Intercultural Education and Multilingualism in the Kita

Dealing respectfully with worldviews

Cultural diversity includes the diversity of religions, worldviews and values. Good practice is respectful, open and appreciative – honouring diversity, with the child's wellbeing and children's rights as the yardstick.

Diversity of religions and values

Families bring different religions, worldviews, values and ways of life with them – this is part of cultural diversity. Good practice in dealing with it is respectful, open and appreciative: the different religions, worldviews and values of the families are honoured and respected (not judged or condemned, and none is favoured); the day-care centre (Kita) meets worldview diversity openly and neutrally (or, depending on the provider organisation (Träger), in line with its orientation, but respectfully towards diversity); and diversity is, where sensible and by agreement, made visible and appreciated (e.g. by getting to know different festivals). What matters is respect for worldview diversity and openness – without favouring or devaluing any religion or worldview. At the same time, the Kita (depending on the provider organisation) has its own orientation (e.g. denominational or worldview-neutral providers), which it makes transparent and shapes with respect for the diversity of the families. Dealing respectfully, openly and appreciatively with religious and worldview diversity is an important part of intercultural education and of respecting families.

Figure (Module 7): Three elements of respectful, open and appreciative practice. Source: own illustration (AI-assisted).

The child's wellbeing and children's rights as the yardstick

However much cultural, religious and worldview diversity is honoured, there is an important yardstick and limit: the child's wellbeing and children's rights (see the separate course on children's rights and child protection). Cultural and worldview diversity is honoured and respected – but practices or ideas that violate the child's wellbeing or children's rights are not to be tolerated. The child's wellbeing and children's rights (protection from violence, the right to healthy development, dignity, equal treatment, among others; see the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and, in Germany, for example the child's right to care and upbringing without violence, corporal punishment, psychological harm or other degrading measures, Section 1631(2) of the German Civil Code, BGB) apply universally and are the yardstick that also applies where there is cultural diversity. This means: cultural and religious diversity and practices are honoured as long as they do not violate the child's wellbeing and children's rights; but where a cultural practice or idea would violate the child's wellbeing or children's rights (e.g. violence, harmful practices, disregard for dignity or equal treatment), the child's wellbeing and children's rights are the limit and yardstick – here the Kita has a protective mandate: if substantial indications of a risk to a child become known, the practitioners carry out a risk evaluation (Gefährdungseinschätzung) following the procedure under Section 8a(4) of Book VIII of the German Social Code (SGB VIII), which is put into practice through agreements with the Kita's provider organisation (Träger): consult an experienced child protection specialist (insoweit erfahrene Fachkraft, InsoFa), involve the parents and the child as long as this does not put the child's effective protection at risk, encourage the parents to make use of help, and inform the youth welfare office (Jugendamt) if the risk cannot be averted in any other way; in addition, the provider's procedure usually provides for informing the management first. Practitioners are also entitled to advice from an InsoFa when assessing a risk in an individual case; this entitlement is against the local public youth welfare agency (örtlicher Träger der Jugendhilfe, Section 8b(1) SGB VIII). In acute danger: call 110 (police) or 112 (emergency services). This limit is important: honouring diversity does not mean tolerating everything or subordinating the child's wellbeing to "cultural tolerance" – the child's wellbeing and children's rights are the highest yardstick, which also applies where there is cultural diversity. Dealing respectfully with diversity and protecting the child's wellbeing go together: honour and respect diversity, but uphold the child's wellbeing and children's rights as the universal yardstick and limit.

Figure (Module 7): Diversity is honoured; the child's wellbeing and children's rights are the limit. Source: own illustration (AI-assisted).

Going deeper: Between cultural respect and universal children's rights

The tension between respect for cultural diversity and universal children's rights is a demanding but important question that calls for a reflective, balanced stance. On the one hand, respect for cultural, religious and worldview diversity is valuable and important – one should respect other cultures, values and ways of life and not rush to measure them against one's own standards and devalue them (ethnocentrism, Module 2). On the other hand, there are universal children's rights and a universal concept of the child's wellbeing (protection from violence, the right to healthy development, dignity, equal treatment, among others, see the separate course on children's rights), which apply to all children – regardless of culture and origin – and which form the yardstick and the limit. The balanced stance combines both: honouring and respecting cultural diversity and upholding universal children's rights and the child's wellbeing as yardstick and limit. It avoids two problematic extremes. One extreme would be ethnocentrism, which makes one's own culture the yardstick and measures and devalues other cultures against it (which contradicts respect for diversity and wrongly devalues as "wrong" many cultural differences that do not affect the child's wellbeing). The other extreme would be cultural relativism, which tolerates everything in the name of "cultural tolerance" – including practices that violate the child's wellbeing and children's rights (which gives up the protection of children and subordinates the child's wellbeing to "tolerance"). The balanced stance finds the middle: it honours cultural diversity and respects cultural differences that do not affect the child's wellbeing (that is most of them – other ways of living, eating, celebrating and raising children, which are to be respected); and at the same time it upholds universal children's rights and the child's wellbeing as yardstick and limit where a practice would violate the child's wellbeing or children's rights (then the protection of the child applies, regardless of the cultural justification). This distinction is important: most cultural differences do not affect the child's wellbeing and are to be respected (here respect for diversity applies); only where a practice violates the child's wellbeing or children's rights does the child's wellbeing apply as the limit (here the protection of the child applies). When judging a situation, care and reflection are important: do not rush to dismiss a cultural practice as "harmful" (that could be ethnocentrism), but also do not accept a genuine violation of the child's wellbeing in the name of "tolerance". In cases of uncertainty or conflict where there are no indications of a risk to the child, dialogue with the families (Modules 8, 10) is important; if it is unclear whether a practice endangers the child, first talk to the management (and, if needed, an InsoFa) before addressing it with the parents. Also important are reflection (what really violates the child's wellbeing, what is merely "different"?) and, where necessary, specialist advice and (in cases of risk to the child's wellbeing) the child protection procedure. This balanced, reflective stance – honouring and respecting cultural diversity while upholding universal children's rights and the child's wellbeing as yardstick and limit, with care and reflection in drawing the distinction – is the good way through the tension between cultural respect and universal children's rights. It combines respect for diversity with the protection and rights of children – two important values that come together in this balanced stance.

Figure (Module 7): The balanced stance between two problematic extremes. Source: own illustration (AI-assisted).