Practitioners who are adept at buying resources and preparing an environment to encourage children's learning and development in areas such as language, literacy and numeracy sometimes struggle when it comes to finding new materials to support personal, social and emotional development.
It can be challenging to take a concept such as 'sense of community' and translate that into a shopping list for resources or a plan for the room that will help instil in young children an understanding that:
- 'people have different needs, views, cultures and beliefs that need to be treated with respect'
- 'they can expect others to treat their needs, views, cultures and beliefs with respect' (Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage, page 40).
Jane Lane, an advocate worker for racial equality in the early years, says, 'When you are setting up a nursery you need to make sure the culture and background of the children who might come to your nursery are reflected in your resources. You need to think about how your resources will make the staff and children feel included, valued, and respected.
'You want resources that reflect the different family backgrounds of the children. Some children may have one parent or two mummies, two daddies or a mummy and a daddy. It is about reflecting people's backgrounds in ways so they feel positive, included, valued and respected.'
Early years consultant Anne O'Connor agrees that practitioners need to embrace the whole anti-bias agenda when reflecting on what to buy and how to support children's understanding of community.
'Anti-bias is an active approach to challenging bias and the stereotyping and prejudice that are associated with it. It challenges attitudes like sexism and racism, not by denying differences but by embracing and celebrating them in ways that normalise diversity rather than treat it as strange, exotic or not "normal". Increased familiarity is one of the obvious ways to do this, so the images, the playthings and the everyday objects children see around them need to provide the balance of what is familiar to the individual child - in that it reflects their own experience - as well as sensitively introducing them to things that though less familiar to themselves, are important in other people's lives.
'But resources on their own are not enough. Practitioners need awareness and insight to support children to become comfortable with the things that might be unfamiliar to them.'
GUIDING PRINCIPLE
The starting point for planning at Caverstede Children's Centre, Peterborough is the individual child. 'Our guiding principle is we start from where the child is,' says centre head Marilyn James.
In the case of exploring cultural identity, she says, 'Here at Caverstede, we are 75 per cent white British. We do celebrate the different ethnicities within the community. Our main principle is that it has to mean something to somebody. It is very much about starting with the child.
'One of the children is soon going to be visiting family in India, so they have looked at the atlas and the globe. They are all very interested. The child has brought in photographs from home and we have put up phrases and used that visit as the starting point.
'In the home corners, we have got different fabrics and materials from different countries and lots of photographs. One of the teachers went on a teaching project to Ghana and brought backs lots of fabrics.
'It is about embracing what is happening within our school community. Peterborough is a very changing community. We are preparing the children to live within the wider community.'
KEY POINTS
- Work with staff and parents to develop an anti-discriminatory and anti-bias approach.
- Beware the pitfalls of some 'multi-cultural' or anti-discriminatory resources. Avoid stereotypical images and products, such as dolls in national dress and pictures of impoverished children in the developing world.
- Display positive images of young children, reflecting their interests, likes, characteristics and abilities.
- Provide resources that allow children to accept and explore each other's differences.
- Make available good-quality dolls and small-world people that reflect the diversity within our society.
- Incorporate into your provision everyday things that the children would see at home to reflect their backgrounds.
- Include resources such as paper, pencils and paints that reflect a range of skin tones. See www.kidslikeme.co.uk/8-crayola-multicultural-pencils-i1899.html
- If you choose to celebrate festivals, do so with sensitivity. Says June O'Sullivan, chief executive of the London Early Years Foundation, 'I suspect sometimes you get a great deal of misinformation when you have people trying to explain to children about a festival that they don't actually understand themselves. That can create problems rather than help matters. Many festivals are religious and we are not a religious organisation.'
RESOURCES
Says Ms O'Connor: 'Sets of resources that are worth investing in are good-quality dolls, small-world play people and books that reflect the diversity within contemporary society and are as authentic as possible.'
Dolls
Examples of dolls on the market are:
Preemie New Born anatomically and ethnically correct dolls (Amazon, £19.99 each). The range includes Oriental, white, black and mixed race.
Early Excellence offers collections of hand-made cotton dolls in three family groups, including a set of blankets (£75.00). Mindstretchers sells soft-bodied dolls with a variety of skin tones, include olive, dark and medium (£13.95 per set).
Playmobil Ethnic Figures (TTS, £22.95 per set) include Caucasian, African, Mediterranean, and Asian families.
Wow Adventure Vehicles - Character Set (Asco, £20.95) features 22 characters in various occupations and of a variety of ethnicities.
Settings might also want to consider using persona dolls with older children to foster positive attitudes and behaviour towards people who are different from themselves. These are available from Persona Doll Training and the Parrotfish Company.
- www.earlyexcellence.co.uk
- www.mindstretchers.co.uk
- www.ascoeducational.co.uk
- www.persona-doll-training.org.uk
- www.parrotfish.co.uk
Books
Settings should aim to provide a collection of good-quality fiction and non-fiction books that reflect contemporary society, through both the central and secondary characters. Include books that reflect the wider world in a non-stereotypical way. Remember, too, that some excellent picture books lend themselves to discussions of 'difference' through an array of strange and wonderful characters. Examples of what's on the market are:
The Great Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith, (Frances Lincoln) is a wonderful addition to the limited supply of non-fiction books that really try to reflect contemporary family life. Through illustration, it celebrates family members, their homes, schools, jobs, holidays, food, clothes, pets, hobbies, celebrations and feelings. Here are employed and unemployed parents, dads who cook, families that prefer ready-made meals, and holidays from the exotic to weekends at home.
Picture books are becoming more representative of children within our society. For example, in The Bear in the Cave by Michael Rosen and Adrian Reynolds (Bloomsbury), the bear heads for the bright lights of the city accompanied by children of various ethnic backgrounds. Animal Boogie by Debbie Harter (Barefoot Books) has images of wheelchair users and children of varied ethnicity.
In So Much! by Trish Cooke and Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books), a toddler revels in the attention he receives from successive family members in this award-winning celebration of Afro-Caribbean home life.
A Song for Jamela by Niki Daly (Frances Lincoln) tells how Jamela saves the day after Afro-Idols contestant Miss Bambi Chaka Chaka's hair is ruined at Jamela's aunt's hairdressing salon. This is the fifth book about Jamela's life in an African township.
Ikenna Goes to Nigeria by Ifeoma Onyefulu is part of Children Return to Their Roots series (Frances Lincoln).
In Something Else by Kathryn Cave and Chris Riddell (Picture Puffin), Something Else is excluded from his neighbour's play because he looks different. But then when an even stranger creature tries to make friends with him, he doesn't want to know, until he sees himself in the mirror.
In Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S Brannen (GP Putnam's), Chloe is jealous then happy when she discovers that rather than losing a favourite uncle, she will be gaining a second uncle when Bobby marries Jamie.
In Just Because by Rebecca Elliott (Lion Children's Books), Toby's sister Clemmie can't walk, talk or move much and while there is a lot that he doesn't understand about his sister, he knows that she is his best friend.
Dan and Diesel by Charlotte Hudson and Lindsey Gardiner (Red Fox) features wonder dog Diesel. Only when he and Dan are reunited at the end does it become apparent that Dan is blind and Diesel is his guide dog.
Our Stripy Baby by Gillian Shields and Paula Metcalf (Macmillan) tells of Zara's shock to find her new baby brother doesn't look like her friend's baby brother. Instead of spots, he has stripes!
A CHILD'S EYE VIEW OF FESTIVALS
At the special price of £99.00, this award-winning pack contains eight documentaries telling the story of festivals from the point of view of children. The festivals are Chinese New Year, Easter, Vaisakhi, Wesak, Divali, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hanukkah and Christmas. Teachers' notes and laminated story posters.
www.childseyemedia.com/-65/festivals-pack-224.html
MORE INFORMATION
Publishers specialising in inclusive titles include:
Suggestions for books dealing with diversity can be found at:
- www.littleparachutes.com
- www.scope.org.uk/campaigns/scope-campaigns/disabled-children-books
- www.bookstart.org.uk/books/booklists/32/
- Letterbox Library has a wide collection of multicultural and non-sexist books for children of all ages, www.letterboxlibrary.com
