Through culture, children gain a sense of identity, a feeling of belonging, and beliefs about what is important in life, what is right and wrong, how to care for themselves and others, and what to celebrate, eat, and wear. When children are raised only in their home culture, they learn those lessons effortlessly. However, for infants and toddlers in childcare settings the learning of cultural lessons becomes more complex with caregivers from different cultural backgrounds.

For caregivers, it can be difficult to know how to provide care that is consistent with family care due to the increase of diversity in our communities, which is positive and enriching for everyone. It is essential that you develop an understanding of the child’s home culture because for infants and toddlers to thrive in child care, their experiences should reflect a sensitivity to the home culture. We should support the child’s primary language and culture. Culturally sensitive care influences positively the development of self-esteem, social competence, language, and intellectual competence.

What did you learn about the ways you might differ in terms of race/ethnicity, country of origin, language, and family type. What did you learn about unfairness? What practices might be harmful to infants and toddlers? How do national policies support or harm infants and toddlers?

INFANT AND TODDLER TEACHERS AS TRANSMITTERS OF CULTURE

by Joan E. Test

SUMMARY

What role do infant and toddler teachers play in transmitting their culture? Symbolic and cultural mediation approaches suggest children learn how to be members of their culture through social interactions and that this process begins at least by 9 months of age if not from birth. In previous cross-cultural studies of early childhood programs, teachers’ practices seem to reflect and be a part of their culture’s system of meanings. Some would say that cultural values are a type of hidden curriculum. This article examines practices in American infant and toddler child care contrasting them with Swedish infant and toddler child care using a symbolic and cultural mediation approach in order to understand the ways that infant and toddler teachers are involved in transmitting their culture in the United States and to some extent in Sweden. The United States is a highly individualistic culture, while Sweden has a particular mix of individualistic and group-oriented values. These differences can be seen in how teachers react when toddlers have disagreements over possession of a toy. In the United States teachers emphasize a child’s right to possession if the child had the toy first, whereas in Sweden children are encouraged to feel solidarity with those who have less. In addition, daily activities, the structure of children’s groups, and the physical design and placement of child care centers are examined as aspects of child care programs through which American and Swedish teachers of infants and toddlers transmit their culture to young children.

In the United States, and surely in many other countries, child care teachers wonder about children in their care who come from cultures or countries other than their own. They notice that parents do some things differently with their children than what they are used to, such as how they feed young children, how they put them to sleep, how they provide discipline (Gonzalez-Mena, 2005). Because these practices are different to them, teachers and other professionals may wonder how these children will develop, how they will turn out as adults, and how they will fit into the society they will find themselves in at that time. They may wonder what role they as teachers play in this process, or in general whether child care teachers and child care centers play a role in the process of passing on culture.

ARE INFANTS AND TODDLERS PART OF THIS PROCESS?

Trevarthen would say that the cultural transmission process could be actively taking place at birth as the newborn infant cooperates mentally with another human being. In addition, a range of studies shows that by 3 months of age infants’ parents and other caregivers interact in ways that vary by culture and infants themselves are interacting with adults differently at least in part due to differences in what adults do with them. Certainly by 9 months of age infants are active, socially- conscious participants in this process, being able to perceive and understand the intentions of the adults around them, who interact with children according to their culture’s system of meanings.

TRANSMISSION OF CULTURE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD SETTINGS

What are some ways that American infant and toddler teachers transmit their culture? What are the values or hidden curricula that we think are important? While it can be difficult to reflect on one’s own culture and how a person’s own practices in child care reflect their culture, this can be made easier or more illuminating when practices can be compared to those in another country. The differences between the two sets of practices can highlight areas where there may be differences due to cultural meanings, as shown in the work by Tobin et al. (1989). The current article examines American infant and toddler child care practices contrasting them with Swedish infant and toddler child care using a symbolic and cultural mediation approach in order to understand the ways that infant and toddler teachers are involved in transmitting their culture in the United States and to some extent in Sweden.

BACKGROUND AND OBSERVATIONS

The observations from which examples in this article are drawn were made in seven child care centers in the United States and six child care centers in Sweden. The centers were all located in urban and suburban areas in the northeastern United States and in the greater Stockholm area in Sweden. The majority of the observations took place as part of a larger study on interactions in child care centers in the United States and Sweden. Additional observations were made before these when the author was an infant teacher in the United States and later in child care programs with which the author was affiliated in both countries. Observations were recorded as narratives and were collected over a period of two years (one year in each country) for the majority of the observations. The additional observations were made over a period of three years in each country, however with much less frequency. Observations focused on what teachers and children said and did with each other, as well as on the daily activities of the groups, and on the physical environment of the child care centers. Narratives were detailed written descriptions of these observations. Initially brief notes were made during observations, in the breaks between more formal coding sessions for the larger study. Later the same day, detailed descriptions were written using these notes. These detailed descriptions are the narratives used as data sources here. Informal conversations with teachers that reflected their views on child care were also recorded in detailed narrative descriptions later the same day. In addition photographs were made of the physical environments in child care centers. The photographs of Swedish centers were later shown to American teachers as part of a staff training or as a talk on child care in other countries. Comments made by American teachers in response to these photographs were recorded in narrative descriptions as well. All the classrooms or groups observed included infants or toddlers. In addition, some of these groups were “mixed-age” or “sibling” groups which included older children along with the infants and toddlers.

CONFLICTS OVER TOYS

In the United States when toddlers fight over a toy, teachers respond by asking, “Who had it first?” They then make sure that whoever had it first ends up with the toy. Or they ask, “What happened?” and when they find out that one child had been using the object before another child came and wanted it they will say, “This is (the first child’s) work.” This may be followed by helping the other child find a similar object, engaging them in another activity, or various other strategies.

To contrast, when I was in Sweden observing in child care, I had a general impression that there were fewer disagreements or actual fights between toddlers over objects, so I started to watch to see how teachers handled these kinds of situations. One day I saw two toddlers playing near each other with some small cars. Gradually one child ended up with most of the cars and the other had only one or two. The child with only one or two started to whine a little. A teacher was sitting nearby and watching them, but didn’t say anything. After a while she looked at the child who had most of the cars and said, “Wouldn’t it be a good idea to give (child’s name) some of the cars too?” He didn’t respond at first and she continued to look at him and nod her head towards him. The child eventually scowled and tossed a few of the cars towards the other child. The teacher responded by nodding her head and smiling at him.

The American teacher was teaching something referred to in research on children’s disputes as the “prior possession rule” (Bakeman & Brownlee, 1982). According to this “rule” the person who had the object first has a right to have it. The American teachers were following this rule and guiding toddlers so that they would also respect and follow the rule when disputes arose.

The Swedish teacher did not seem to be concerned with who had possessed a toy first. She seemed to frame the situation in terms of sharing resources. She encouraged a child who had more to give some to a child who had less.

MEAL AND SNACK TIMES

In another set of examples a similar pattern in terms of the interplay of individualistic and group values can be seen. At meal or snack times American toddlers are encouraged to focus on their own food and they are not encouraged to notice anything that another child does with their food. They may be asked to pass something to a classmate, but typically this is done by teachers who pass out the food. To contrast, in Sweden I saw older children in a mixed age group helping younger children (toddlers) prepare their food, such as putting a spread on a cracker for them. This was valued and encouraged by teachers who also sat with the children and helped others.

SPACE TO BE ALONE

Despite the group emphasis seen in some aspects of Swedish life, individualism is also a predominant value in Sweden (Daun, 1991; Triandis, 1995). In one area that I observed Swedish child care gives a higher priority to the individual than is seen in American centers. In the United States an infant or toddler group’s space is generally made up of one large room or area with perhaps a separate sleeping area for infants. In Swedish centers a group’s space is made up of many smaller rooms much like a home setting. I saw in a number of observations in Sweden that a child on their own volition went into a room by themselves, sat on a couch and looked at a book or had time to sit alone as they wanted after waking up from a nap. This provision of space to be alone and the valuing of being able to spend time alone differs from American child care where children are never allowed to be in a room by themselves. In order to have some space to themselves a child must find a corner of a room that is relatively unoccupied for the time being. In the United States we purport to value space to be alone in child care since this appears as an item in the original Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) (Harms & Clifford, 1980) as an aspect of high quality care, but we do not put this as a priority in our design of the physical layout of centers, or perhaps we do not conceive of this as being completely alone. In fact, having a separate room where children could get away from the main activity would be seen as a safety problem in American centers since a teacher would not be there to provide supervision. Yet in Swedish centers teachers are aware where children are and keep an eye out for them without venturing into their private space.

In the United States the more overwhelming emphasis on individualism also shapes infant and toddler teachers’ practices in child care, such that individual rights and a high priority on individual developmental goals is a predominant ethic in everyday interactions as well as in determining group structures.

STIMULATION AND ACTIVITY LEVEL

Another area where differences in child care practices might reflect different cultural values is in the level of stimulation or activity that are considered best practices in each country. In American centers many materials are always available for infants and toddlers. Almost all storage of materials that can be used by children is at children’s height and within children’s view and reach. An American standard of a “good” program is that it provides many materials at varying levels of abilities that children are free to select at any time and use as they wish. Infant rooms have multiple boxes of small manipulatives that are out and available for infants to explore. Toddler rooms have boxes as well as shelves full of materials that toddlers can select and use in addition to planned activities and materials placed on child-sized tables for children to explore. This results in children being engaged and involved with objects and moving from place to place fairly often to try different materials. As Americans we think it is a good thing for children to have all these many options and to be busy at work exploring them all, moving and experimenting. Curriculum books for infant and toddler care call this a “rich” environment (Gonzalez- Mena & Eyer, 2004).

In contrast, in Sweden there seemed from my observations to be more emphasis on calmness than in the United States. The Swedish classrooms had fewer materials out and available for children at any one time. Yet to the Swedish view this was a positive and healthy environment. A contented child in a pleasant group atmosphere is something to be valued (Swedish Institute, 2001). It is not that the center does not have more materials, but many are stored out of reach of children and a few at a time are put out on shelves within children’s reach, or brought out specifically for a particular child or small group of children to use. This results in a calmer atmosphere overall, and with children spending more time with a particular toy or activity. There were also times when a child had no toy or object at all and interacted with the teacher or other toddlers. American teachers react to my photographs of Swedish child care centers with surprise at the “lack” of materials and say they find it “somewhat empty” or “unusual,” yet they can see that it “might be pleasant.” They are surprised to find that the centers can afford and actually do own more materials, and that materials are stored purposefully out of children’s view and reach.

In the United States we value activity and stimulation; we want to be in the middle of the activity where “things are happening.” In American infant and toddler care we seem to be teaching children that activity and being in the swirl of activity is valued and normal. We seem to be teaching toddlers that if they want time alone they need to learn how to make time for themselves in the midst of lots of activity and stimulation, to mentally block out the noise and activity around them when they want some time or space to themselves. In contrast in Sweden calmness is more highly valued and the way materials are presented and child care centers are designed affords and emphasizes this sense of calm and more sustained activities for children.

THE ROLE OF CHILD CARE IN SOCIETY

The last area of difference between American and Swedish child care centers reflects values of how we view child care and its role in society. This can be seen in differences in the general physical design of child care centers in the two countries, the furnishings in centers, and in the placement of centers in relation to where people live and work. American centers typically have one large room for infants, sometimes with a separate room for cribs, but equally often cribs are placed in part of the one large room. All facilities and materials for feeding and caring for infants can be found in this one room. Furnishings in infant rooms generally include pillows for sitting on the floor, an adult sized rocking chair or other comfortable chair and perhaps low shelves for some toys. Sinks and diaper-changing facilities are in this room. Toddler rooms are also typically one large room divided into different activity areas by low shelves or other low dividers. Furnishings include toddler- sized tables and chairs, pillows on the floor, child-sized pretend play furniture, and there is sometimes an adult- sized sofa. In the American view the large single room per group is required so that teachers can supervise the children more easily and make sure all are safe. The child- sized furniture is based on the thinking that the environment should be arranged specifically for the age of children in the room.

The physical design of centers in Sweden includes multiple rooms for each group, set up much like a home or apartment (Olsson, 1984). There is usually one room with two or three tables with chairs which serves as an eating area as well as for activities at tables. Other rooms have soft furniture or are open spaces combined with soft furnishings and child-sized furniture where children are free to play as they wish. There is also a large bathroom/ sink/changing room with multiple water sources. There is not usually a kitchen in the group’s area as food is prepared centrally for the whole center and brought to each group’s area. Furniture for the most part is the same size and style as what would be found at home. Tables for eating and activities are at adult height and infants are placed in highchairs designed to fit up to the table, while toddlers have adapted highchairs (also common in Swedish homes) that they can climb up into themselves and sit at adult height tables comfortably. Toileting areas and some sinks are at child height, while others are at adult height with benches or stools for children to stand on. One center had a large adult height group sink that 4 or 5 children could stand around on benches and use at the same time. The physical designs and furnishings in Swedish centers with their multiple rooms and home-style furnishings seem more homelike than American centers. This might possibly reflect a value that child care should be like home, a part of home life, or an extension of home life in Sweden, whereas in the United States we see child care more as an institutional setting separate from home, yet complementing home. Swedes see child care as an institutional environment (Ehn, 1983) and certainly it is, but it is physically much more home-like than the design and furnishings of American centers.

Although in both countries child care supports parents so they can work or study, and good quality child care is seen as important for children’s development, there are subtler differences in the role within the society that child care plays. As can be seen from the examples above, in Sweden child care is more likely to be viewed as a support to family life or, more recently, as an educational opportunity for preschool age children, and in the United States it is more associated with economics and the business world. This difference in how child care fits into the society, in the culture’s definition of the role of child care in society, has implications for the daily life of children in child care centers, through the design, furnishing, and location of child care centers. For example, children who have a short walk or bicycle ride to their child care center and home each day have a different experience than children who must commute by car or public transportation to a center at a much greater distance from home.

This difference in each culture’s definition of how child care fits into society can be seen in other aspects of child care as well, such as who is responsible for administering and running child care centers, what kinds of regulations govern the running and programming of child care centers, and what issues play a role in determining what centers will look like in terms of program and quality. In the United States we treat child care centers as a business and most are run independently as nonprofit or for profit businesses or under the auspices of another business. Government regulations for child care relate more to physical safety than to children’s psychological development or to the educational program. In many ways, because of the business orientation, economics tend to drive what child care programs look like in the United States. As a result it seems, there is a great variety in the quality of child care programs in the United States (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2000) with programs with fewer financial resources often providing lower quality care (Lamb, 1998; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1997).

In Sweden child care centers were until recently run through the national social services bureau as a service to support parents and families. Currently child care centers are part of the national educational system, so that child care is seen as an educational opportunity particularly for older preschoolers. Regulations that govern child care emphasize children’s well-being in terms of both social and educational goals (Swedish Institute, 2001). Values, such as equality and solidarity, are emphasized (Pramling Samuelsson & Sheridan, 2004). In general, issues of quality and children’s well-being drive what child care programs look like in Sweden. Historically there has been an emphasis on providing high quality care rather than lots of care. Economics – while certainly an issue – tends to take a back seat to issues of how child care can best support family life and children.

CONCLUSIONS

From the above examples, infant and toddler teachers can be seen to transmit their culture in a variety of ways. Through interactions they teach their culture’s ways of defining relationships with others and teach how to interact in ways their culture values. They also teach about the importance of individuals versus groups in their culture through interactions as well as through how groups are structured. Through the ways they present materials teachers further transmit ways that their culture defines a “good” level of activity and stimulation. Through the physical design, furnishing, and placement of centers, values about how child care fits into society are reflected and passed on to children.

These are some of the ways that infant and toddler child care programs reflect their culture and exist within a system of cultural meanings, and that infant and toddler teachers become transmitters of culture. In the United States our high emphasis on individualism influences many of our practices in infant and toddler programs, and the particular mix of individualistic and group- oriented values shapes how care is provided to infants and toddlers in Sweden.

While this article focuses primarily on differences between American and Swedish child care, this is only a means to make cultural values and practices more easily visible. There are a multitude of similarities in practices in American and Swedish infant and toddler care particularly in ways that encourage children’s individual growth and development. Interested readers can find out more from a wide variety of research and scholarly articles on both American and Swedish child care as well as from other sources describing child care in each country (such as, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 1999; and, Swedish Institute, 2001). American cultural values as presented in this article have been taken from the mainstream Euro-American view. This does not incorporate the diversity of cultures present in the United States, unfortunately. An analysis of cultural transmission in child care which included this diversity would be of great interest as well, however was beyond the scope of this article. In addition there may be areas of differences between American and Swedish child care programs that are not identified here but also reflect cultural values, such as a greater emphasis on nature and the outdoor curriculum in Sweden. Perhaps characteristics of interactions where objects are not involved might also differ in some way. These topics would be interesting to explore in future work.

Infant and toddler teachers both reflect their own culture and play a role in passing on their culture to the next generation. This is something uniquely human according to Tomasello (2001), and teachers of infants and toddlers in many ways are actively involved with this process on a daily basis.

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