Statewide Training and Education Committee (STEC)

Statewide Training and Education Committee (STEC)

Content Development Oversight Group (CDOG)

Child and Youth Development Videos

November 26, 2012 | 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

Meeting Summary

Participants: Jennifer Cannell (BAA); Stuart Young (San Bernardino); Mark Kisselburg (Riverside); Irene Becker (PCWTA); Soledad Caldera-Gammage, Leticia Chavez (Central); Raelene Freitag (CRC); Margo Hinson (NTRC); Melissa Connelly (CalSWEC)

Child and Youth Development Videos

We reviewed the feedback we received on clip #1 on cultural differences:

·  While the clip has many strengths, its downside is that the use of certain terms and labels related to the "simpler societies" makes it not my first choice for this segment on how culture impacts child development through parenting. I don't have a fabulous video alternative to suggest, but I got such push back in several trainings about the coded language and the choice of family imagery makes me vote for another approach. It is kind of parallel process for disproportionality and stereotyping. As long as a trainer is prepared for the discussion, it can be handled, but it can take the focus off the content and on to fairness and equity issues.

·  The clip has some “messages” particularly about the Russian family. However, it does show difference in child rearing practices. I think that it is imperative that we have a culture piece in the training. Looking at differences in child rearing from a cultural perspective lets the social workers notice their own bias so that perhaps they will not put that on families unnecessarily as they do their work and look at culture in child rearing as a layer and factor when they are doing their child welfare work (even if they have child abuse it may be good to look at it in the context of the culture of the family).

·  They are outdated, and do not realistically represent the diverse contemporary families that our trainees will be expected to engage. We were all uncomfortable with the following scenes: nude father and child in bath scene, Margaret Mead’s rather Eurocentric theories, and the preoccupation with the indigenous African family.

·  Pros: I really enjoyed the clip. Overall, I think it provides a nice reminder about cultural differences and the impact they have on development. It was short and entertaining.

·  Cons: Perhaps there are a couple of stereotypical views presented of culture. Also, I wonder if trainees will see these examples of “others” as so different from families they actually work with, that they won’t make that connection to their own caseload.

·  Overall: I enjoyed the video and I think its pros outweigh the cons. Hopefully professionals can get by any potential stereotypes and see the value in the message and can make the application to their “U.S. caseload.” I also believe the trainer can use the positive messaging in the video and help overcome any of the cons.

·  They reminded of something that I would see on PBS.They appear to be a bit dated. If the conversation is about cultural differences in bathing, bonding, potty training, family ties, etc., then they are okay. It’s probably a good time to review them for content, relevancy, and value. My vote would be to update them.

·  I really wish that the main focus of the culture one was not a "simpler culture" African Baca tribe that is chopping a gobo nut with a machete- but on the other hand, the references to the Guatemalan mother wrapping her child- the urban fatherhaving time for play etc... really do help facilitate a larger discussion about the impact of culture on child rearing. In a perfect world, I'd like to see it replaced with something that was more reflective of the actual cultures we work with but I think it is not horrible and I'd hate to see it replaced with something worse.

Discussion:

We reviewed the pros and cons of making a change. We discussed the trainee feedback on this curriculum which has been positive. Trainees have not complained about these videos. We agreed that the pros outweigh the cons and we will not be changing this video. We agreed to some next steps:

·  Ask trainers for tips on how they successfully cover this content

·  Ask trainers to continue to send video suggestions

·  Reference this video in the Critical Thinking SDM curriculum to reinforce the content about considering cultural differences when assessing child and youth development.

We reviewed the feedback we received on clip #2 on the 5-7 shift:

·  The 5-7 shift video is short and it basically shows the growth and development of the 5-7 year old age group. This is a good focus I think for showing this age group and this part of the curriculum. It provokes a lot of discussion and anchors the participants understanding about this age group. It again shows Russia as the example for “moral development.” Maybe not the best but it provokes discussion around “The pledge of allegiance.” What we learn about American culture/patriotism in school, Boy scouts, girl scouts, sports, individualism etc.... Is CALSWEC proposing an updated video that shows these same concepts? I think that the concepts are important.

·  Pros: started off nicely. I thought there was going to be a nice description of culture on middle-childhood developmental milestones

·  Cons: I must admit I got lost once we got to the Russian school and forgot the purpose of the video

·  Overall: I think I couldn’t pass judgment on the video as I am not familiar enough with the curriculum and where the video is being used to drive home which point.

·  I think the 5-7 shift is an important developmental issue that most workers do not know about and the film tells it well in a very short time. I agree I would love to have more groups that workers see in practice but I have found that it lends itself to a conversation about what are the cultural differences here, what do they see in the families they work with and what does this look like in broader American culture. I too show the Russian children since, though no longer true, it is a great example of the importance of ritual at this age, rites of passage and moral development. I also thing that it strongest part is that cultures around the world have acknowledges the 5-7 shift even if they did not have text book knowledge, they understood child development and their cultural norms show us that real understanding. In the movie this came from it does go on to explore American culture but it is further in the tape and did not seem worth the time.

·  The 5-7 shift one could be more relevant to the kinds of families we work with- the examples they give about the increased dexterity you get after the 5-7 shiftis that kids can now carry bundles of wheat up steep stairs and weave- rather than more relevant examples like riding a bike or playing video games, etc. Again, it's better than some but not as good as it could be. (I stop it before they do that circa 1980's Russian piece on the Bolshevik ritual)

Discussion:

We agreed not to change this video at this time and to reinforce that the curriculum calls for the trainer to stop the video before the content on the children in Russia.

The group also reviewed these additional general comments about the clips:

·  It would be great to have updated material but these videos give some depth that is important so I would hate to lose that.

·  I do not see the cultures in either tape as harsh, they are what they are, not good or bad for me. This is the conversation that I think is important for workers to explore, what is the culture of the family and how child rearing practices evolve, many ways to parent in MSLC. I have not had anyone see them as stereotypes, they are clips of real life. I would need to know more about the issues to respond to that. I think the clip on culture works for the topic, and the trainer can use it to as a way to move to cultures we see. Yes I too would like something more contemporary but I have not seen a tape like this and would hate to give up the clip.

·  These clips are well done in terms of production value, they are interesting clips that participants enjoy and like my colleagues I would hate to see them cut without a good replacement. In my searches years ago I found surprisingly that there were not many good child development movies out there but I have not looked in a while. There was lots of bad stuff out there but little that made these same points. (10- 12 years ago I must have watch 20 videos and searched about 150, no kidding there so so much out there)

·  The childhood series these come from is 11 hours and is really good. Maybe there is a better clip in the series if someone has the time to research it.

·  So I agree the clips work, think that they lend themselves to discussions that are important but too would love it if someone has more contemporary clips that make the same points.

·  There have been opportunities for me to train this curriculum about a dozen times. These clips offer a broad general starting place to begin discussion of how culture plays into shaping child/family development. There is usually good feedback about culture and the role it plays in general. If there are some specific alternative clips you are looking at that you think might enhance and perhaps focus more on cultural issues in California I would be very interested to take a look. These are somewhat outdated but they have basic points and values that can be directed to cultures everywhere.

The group reviewed the following suggestions for alternate films, but ultimately agreed not to make any changes to this curriculum:

·  Some members of the group noted via email that Pariah is a very rich film, appropriate for a number of presentations, including Child and Youth Development. They noted it explores the formation of social and personal identity in a 17 year old student, and suggest an 8 minute clip at the beginning of the film from the scene where Lee’s girlfriend is dancing with another young woman to the end of the scene between Lee and her writing teacher/mentor at high school. They also liked the discussion of cultural, religious, and familial elements in a scene at the end of the film, beginning at scene 18 with the conversation between Lee and her father and continuing for about 7 minutes. This segment includes a conversation between Lee and her mother as well as an exchange between Lee and her writing teacher/mentor that ends the film.

·  There is a new movie that came out in 2010 called Babies that follows 4 babies from different parts of the world, however, I have heard critiques of it that it only focuses on an affluent family in American and Japan, that it shows mothers as not working and for the most part around the world mothers rear their children while doing other things and it shows a lot of father participation which according to the research is apparently not that common. I don’t know, maybe it would be an alternative? (Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vupEpNjCuY)

·  Here are some YouTube clips that are more contemporary and cover the same ground:

·  How I Learn: Developmental Milestones http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hn0O_L6lfI&feature=em-share_video_user

·  Child Developmental Milestones http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxe3-ijvZDs&feature=em-share_video_user

·  Here is one video I saw that speaks to infant brain development and social/emotional influence on learning. Some of the slides are a bit technical (especially when the speaker is talking about the brain) http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/resources/multimedia/videos/inbrief_series/inbrief_science_of_ecd/

·  I also saw came across these videos. They are longer in duration and there are licensing issues for use in the classroom and online. http://www.learner.org/resources/series59.html?pop=yes&pid=757

I saw clips of:

·  Babies are Children too

·  Everybody’s special

Discussion of priorities for revising other curricula:

The group discussed CDOG’s workplan for the next year. We will make a recommendation to STEC regarding our priorities for revision.

We discussed updating the CMI1 curriculum. Soledad has a resource for some updated photos to replace the photos in CMI1. We have been given feedback that the current photos overload the trainees. We agree that we should be able to convey the content with fewer photos.

We also discussed updating the one day Critical Thinking curriculum.

We agreed to survey the larger CDOG group to identify the statewide priority.

CDOG Summary 11/26/12 5