Topic Two: Social justice – cultural identity, multicultural education, and anti-bias work with children

The BC Early Learning Framework identifies Social Responsibility and Diversity as the fourth area of early learning for young children. Within this area, the Framework identifies that, “Children benefit from opportunities to build relationships, to learn about their own heritage and culture and that of others, and to recognize the connection between their own actions and the wider world” (p.33).

The concepts that the Framework identifies within this area include family, community, respect, fairness, discrimination, inequity, diversity, value, individual differences, individual actions and responsibility for self and others (p. 33). As we welcome and build community with children in our programs we have many opportunities to explore these concepts and support children’s interest, thinking and growing understanding of social responsibility, diversity and justice.

Williams and Cooney describe the reasons and importance of bringing the topic of social justice into our programs in an article “Young Children and Social Justice” published in Young Children, March 2006. They define the term ‘social justice’ as, “mean(ing) that all children and families have the right to expect mutual respect, fair treatment, equal access to resources and experiences and a willingness to learn about others’ perspectives” (p.75).

Williams and Cooney feel it is very important to first be aware of our own biases in order to present the concepts of equity and fairness. We need to be aware of children’s abilities to understand and explore the concepts of identity, gender, race, ethnicity, family and cultural differences, which vary developmentally and individually as children grow through the preschool years. Children begin to notice differences in infancy and build this awareness, including physical differences, gender, skin colour and family as they move into toddler and young preschool ages. Fours and fives develop an understanding of the constancy of gender, ethnicity and race as they encounter the world and construct their theories about groups and differences. (p. 76)

                                                               
While this understanding is developing, children are increasingly aware of attitudes, stereotypes and biases that are reflected in their experiences in their families and the wider world. It is important to recognize the impact of these stereotypes and also the opportunities that we have to support children’s understanding of equity, fairness and social justice and their ability to problem solve and respond to situations that arise.

We can go beyond the concept of race, gender and culture to include the broader differences found in language, age, class, ability, religion, lifestyle, etc. as we explore, diversity and equity. The anti-bias work done by Derman-Sparks in the 80’s cautioned us to avoid a tourist approach to multicultural exploration which focuses once a year on the cultural stereotypes and holiday celebrations that ‘tokenizes’ cultures and can even create stereotypes with children. (Williams and Cooney, p. 77)

Six social justice goals to incorporate in our work with young children are:

1. Developing a strong identity of themselves as individuals, as members of particular and larger groups and as living beings of this planet.
2. Feeling a sense of solidarity with all people and with the natural world.
3. Becoming critical thinkers – to learn not to accept the status quo but to ask good, hard questions.
4. Being confident and persistent problem-solvers so that they can see themselves as activists rather than simply feeling overwhelmed at the difficulties of the world.
5. Gaining the academic skills that allow access to the knowledge of society and the power to make a difference.

(Williams and Cooney, p. 78)

Children are invited to participate in a puppet show about a newcomer who doesn’t speak English and to suggest ways to help the newcomer to become part of the group. Materials that support children to represent their families and notice similarities and differences, explore the occupations the children are aware of, represent diverse skin colours through books, and art materials and explore cultural diversity through books, music, photos and comparisons to the children’s experiences are described in the article (p.79-80).

The article also emphasizes how important it is to inform and involve the children’s families in discussions of the social justice curriculum in order to partner with them and work collaboratively to scaffold children’s growing awareness and understanding. Families may also be interested in sharing their culture, language and family traditions with the children in the program.

Lee, Ramsey and Sweeney also explore the topic of exploring social justice with young children in the on-line article “Engaging young children in activities and conversations about race and social class” (2008). This research study looked at the effectiveness of a variety of methods of engaging children in meaningful and deep thinking about these topics. It is interesting to note that conversations that were built upon topics that already had meaning to the children, such as Martin Luther King Jr. were more effective in capturing the children’s interest and provoking thought and discussion.

Specific activities such as art, matching and puzzles broadened children’s awareness of differences but dramatic play opportunities stimulated more awareness and discussion about fairness and equity. (p. 7) It is important that we are aware of the range of possibilities in activities that explore concepts related to social justice and also that we provide a variety of resources and opportunities for children to engage in.

Regardless of the make-up of our early learning community, we live in a global reality and have a responsibility to engage children in thinking about how we are all connected and have the right to be respected.

The Early Learning Framework provides questions in each Learning Area, to support our reflection on the opportunities that we are providing to young children in our program. These questions can provoke critical reflection and be a springboard for discussion as ECEs consider the interests, abilities and current understandings of the children. Take a look at Pages 34-36 to see the questions in the area of social responsibility and diversity
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