Migrant Children in the Voice of Preschool Educators: Challenges and Strategies to Address Cultural Diversity during COVID-19

Abstract

The present study investigated the didactic and intercultural strategies used by Early Childhood Educators during the health crisis to promote learning in culturally diverse children. A qualitative methodology and an instrumental case design were used. The participants were three Early Childhood Educators from a public educational center in a commune of Santiago de Chile, characterized by poverty and migrant school enrollment. Through semi-structured interviews, the voices of the Educators were collected, transcribed, coded, and categorized inductively for analysis. The results indicate that Educators need training and updating in didactic strategies and resources to teach in diverse and adverse educational contexts. Difficulties arose, especially in the implementation of intercultural approaches in learning experiences. The Educators highlighted the importance of updated training in new approaches, which should be integrated into initial teacher training. Advances and limitations in inclusive and intercultural education in Chile are evident, especially in early childhood, where attention has been primarily focused on the inclusion of children with special educational needs, indigenous peoples, and language barriers, leaving aside the promotion of a deeper inclusive and intercultural environment. These findings highlight the importance of comprehensively addressing cultural diversity in early childhood education and developing training and updating programs for Early Childhood Educators.