Cause for celebration?

Twinkly lights at Divali, a bit of hand-painting at Eid, a fat man in a red suit at Christmas - fun, certainly, but are those images we should choose to typify the world's faiths? And with the rise in racism in the aftermath of the events of 11 September, is this emphasis on exotic, colourful customs really the best way to promote understanding of the variety of cultures in our society?

The Muslim observance of Ramadan (from 16 November, culminating in the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr) and the Hindu celebration of Divali (14 November) may trigger yet more tension - particularly since, as early years specialist Anne O'Conner points out, there is a lack of understanding between cultures or faiths in Britain, anyway. 'Often white people simply don't know the difference between Pakistani, Indian, Hindu or Bangladeshi,' she says.

Jane Lane of the Early Years Trainers Anti-Racist Network, who discusses how to respond to festivals in her book Action for Racial Equality in the Early Years, says people working in early years settings must ask searching questions about how they should be celebrated.

She writes, 'Why do we celebrate various cultural festivals in the early years settings, anyway? Are there, in reality, more everyday, ordinary, common-or-garden things that we can do to learn about each other? What, if anything, does knowing about "other people's" festivals do to help us to counter racism?'

She stresses that underpinning everything in early years settings must be equal value and respect for people from all cultures and faiths, and, if festivals are to be celebrated, it must be as authentically as possible.

But she believes that celebrating festivals is often too easy a way of doing nothing for the rest of the year to represent people of different cultures and faiths. She says, 'One of the problems is that nurseries often celebrate, say, Divali, tick the box, then don't talk about Hinduism for the rest of the year.

'It is important to work with all children on prejudice because it may be there between all ethnic groups, black v black, Indian v Pakistani, religion v religion.'

Staff at Westminster Children's Society nurseries in London have witnessed a rise in racist incidents among parents. Operations manager June O'Sullivan says that since the New York terrorist attacks, staff have discussed how to respond to and manage Eid. 'We don't have to make a big deal of it, because most of the children will do it at home. But the Arabic message announcing Ramadan will be put up on the walls, because I don't think we should be cowed by those kinds of discriminatory attitudes.' But she too believes that the celebration of festivals raises important questions. 'There's a sense that nurseries say, well, we do Divali, we have two black dolls and a nice selection of books. But we have to ask ourselves, what about our attitudes?

'Have we gone a bit stale? Always doing Divali, always doing Hanukkah, always doing Eid. Christians get upset about the way Christmas is often just about Santa. Could it be that the way we celebrate other festivals might be construed as quite offensive in the same way?' She wonders if more neutral yet equally colourful events like the Japanese kite festival might be a better way of ensuring understanding within the global community.

Nursery staff should already be aware of the importance of non-discriminatory practice. CACHE includes wide-ranging anti-bias modules within its courses, plus in-service training for college staff.

Director of quality assurance Maureen O'Hagan is hopeful that festivals are, in any case, only a small part of children's anti-bias education. 'Small children need to respect and understand differences - whether the other person's a boy or girl, whether they're wearing glasses or not, disabled, or has a different accent. So the issue is much bigger than black or white, Muslim or Christian.'

Despite recent world events, it seems nurseries are sticking to their usual festival calendar as an effective, fun way of reaching out to Britain's multicultural community.

At Winton Early Years Centre, Salford, where there is a mix of faiths and cultures, different festivals are certainly celebrated, but in a selective and organised way. Staff concentrate on just a few, devoting an equal amount of time to each. Manager Tracy Collins explains, 'Quite often it seems Christmas is the huge event, and then Divali or Hanukkah is just a day long, which they're not, so we spend the same amount of time on each. We do it in different ways, maybe a taste table, or discussion at circle time, or if it is Chinese New Year the children might go into Manchester on a trip to Chinatown.'

Equally, at Glasgow's Sighthill nursery, festivals are a fun way of helping integrate a tense mix of asylum seekers, locals and overseas students. Manager Mary Garry says, 'We do kind of raise awareness, say Chinese food at the Chinese New Year, hand painting at Eid, but it is from the children's point of view. Parents from different cultures appreciate it. We try to make parents belong, because a lot of these parents feel they don't belong.'

For others, the celebrations are less to shine a light on different cultures than simply to reflect what's going on at home. At the Birmingham Family Services Unit, 99 per cent of the children are Muslim, with Eid a very major event.

Manager Jenny Mahimbo says, 'We do Eid because a large number of our children are Muslim, giving Eid cards and so on. We do Divali, but to a lesser extent. We don't do Easter, but I would say we do Christmas on about the same level as Eid.' However, she cheerfully admits that last year their Father Christmas was played by a female Asian researcher!

The message from those working in some of the most racially diverse areas of early years seems to be that festivals are worth doing, so long as they are conscientiously researched and thoughtfully presented.

Janice Evans is early years co-ordinator with the Ethnic Minorities and Travellers' Achievements Service at Salford. She wants to see much more education on racial awareness to counter the prejudice she meets daily in her job.

She is adamant that so long as they are not done in isolation, more multicultural festivals, not fewer, can only be good for the wider community. She describes one asylum-seeker family who have been abused and burgled -although they have literally nothing in their house worth stealing - by hostile neighbours. 'Ignorance is the main problem we encounter,' she says. 'Once people get to know the children and get to know the families, they start to have empathy with them. It is because they are so ignorant that they treat them like this. So it is more important than ever to look at things such as festivals.'

Her unit runs courses on racial awareness for nursery nurse students and staff, and highlights the prime importance of tackling it at an everyday level.

'As well as all these colourful festivals, there are other issues that are going on all the time,' she says. People's cultural background will influence every facet of their lives - right down to the colours they choose to paint their homes.

'The use of primary colours is a very European thing,' she explains, 'and we suggest for example, that the nursery environment can be made more multicultural by using more muted colours.

'We look at these things rather than saying, let's do Divali. Of course it is wonderful to do, and people who attend our courses often ask for more information on festivals. Of course we have the resources, and we can easily make up a Divali box, or an Eid box, but we say, please don't just dump them down and expect children to understand what it all means.' NW

Action for Racial Equality in the Early Years, a practical handbook for early years workers is by Jane Lane and published by the National Early Years Network, priced 13. To order a copy, call 020 7607 9573.