Problem
Case Study A: Keisha's Family
Keisha, a two-year-old mixed-race girl from a low-income family, came with her family to the child care and education program where Stephanie works as the director. Her father is a factory worker and her mother works for a maid service. Neither parent finished high school, but they are committed to providing their daughter with the best education possible.
When Stephanie meets with the family, she introduces herself and explains, "I'm sure you don't know much about our program, but I can assure you that it is of the highest quality. We'll work hard here to ensure that Keisha gets the education she deserves. You can trust in us-we know what we're doing."
Task
a) Were Stephanie's comments appropriate?
b) How is Keisha's family most likely affected by Stephanie's comments?
c) What would have been a better approach to take?
d) What should Stephanie do next?
Case Study B: Mrs. Parker
Mrs. Parker's son, Brian, is in the program where Deka is the director. She is very vocal about her son's participation in the program, and has many opinions and recommendations. In fact, many of the staff members probably think she has a few too many suggestions. On several occasions, Brian has come to class with stacks of materials that his mother has given him to distribute to the other children. These include stickers, coloring books, activity dittos, and other items that Mrs. Parker feels the children should be using, but aren't.
She asked one of Brian's teachers why the class hasn't made preparations to celebrate a particular cultural holiday. When the teacher explained that the program doesn't celebrate every cultural day of significance on the calendar, Mrs. Parker became very upset and suggested that the teacher didn't know how to do her job correctly. Then she stormed out.
Task
a) Is Mrs. Parker's behavior appropriate?
b) What should Deka instruct staff members to do when Mrs. Parker gives Brian inappropriate materials to hand out to classmates?
c) Should Mrs. Parker be asked to leave?