2024 Dual Language Learners Celebration Week: Day 1

Dual Language Learner Celebration Week Day 1

Lisa Wilson: Welcome to Dual Language Learner Celebration Week. I am Lisa Wilson, the Director of Equity and Outreach at the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning. This is our sixth year of Dual Language Learner Celebration Week, but our fourth year of Facebook Live. Welcome everybody out there in Facebookland. Tag a friend while we get our space ready, because we've got some wonderful guests here. Joining me for the fourth year in a row is my lovely co-host, Jennifer Amaya. Hi, Jennifer.

Jennifer Amaya: Hi, Lisa.

Lisa: I want to tell everybody a little bit about you because I don't think everyone knows about the wonderful work that Jennifer has done that really leads her to this work. And you're a dual language learner yourself.

Jennifer: Absolutely.

Lisa: Here we go. Jennifer is from the Office of Head Start, and she's the Content Lead on Equity, Inclusiveness, Culture, and Language. She's also the Federal Project Officer for the Tribal Colleges and Universities' Head Start partnership programs. I've got cue cards because I need it, because Jennifer's done a lot of cool things. She serves in several ACF, that's an acronym for Administration for Children and Family Services, leading with equity groups such as the Diversity and Outreach Champions Program, to promote the diversity in the federal workforce; the ACF Equity Advisory Group, to promote equity and action across the federal government to strengthen and improve early childhood services across ACF; and Head Start programs and communities. I've got one more, Jennifer.

In your prior work in the federal government, you also served as the Director of the Massachusetts Head Start Collaboration Office. So you were a collab director, too, at the State Department of Early Education and Care. Well, Jennifer, that's a mouthful, but welcome again. Fourth year in a row we've been doing this.

Jennifer: Thank you, Lisa, you are very welcome. Thank you everybody for joining us today. I'm excited to join us again in another Dual Language Learner Celebration Week. I think you said it's our fourth year, right?

Lisa: Fourth year, Facebook Live.

Jennifer: This is so exciting for all of us and for you guys who are joining us today, bienvenidos, and we are excited to have you here. And again, thank you for your National Center Development, Teaching, and Learning for guiding this work and leading this work, and for our colleagues at the Office of Head Start, and for everybody who has been involved in making this work happen. For me, it's really exciting to just know that this week we get to celebrate dual language learners, children, families, and communities in Head Start that really truly represent our nation's diversity. 

For me, it's also exciting to even know that within our Head Start programs, we have about 32% of our children and families that are dual language learners, and nd we have staff across the nation that speak languages other than English. That's great. I remember, Lisa, when we first decided to do the Dual Language Learners Celebration, when we started to emphasize the importance of the Head Start program performance standards.

We really talked about supporting the full and effective participation of children who are dual language learners. We talked about looking at our systems and comprehensive services and how they work together to really support language development, to support our staff, and to support our community. Thank you so much for that introduction, and back to you.

Lisa: Thank you. Before we get any further, I would love for you, those of you joining us in Facebookland, tag a friend, like I said, get them in the space. We're going to be doing this two more days this week. But share where you are actually joining us from, your geographical location. We're also going to put in there our resource tree. This is a wonderful little resource, and it's all online. You can actually download what I'm going to talk about next, Jennifer.

Jennifer: OK.

Lisa: As you know, the multicultural principles because this is really our foundation to celebrate this week, is the multicultural principles. We call them the MCPs, and I want to say just a little bit about the multicultural principles because I think it's so important that in Head Start, it is all about creating spaces of belonging. And we really do that because that's what we believe in. It's our cornerstone here. So in order to really affirm other people's differences and who they are and their humanities, we believe in language and communication. I think that's the most human way for us to connect with one another, is to communicate with one another.

We're really going to be talking about that. We're also going to be talking about how the multicultural principles help to validate and value dual language learners and their families. So without further ado, I would like to share — first of all, we have two wonderful guest speakers in the studio today, Jennifer —  I'm going to first pass it back to you because you're going to introduce our first speaker, and then I'll introduce our second speaker.

Jennifer: Thank you. Thank you so much, Lisa. Before I introduce our director, Khari Garvin, I wanted to remind us that when we talk about the multicultural principles, it's so important because we know that every individual, every one of us, is rooted in culture. That is very important. I just wanted to share that message. I know that we know it, but it's important to elevate that. So I am here, very pleased and honored to introduce you to our director, Khari Garvin, the Director of the Office of Head Start. He is at the Administration of Children and Families at the US Department of Health and Human Services. 

Khari Garvin has more than 20 years of national, state, local experience designing and leading systems serving children and families of low-income communities. In addition to that, before Khari Garvin, our director, joined the Office of Head Start, before joining the Biden-Harris Administration, he also modeled services at every level of Head Start, which makes us really proud of the work that he's been doing. He served as the executive director of Head Start for a large multistate agency, and he was also, Lisa, the director of the collaboration office in North Carolina.

Lisa: Wow.

Jennifer: That's great. Furthermore, Khari, our director, is a proud alumni of the National Head Start Fellowship Program. Thank you for joining us today.

Khari Garvin: Thanks for having me.

Lisa: Wonderful. Well, we have another fellow here, another Head Start fellow. In fact, if you're interested in the fellowship program with Head Start, you're going to find it on our resource tree. So, we'll pop it back in chat for those of you that are just joining in.

Jennifer: Yeah, let's do it.

Dr. Gail Joseph: Let’s do it. 

Lisa: Speaking of fellows, were you in the same class?

Dr. Gail Joseph: Same class. Y2K, '99–2000.

Khari: That's right.

Lisa: I have the pleasure of introducing you. A dear friend and colleague, this is Dr. Gail Joseph. You are a former Head Start teacher, as we've already discussed, and you are also a fellow.

Dr. Gail: Yeah.

Lisa: You're also the Bezos Family's Distinguished Professor of Early Learning at the University of Washington. This is a very abbreviated bio because I know you're humble, but I do have to share that you've done some wonderful things, and you are truly an inspiration in this field. I just want to thank you for your work.

Dr. Gail: Aw, thank you, Lisa. I also want to say that at the National Center of Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning, you are the Senior Director of Translational Science. To me, this is so exciting because you've been leading this work, and you've been talking about multicultural principles. We're going to hear from you in just a moment, because I really am excited to share with everyone —  Jennifer and I are really excited for you to talk about how the multicultural principles are going to help support dual language learners and their families.

Lisa: Before we get there, I would just like to say hello again to Director Garvin and welcome you to the space.

Khari: Well, thank you, Lisa, and Jennifer, thank you so much for the introduction. And Gail, always a great pleasure to see you again. And to all of you out there, I just want to welcome you on behalf of the Office of Head Start. Everywhere I go, I've always made it as clear as I can that equity really and truly is the centerpiece of the national priorities that we've named for the Office of Head Start. [Speaking Spanish] We could also say that language equity is at the heart of Head Start. In other words, — 

Lisa: Good job, there we go.

Khari: I'm trying, I'm trying. [Speaking Spanish] I’m learning. But linguistic and equity really and truly is at the heart of Head Start. It's also at the heart of the DLL Celebration Week that we are celebrating this week, of course, a nd this effort really does affirm the Office of Head Start's commitment to this cause. In Head Start, we are interested in supporting not just one segment of the population, but we want every child, every family to be successful. This work really helps us to close those opportunity gaps that are sometimes out there for children who are dual language learners. 

This work, the multicultural principles that we'll hear more about in just a bit, really helps to provide resources to support dual language learner success as future bilingual and future biliterate productive members of this great society that we're in. I'd also just want to mention that linguistic equity really is also embedded in our Head Start program performance standards. I really do want to emphasize that the importance of this work has everything to do with the way that it calls attention to nurturing home language development in every context: i n classroom, teaching, home visitation, family engagement. The multicultural principles really connects the Head Start Program Performance Standards to practice. The way I see it, it operationalizes or activates our ability to really bring the Head Start Program Performance Standards to life. It creates richer decision point opportunities at every level for staff, at every moment as they're engaging in each moment with children and families. So, excited to be here, and thanks again to everyone who's with us. Thanks for having me today.

Jennifer: Thank you so much. May I add something to your comments, too? You know, in Head Start, every day we have over 140 languages that are spoken by children and families and staff, right, across the nation. So every day, imagine that, over 140 languages. It truly represents the communities that we serve across the nation.

Lisa: We actually have a data visualization infographic, that is on our resource tree.You're going to want to — yeah, that resource tree has a whole bunch of things on there. You're going to want to click on it and find it out.

Those of you that are just joining us, too, I want to encourage you, if you're interested in learning about Head Start — maybe you are part of Head Start, because we don't know who's joining us — and you want to learn more, then, we are hiring right now. You're going to want to go on our Facebook page, Office of Head Start, and we'll have some ways for you to get involved. 

I want to ask you some questions. I want to ask you some questions.Gail, I know you've been working on this — well, I guess it's an update, because some people might not even know about the multicultural principles.

Dr. Gail: Right, right.

Lisa: You're going to tell us about this update, but something stood out, as Director Garvin was talking right now: the word nurture. That stood out. I know you're going to talk a lot about this wonderful edition, revised edition, but share more with us, like what your team's been doing.

Dr. Gail: I'm so excited to be talking about the multicultural principles. The first thing I want to say, and that I'm sure many of our viewers know, is that the multicultural principles and Head Start are not new. In fact, in 1989, Head Start created a multicultural task force, and the result of that task force was the creation of the first Head Start multicultural principles, and that was published in 1991.

Lisa: Wow.

Dr. Gail: I'm wondering if anybody out there remembers getting that. It was a pamphlet in 1991, so 33 years ago. We've really been leading this work for three decades. In 2008, those multicultural principles were revisited, they were revised, they were expanded to include some strategies for implementation.It went from this pamphlet to a book that was really wonderful. But that was 15 years ago, and we know that there's been a veritable explosion of research in the areas of child development, of inclusion, and equity since then. For the past two years at DTL, we've been working to update and amplify the Head Start Multicultural Principles, which has resulted in the 2024 version of the Head Start Multicultural Principles. It is currently posted on the ECLKC. It's in English and in Spanish there.

Lisa: Guess what else, Gail?

Dr. Gail: Yeah.

Lisa: It's on the resource tree, too.

Dr. Gail: Climb the tree and get a resource. Let me say a little bit more about what went into these. Remember, I said there's been a lot of research. We actually had a multilingual research team that reviewed over 340 articles, research publications, to really try and find the latest science and how to optimize positive identity development and intercultural competence.

We also worked with a group called the Research with Equitable Practice Advisory Group. We fondly call them the REP. It is co-chaired by Dr. Tammy Mann and Dr. Brenda Jones Harden. The REP, which includes practitioners and researchers from all over the country, not only helped us think about how do we update the language in the principles so it's a little bit more current, but also, how do we organize the principles and present them in a way, and what supports should we provide, so that a program can move them from principles in a book to everyday behavior that really encourages and supports cultural and linguistic equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Lisa: I'm excited about that. Can you share a little bit more too about how this revised version specifically speaks to and supports dual language learners and their families? That culturally affirming piece, if you can share more about that.

Dr. Gail: Yes, absolutely, I would love to. So first of all, there are 10 multicultural principles. I'm not sure if I said that, so there's 10 of them. We organize them into these three action categories called Explore, Nurture, and Grow. You'll be hearing about those three categories throughout the week. Each of those ten principles really support Head Start leaders and educational staff to embrace and implement culturally and linguistically sustaining practices. So they — it's really throughout — you will find special practices for children who are dual language learners, but I will say that there are specific Head Start multicultural principles that are explicitly focused on the science behind dual language learning. There's one succinctly stated statement that is dual language instruction supports young learners. That really reflects decades of science that says bilingualism is an asset. 

Let me say a little bit more about how these are organized so that you can move it into practice. In the Head Start multicultural principles, you'll find the statement that's written, the new principle, and then you'll actually see all of the literature, the articles, and research just succinctly reviewed in a space called Why It Matters. That's really helpful, and you have references to dig deeper if you want to know even more about that. You're also going to see example indicators and practical strategies. These are the things that you can read and implement the next day in your program. There's a connection to the Head Start Program performance standards, as Dr. Garvin was talking about how important that is. 

Just tons of practical examples, like perhaps having a family read to their children in their home language and then making that recording available in the classroom so that the children can listen to it in the literacy corner. Finally, I want to say that there's several questions that guide an individual or staff through some reflection to say, where am I personally in implementing and living by these Head Start multicultural principles? Where as a staff are we and how can we make a plan to improve and implement these practices with intention and purpose to ensure that every child's identity and language is affirmed every day through everyday interactions? So that's these.

Lisa: Wonderful.

Jennifer: Can I just add something to that, too? What you remind us that the multicultural principles is very unique because it embeds the voices of those who we are serving. The lived experiences of the staff, the children, the families are captured into the multicultural principles. So that's a great point. Thank you for adding that.

Lisa: I have to say too, I like the indicator part because I think being an educator myself, knowing what I'm doing well helps me to figure out what I can do better. I really like that. Jennifer, I think you've got some questions for the Director.

Jennifer: I do. I have a couple of questions for you, Director Garvin. One of them is, what do the multicultural principles mean to you and what do you hope it means to the thousands of Head Start staff and leaders listening to today's broadcast?

Khari: Thank you for the question. First of all, I'm just, you know, Dr. Joseph, thank you for bringing to life and helping make all of this real. We're taking this very seriously with the Office of Head Start, so I hope everyone understands that. I would give you three words to kind of capture or frame an idea for what the multicultural principles mean to me. 

Embrace would be one word, celebrate would be a second, and protect would be the third. And so the embracing has to do with, you know, taking very seriously the commitment to embrace all of the benefits that every Head Start and Early Head Start program derives from the strengths of cultural and linguistic diversity in our programs and reflect that in our community. So that's the first. The second, this idea of celebrating. Again, this is a cause for us to — it's a rallying point for us to really take stock of the beauty and the strengths and the richness that comes with supporting the needs of children and families and communities that are dual language learners. 

This work, this commitment, as I see it, it really helps us to protect the rights of each and every child and family and to give them the right to develop and to reach their full potential. That's what it means to me. What I hope that the 1,600-plus Head Start agencies around the world will take from this is just renewing the commitment. You know, Head Start, we've always in one way or another tried to get at this, but I think this is an even more earnest attempt for us to wrap ourselves around the beauty of every family and every contribution that can be made. I hope that we will recommit ourselves to this ideal.

Jennifer: Thank you so much for sharing with us. Lisa, something that you said, Director Garvin, is that every year we have the opportunity to touch many, not only at the national level, but we also have the audience who join on Facebook Live from different countries around the world, right? We have people that's here from Mexico, Ecuador, Canada, Australia, England. This message is not only for our population, but across the world as our children and families represent our global citizens. Thank you for that and back to you.

Lisa: Yeah, back to me. We're going to actually kind of end it up right now, but I have to say I love that, embrace. Celebrate, we're celebrating, but the protection.

Dr. Gail: Protection.

Lisa: Because that stood out to me a lot because we're talking tomorrow. I want you to share who's going to be here tomorrow. It's going to be great. All the way live again tomorrow, OK, Facebook. But protection hit me, because it's, like, the child's right to have the language and, like, in their home language. That's that language equity, right —

Dr. Gail: Yeah.

Lisa: —that access part. Then we get into that language justice, where I feel like these multicultural principles will help guide us to making sure that we have language justice spaces for our children —

Dr. Gail: Absolutely.

Lisa: — and our families and our colleagues. The benefit of having dual language learners, multilanguage learners, it really adds to the richness of who we are as Head Start. Without further ado, can you share who's going to be on tomorrow, Gail?

Dr. Gail: Yes.

Lisa: Because you're also going to be here again.

Dr. Gail: I will. I'll be back. Yep, I'll be back. I am so excited and everybody should be really excited. We're going to have two stellar, brilliant researchers on to talk about the research behind the multicultural principles. That is Dr. Xigrid Soto-Boykin and Dr. Gladys Aponte. They are phenomenal and you don't want to miss them. Because they're not going to only talk about the research, but they're really going to also talk about what it means to move that research into everyday practice. So it's really a must watch Facebook Live. You've got to be there.

Lisa: You've got to be there. And if you can't be there because you've got something else, don't worry, you can go back and re-watch it. So there's always that option. So thank you everyone for joining us. I really want to hand it over to my co-host, lovely co-host, Jennifer Amaya. Can you go ahead and take us out?

Jennifer: Yes, thank you, Lisa. Just adding to what we all have said, the importance of belonging, the nurturing aspect, the protection aspect of it. For me, knowing that we are part of Head Start, we are the Head Start family? It's so important. So that when our families walk in our programs, they know that they belong there. So that when our staff go to work every day in Head Start programs, they know that they belong there, and that they are making a difference within the work that they do. Thank you for that. Lisa, I always like to say to all of us, I got to encourage everybody, right? We have to think big. We have to act big. We have to be big, but we also have to lead big. Because this is a huge responsibility and we can do it together.

Lisa: That's right.

Jennifer: Thank you Lisa.

Lisa: Thank you. Well, thank you, everyone, for joining and we will see you tomorrow.

Jennifer: Thank you, everybody.