INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / FEBRUARY 27, 1990

 

 

 

FACULTY PROFILE

 

College instructor calls for
more daycare funding

ouglas College instructor

Susan Fraser has won sub-
stantial fame as a professional who
helps immigrant families and their
children adjust to the Canadian
way Of life.

“I’ve been very busy giving
workshops throughout B.C. and .
generally helping people with
multi-cultural education,” says the
Douglas College Early Childhood
Education program instructor. “But
the irony is that I’ve been trying to
get more into mainstream work,
which I enjoy at Douglas College.
But I seem to keep getting pulled
back into the multi-cultural field!”

It’s easy to understand why
Fraser built a dual career in early
childhood education and multi-cul-
tural education. As the eldest of —
five children, she has a natural inter-
est in children. Her family ex-
perienced first-hand hardships of
relocating from Kenya to Canada.

“We emigrated in the mid-’60’s,
and back then Canadians were not
used to dealing with foreigners,”
she says. “If you're from a third
world country, you see Canada as |
having a completely different value
system, let alone education system.”

Canadians are more materialis-
tic, says Fraser, and more in-
dividualistic. She clearly
remembers the time she received a
visit from a public health nurse, |
who asked if she had enough
money to raise a family because her
children were sent to school wear-
ing playclothes.

“In Kenya no one worried
about the clothes you wore. Just
going to school was considered a
big thing!” oan

Three months after becoming a
Canadian resident, Fraser began
working for her degree in the
University of B.C., and then
operated a West Vancouver nursery »

school for 17 years. Five years ago
she developed a program to help
immigrant families adapt to the
Canadian school system. The pro-
gram was snapped up by Douglas
College and this year Fraser be-
came a regular faculty member.

Fraser’s work revolves around
pre-schoolers, but she keeps a
sharp eye on the overall develop-
ment of early childhood education
and daycare in B.C.

“We're a leader in childhood
education, but the Socreds haven’t
put any money into it since they
came to power,” she says. “The
field itself is depressed - there are
no operating or capital grants, and
poor salaries abound.”

“We have to do something
about the situation. Even Douglas
College ought to take more respon-
sibility for its own (privately-run)
daycare centre. These are essential
matters that play an important role
in the future of Canada.” &

 

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