field of Speech Path, but it is a truely great resource for anyone who is or will be working with different cultural backgrounds or anyone who is interested in learning more, maybe evwen about their own cultural background. I like that the book discusses traditions/beliefs of the different cultures both in the US and the other countries. Also, I was impressed by the number of different country cultures included and not just continental "cultures" all rolled into one.

mixed feelings

honestly, this book is a bit dry. i use it for a Early Education Development class and i think it's more of a sociology book. it gets a bit repetitive and basically explains what is expected from the title. it just continually goes back to mention that after all the information given about different cultures, the importance of a caregiver being aware of social differences and emphasizes cultural competence when dealing with a child and their family. above all, this book is truly informational, especially from chapters 4 through 9 i think, when it gives a chapters worth of history each on different ethnic groups (african american, anglo-saxon/european, native american, latino, etc.). i suggest using this book for a sociology class or any class that deals with understanding different cultures.