It is important to first understand what culture means before describing culturally responsive child care.
What is ‘culture’?
Culture is the understanding, pattern of behaviour, practices, and values that a group of people share. All people have culture. Culture is something that is learned from and shared with others. The cultural iceberg provides a metaphor to show how culture can be visible and invisible.

What does it mean to be culturally responsive in child care?
Culturally responsive child care isn’t just about recognizing differences—it’s about taking action. It means actively meeting the unique cultural needs of children and their families. In doing so, this approach helps to address unfairness and social exclusion in early learning and child care. The goal of culturally responsive child care is to ensure that all children, families, and educators—especially those from diverse cultural and language backgrounds—are fully included and valued.
Culturally responsive child care does many things:
- Recognizes and affirms the worth and diverse cultural heritage of children and families, including intersecting cultural backgrounds.
- Adapts practices and spaces to support the full participation of all children.
- Builds upon a community’s strengths by honouring the richness and cultural wealth of the many cultures and languages among educators and families.
- Puts equal value on different practices, beliefs, and worldviews while navigating cultural differences.
Culturally responsive child care recognizes and harnesses the strengths and cultural richness of the early learning and child care workforce, which is largely made up of racialized, newcomer, and multilingual women. Culturally responsive child care can contribute to equalizing the existing power dynamic between mainstream cultures and nondominant cultures.