Anti-Bias Culture

Overcoming stereotyping is a challenge educators can encounter when it comes to ensuring that teaching strategies are appropriate for culturally diverse children. Some educators may compare one child to another child that comes from the same cultural background and use the same teaching strategy. One way to overcome this is to make sure that educators know each of the students individually instead of comparing one to another or relying on stereotyping. “To truly engage students, we must reach out to them in ways that are culturally and linguistically responsive and appropriate, and we must examine the cultural assumptions and stereotypes we bring into the classroom that may hinder interconnectedness.” (Teaching Tolerance, 1991) Once they know more about each of the students then they can avoid stereotyping and adjust their teaching strategy to meet the individual needs of the students in the classroom.

Parental involvement is crucial in early childhood education. That is why it is essential that a great deal of effort be made to ensure “that ongoing and effective communication and partnerships be established and maintained with parents” (Sanabria-Hernandez, 2008, par. 1). Fortunately, most parents participate in at least one way. However, there is frequently a smaller percentage of parent participation from parents in the diverse community (Jaworski, 2017). This may be attributed to the fact that some families may have challenging circumstances, such as language differences or financial difficulties that impede their ability to reach out to school staff. Having diversity in schools not only helps children learn and think differently, but also prepares them for the real world and interacting with those of different cultures in the workplace and in daily life (Jaworski, 2017). Preschool programs need to reflect, acknowledge, and celebrate diversity and their curriculums should utilize children’s funds of knowledge to help children connect their world with their learning environment. “When schools, communities, and cities begin to understand the importance of diversity and inclusion, our children have better educations, we have better workplaces, and everyone benefits” (Lynch, 2016, par. 1).

When young children do express thoughts of race or being bias, it is often dismissed as either bad parenting, child not knowing what they are talking about, or simply bad behavior in children. Research clearly shows that children not only recognize race from a very young age, but also develop racial biases by age’s three to five that do not necessarily resemble the racial attitudes of adults in their lives (Aboud 2008). Three- to five-year-olds in a racially and ethnically diverse day care center used racial categories to identify themselves and others, to include or exclude children from activities, and to negotiate power in their own social/play networks (Van Ausdale & Feagin 2001).

It is crucial for educators to value, understand and incorporate every child’s cultural diversity in the classroom (The Early Years Learning Framework Professional Learning Program, 2011). This means educators needs to deal with any bias beliefs they might/may hold. For example, some children might not participate in the classroom because

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children NAEYC) recommendations emphasize that early childhood programs are accountable for creating a welcoming environment. The environment should respect diversity, supports children’s ties to their families and community. It should also support both second language acquisition, children home language, as well as cultural identities. Linguistic and cultural diversity is an advantage, not a deficit, for young children. As stated in the DEC/NAEYC joint position statement, the inclusion contributes to how every child with or without disabilities is developing and learning to reach their full potential. However, this can benefit to young children and their family to experience

On February 12th, 2012, in his State of the Union address, President Obama discussed the long-term benefits a universal preschool would have on today’s society. “In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children…studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind.” (Obama) Unfortunately, an overwhelming number of children, from low-poverty areas, are unable to access high-quality early childhood programs for their preschool aged children. Consequently,

This research report presents an analysis of and conclusions drawn from the experiences and perspectives of two educators that work in the early childhood setting. The main objective is to identify key elements and issues in relation to the families, diversity and difference. In particular how an early childhood educator implements, different approaches to honour culture and diversity, and to advocate for social justice in an early childhood settings. As such, it allows an insight into the important role that families and their background plays in the everyday lives of the children and educators within early childhood settings. In today’s ever-changing growing society it is essential for educators to be flexible to the

Anti-bias education is important for young children because children begin to recognize differences early on in life. (Derman-Sparks) My current understanding of anti-bias education for young children is to teach the children how to accept diversity and respect the differences between each other. I believe an anti-bias education provides the children with the opportunity to gain a sense of self along with feeling reassurance with other differences. As a future educator of young children, I need to be mindful that children create their attitudes and identities through interactions related to different experiences, such as their bodies, cognitive developmental stage, and their social environment. (Derman-Sparks) The variety of biases that exist in the children’s world need to be addressed in order to teach the children how to think critically about fairness; therefore, the children can learn how to oppose the bias. (Derman-Sparks) Likewise, my views about anti-bias education have changed because of the innovative information presented to me. I knew an anti-bias curriculum was essential for young children, but I did not know how important it truly was. My views of an anti-bias education mainly focused on holidays because I knew it would not be appropriate to only celebrate the holidays from one culture or religion. My views about anti-bias education grew because I understand that the overall goals of an anti-bias education are to enable the children to think

Cultural Diversity and Inclusion Diversifying our culture in the world is extremely critical in order to propel to a brighter, better, and fairer future. This became quite essential since the rapid technological advancements led us into the new age of having a globalized society. To keep multicultural alive for future days to come, we must teach our younger generation, specifically the children, about its history and impact in our lives. What other better way to do this than to incorporate cultural diversity in children’s books. These books are the best way a child can gain an understanding about oneself and about the world around them.

To enrich children's understanding and respect of cultural identities within the service’s community educators need to first gain a solid understanding of the cultural identities within the centre themselves. Open communication between educators and children and their families is a key to gathering information from each child’s cultural background and cultural identity. Using collaborative partnerships between educators and family members will assist with gathering information and inclusivity between all cultural groups represented in the Centre's community. Collaborative Partnerships are defined as “involving two-way communication and negotiation where educators and family members share information, exchange ideas and work towards shared goals” (Arthur et al. 2015 P37).

Today’s classroom is very diverse and the activities should represent the classroom culture. The development of children is centered on what is taught in the classroom. Therefore, the language, intellectual, personality, social and moral, and aesthetic and creative development of preschool age children should be enhanced through multicultural activities and lessons.

Fostering cultural awareness in children has many benefits that contribute to the overall development of children. Educators encounter challenges that may include academic pressure, collaborating with diverse families, and meeting the needs of the students. This paper examines theoretical perspectives using a longitudinal study. The study examined the experiences of children ages 3.5 to 5.5, by using their everyday experiences of race and ethnic diversity in their classroom setting.

The 21st Century is truly the age of wisdom, as well as the age of foolishness. The percentage of the people using the internet has expanded rapidly from 6.8% in 2000 to 46.1% in 20161. This has made access to information exponentially more widespread than ever before in human history and has brought light to many social and political issues. However, because the information available on the internet comes from people it can be biased, inaccurate, or even outright incorrect. All people have an inherent bias that influences how they think and what they believe; obviously, that affects the quality of the information they provide. In addition to people with subconscious biases, there are also individuals and organizations that actively spread

The start of this journey in implementing multicultural education begins with the educators. Preparing teachers to use the education principles is a dilemma facing childhood programs. Training requirements differ depends on the state but the NAEYC provides a set of standards that require “culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse teaching materials and methods” (Larke, 2010, pg.2) for all child care facilities. The population of all ethnics are increasing, “the demographics change so are the demographics of children in early childhood programs” (Larke, 2010, pg.2). A vision of the NAEYC is having the commitment to respect the “dignity, worth and uniqueness of each individual” (Larke, 2010, pg.2). This vision is very important and empowering because this statement can be said many times but it takes hard work and dedication to achieve success. Larke depicts the positive principals of NAEYC. Learning and development occurs through influenced social context and finding a way to engage diverse families are great impacts in the community.

Each year, an increasing number of people from different countries immigrate to the United States. Some of them come to look for a better education for their children. Consequently, there is an increasing number of children of different races in the U.S. preschool and kindergarten system, which not only leads to racial diversity, but also causes stereotype and discrimination among children. There is a wide belief that children are too young to recognize races, however, the racial awareness pervasive and develops very early in children’s life (Stabler, Johnson, Berke, & Baker, 1969). In order to make children have correct racial awareness, their cognition of races should not be ignored and accurate education of races should be provided. The purpose of this paper is to figure out following questions. First, do children, ages 3-6, recognize differences in race and ethnicity (racial awareness)? Second, do they have racial stereotype and discrimination (racial attitude)? Third, what or who affect the formation of racial awareness and attitude of children (3-6) in preschool and kindergarten?