Talking to Young Children About Race Why Is It Important And How Can It Be Done In A Developmentally Appropriate Way? Stone Soup Conference October 22, 2013 Anne Marie Davidson AJ Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities 1
Objectives Participants will: Develop a better understanding of their racial and
cultural history Increase their knowledge of the use of persona dolls as an anti-bias teaching strategy Increase their knowledge of the use of authentic multi-cultural literature as an anti-bias teaching strategy Practice using persona dolls and an authentic multicultural literature assessment tool
2
Ground Rules
3
Deep Structure of Culture • Culture is a set of rules for behavior, influencing, not causing, • • •
•
•
4
behaviors themselves Culture is shared behavioral characteristics of groups passed from one generation to another Culture is learned, not something we are born with Individual members of a culture are embedded to different degrees within their culture resulting in variations of behaviors and attitudes Cultures borrow and share rules through contact with each other Members of a cultural group may be proficient at cultural behavior but unable to describe the rules Carol Brunson Phillips, Culture as a Process
Town Meeting: Exploring Your Culture Patterns of communication Social values Preferred ways of learning Child rearing practices Family Structure/adult child interactions Outward displays of culture
5
Influence of Culture on Development
6
Culture shapes who children are and how they experience the world. Through participation in everyday cultural practices and family traditions, children learn meaning systems, social identity, language, values, beliefs, behavioral norms, and roles intended to develop the competencies appropriate to their culture.
How Do You Experience Race? What is race?
Share your earliest memory of race
And a most recent
7
What is Race? Race is a social-political construct
Race can be redefined by social,
economic and political forces Racism is a system of advantage
based on race, Wellman, 1977 8
Racial questions start early
Like many African Americans, I have many race-related memories beginning when I was quite small. I remember being about three years old when I had an argument with an African American playmate. He said I was “black.” “No I’m not,” I said, “I’m tan.”
Beverly Daniel Tatum, 1997
9
Young Children and Race Many people believe that young children are “color-blind” and do
not notice differences. As children grow, their attitudes about the differences that they observe quickly begin to reflect our society’s prejudices. For more than 50 years, studies have shown that by the time children are three years old, they are already beginning to respond differently to skin color and other racial cues (Clark and Clark 1947, Goodman 1952, Katz 1982). Specifically, these studies have found that even at this young age, both African American and white children demonstrate a preference for white people and objects while exhibiting negative attitudes towards dark or black people and objects.
10
What children say – The Early Childhood Research “Renee (4, white) [is pulling] Lingmai (3, Asian) and
Jocelyn (4.5), white) across the playground in a wagon…[Renee gets tired] and drops the handle of the wagon… Lingmai eager to continue this game, jumps from the wagon and picks up the handle. As Lingmai begins to pull, Renee admonishes her, “No, No. You can’t pull this wagon. Only white Americans can pull this wagon.” -D. Van Ausdale and J.R. Feagin, The First R: How Children Learn Race and Racism, in L. Derman-Sparks, What If All the Kids Are White?
11
What children say – The Early Childhood Research C (3, black) cuddles a black doll and says, “This is
my baby.” T (4, white)replies: “I don’t like it, it’s funny. I like this one (holding a white doll), it’s my favorite. I don’t like this one (pointing to the black doll). Because you see I like Sarah, and I like white. You’re my best friend, though you’re brown.’” (B. Brown, 1998, p. 16)
12
What adults think “Most adults refuse to accept that
13
little children would make knowing use of the ugliness inherent in racist epithets, emotions and behavior...in particular, white adults abdicate their responsibility to recognize and combat racism when they deny that race and racism can even exist in serious forms among young children.”
What children say – The Early Childhood Research A European American child came home from
school and told her mother that she needed her hair done in many small braids. When her mother asked her about the reason for this urgent need, she replied, “There’s only one African-American girl in my class. The other kids tease her about her braids. I want braids too, so she won’t be the only one.” T. Whitney, Kids Like Us: Using Persona Dolls in the
Classroom
14
What children say – The Early Childhood Research Examples of preschoolers’ responses when asked,
What is fair? What is unfair? “Everybody should get to talk” (3 year-old) ‘One person doesn’t get to be the boss all the time”
(4 year-old) “If somebody gets too much, that’s not fair” (4 yearold) “You have to be sure everybody knows not to be mean” (4 year-old)
15
Talk, talk, talk Conversations are a vital part of early childhood
anti-bias and multicultural education because they enable children to connect with others and to begin to see the implications of certain assumptions (Engaging Young Children in Activities and Conversations about Race and Social Class, Rebekka Lee, Patricia Ramsey, and Barbara Sweeney, 2008)
Children’s relatively early cognitive development
makes it difficult for them to discern between accurate depictions and stereotypes about race and social class prevalent in the media and in their communities (Aboud 1988; VanAusdale & Feagin 2001; Katz 2003) 16
17
Engaging Young Children in Activities and Conversations about Race and Social Class
18
Research Base Tourist approach
Meaningful activities and questions Simulations Role playing
19
What Works? Art Activities
Songs Books Puzzles and Games
Role Play (doll houses and dolls)
20
What Are Persona Dolls? A strategy to open up discussion among children
about sometimes difficult topics to talk about The Dolls visit children in the program and invite the children to talk with them The Dolls help children learn about similarities and differences among people and to appreciate the hurt that prejudice and discrimination can cause Children are encouraged to actively challenge, together with others, biases, discrimination and exclusion
21
Persona Dolls Each doll is given it’s own identity usually by the
teacher but should reflect children in the class, the whole staff must agree on these features
22
Name Birth date Family make-up A history Race Cultural background Language(s) Personality traits, shy, curious, caring, etc. Personal likes and dislikes
What Does It Look Like? The Persona Doll sits on the lap of the teacher
The Doll does not speak The teacher “listens” to the Doll and acts as the
Doll’s voice The teacher tells the children what the Doll wants to share, leads the conversation, invites the children to tell about themselves and lets them develop their thoughts The Doll shares a variety of stories, happy, sad, funny, difficult, and problematic 23
Creating Stories First Story
The first story should introduce the children to the doll. Share basic information such as the doll’s name, who he/she lives with, age, etc. You can explain that it is the doll’s first day and ask the children to help make him/her feel welcome. Ask for ways that they can do that and then support children to complete those actions such as say hello and introduce themselves, ask the doll to sit next to them, read a story to the doll
Second Story- follow this process from Kids Like Us:
Using Persona Dolls in the Classroom, Trisha Whitney, 1999
24
Introduction- reacquaint the children with who the doll is Situation- outline the situation to be discussed Feelings- ask the children how the doll is feeling Discussion and problem solving- ask children what the doll could do Resolution- give the story an ending, incorporating ideas the children have offered
Possible Story Themes Building Connections
Validating and Supporting Differences Managing Conflict Introduce Diversity
25
How Persona Dolls Support Children Express their own feelings/increase feeling word
vocabulary Develop empathy Learn to interact respectfully with others who are different from themselves Develop an understanding of fairness Prompts children to think about how they can protect themselves against and challenge unfair behavior Supports problem solving 26
First Multicultural A recent term
Describes people from a non-white background,
people of color, or people of all cultures regardless of race
28
What Is Authentic Multicultural Literature? Various perspectives from various sources Authentic books include only those written by a
member of that ethnic group, it’s cultural traditions and it’s people Some believe there are exceptions such as authors who have lived within the culture they are writing about all or most of their lives or provide an accurate representation of the culture being portrayed
29
Authentic Multicultural Literature Con’t In it’s most authentic form it focuses on the reality
of various cultures Includes evidence that the author and illustrator are intimately familiar with the nuances of a culture Illustrations and text are free of stereo-types and misrepresentations Includes nuances, values, and beliefs of a culture
30
Common Issues in Selecting Multicultural Books for Children 1. Popular but problematic books Brother Eagle, Sister Sky 2. A single book can adequately portray that group’s
experience 3. A wide range of quality books are available in libraries and bookstores. 4. Time- to learn about a culture, to locate books, to evaluate Examining Multicultural Picture Books for the Early Childhood Classroom:
Possibilities and Pitfalls, Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese
31
Authentic Multicultural Literature Assessment High literary quality No distortions or omissions of history Stereotyping Loaded words Lifestyles Dialogue
Standards of success The role of females, elders, and family
32
Authentic Multicultural Literature Continued… Possible effects on child’s self-image Illustrations Relationships between characters
from different cultures Heroines and heroes Copyright date Assessment Summary page
33
Activity Choose a book someone brought in
Read the book aloud to table mates Read each indicator and rate it as a group Complete the assessment summary page as a
group
35
Using Multicultural Literature in the Classroom Multicultural Literature Review: Does it meet the goals/criteria of authentic multicultural literature/multiculturalism and your curriculum? How? What discussion topics would you select? Who is the audience/age level? How to introduce it Guiding questions to ask How would you evaluate the impact? Follow-up-family involvement ideas, other extension activities
37
Thank you!!! Anne Marie Davidson
[email protected] 860-679-1589
39
