Celebrating diversity
Young refugee children and their families need to feel safe and secure if they are to overcome the many obstacles they face when rebuilding their lives. People in host communities also need opportunities to develop understanding of refugees’ experiences and how they can contribute positively to their communities. Refugees can contribute to all aspects of community life much more effectively, once they feel welcome and supported.
Early years settings play an important role in helping refugee children and their families feel welcome in local communities. By providing a safe and supportive learning environment in which the contribution of all children and families is valued, and by using materials that positively reflect diversity and are free from stereotyping, early years settings can provide opportunities for young children to learn positive attitudes and behaviour towards those who are different from them, including refugees.
The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 places a duty on early years settings that are directly run or maintained by the local education authority, and day nurseries run by social services departments of local authorities to promote good relations between people of different racial groups. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (.pdf) provides guidance to assist early years settings meet their duties under the Act.
The foundation stage curriculum helps children develop the understanding, skills and attitudes they will need in later life. The foundation stage areas of learning for personal, social and emotional development and knowledge and understanding of the world emphasise the need for children to have opportunities to become aware of, explore and question issues of differences in gender, ethnicity, language, religion and culture and of special educational needs and disability issues.
Good practice
By celebrating diversity, strong and positive relationships can grow between children and families from different cultural backgrounds and everyone can develop a sense of belonging to the school and the wider community.
Early childhood development
Research shows that children become aware of visible differences between people before the age of two, and that between two and three they can pick up unspoken attitudes and assumptions. Unlearning Discrimination in the Early Years, published by Trentham Books, challenges some of the preconceptions about early childhood development and provides examples of good practice in developing children’s understanding of racism, sexism, disability and homophobia. It is important to ensure that practitioners are familiar with current knowledge of early childhood development.
A strategic approach
A strategic approach can ensure that everything that the setting does promotes racial equality and counters racial discrimination. Practitioners may find the following useful:
A Policy for Excellence: developing a policy for equality in early years settings, published by early years equality.
Equal Chances: eliminating discrimination and ensuring equality in playgroups, published by Pre-school Learning Alliance.
An Equal Start: Promoting Equal Opportunities in the Early Years (.PDF), published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Scotland, and can be downloaded by scrolling down the list of publications.
Resources that reflect cultural diversity
Early years practitioners can check that books, toys, resources and materials reflect cultural and ethnic diversity and do not encourage negative stereotypes. For example dolls and puppets should have accurate and realistic skin tones, facial features and hair textures. Guidelines For The Evaluation And Selection Of Toys And Other Resources For Children published by The Working Group Against Racism in Children's Resources, provides criteria for selecting resources that are free of racist stereotypes. Categories of resources are dealt with in detail: jigsaws, dolls, musical instruments, dressing-up clothes, home corner equipment and toys to aid literacy and numeracy. Suppliers of multicultural and anti-racist toys, resources and materials include:
Exploration of languages and cultural diversity
Create opportunities for children to explore languages and cultural diversity.
Beyond the Welcome Poster, published by early years equality, suggests ways in which practitioners can promote racial equality across the six areas of learning in the foundation stage, through discussion with children about their attitudes and by using positive visual images and appropriate resources. The guidance in Beyond the Welcome Poster supports work with two sets of full colour photographs and posters, Equal Life, Equal Chances, that depict children from diverse backgrounds in a variety of play situations inside and outside early years settings. These are also available from early years equality.
Persona Dolls
Persona Dolls provide a non-threatening and enjoyable way to raise equality issues and counter stereotypical and discriminatory thinking with early years practitioners and young children. The dolls have their own personalities, families and cultural backgrounds, and likes and dislikes. Children quickly bond and identify with the dolls and see them as small friends; they are happy and sad for them, and talk about their problems. Persona Doll Training is designed to provide hands-on experience in using the dolls, raise awareness and offer opportunities for reflection and discussion of issues including racism, gender, disability, health, culture, religious and other equality issues.
To see Persona Dolls in action please see the Persona Dolls short film extracts.
Combating Discrimination: Persona Dolls in Action, published by Trentham Books, and The Little Book of Persona Dolls published by Featherstone Education are guides to how Persona Dolls can be used successfully.
Local community organisations and parents
Parents and local community organisations can help organise activities or special events to celebrate festivals. Activities and events are enriched by the participation of a broad section of the community, including ethnic minority and refugee groups. The parental involvement and family learning area of this website provides further guidance.
Opportunities to learn about refugees
With very young children, stories about journeys can raise awareness and provide opportunities to share feelings and experiences. Children could explore questions such as 'Which toy would they take with them on a long journey? ' or ' Who would they miss most if they had to leave suddenly?’
Early years settings can also celebrate Refugee Week, which takes place in June each year. This is a nation-wide programme of events that promotes understanding about refugees. It is an excellent opportunity to celebrate cultural diversity and promote positive images of refugees. Early years settings could organise activities assemblies and celebrations involving the community. The Refugee Week website provides information and advice on organising activities.
Share success stories
Local media are often very interested in running positive stories about refugees, and the positive contributions they make to local communities.
Refugees, Asylum-Seekers and Media (RAM) Project provides advice and guidance on working with local journalists.
Community Newswire, a Press Association (PA) and Media Trust initiative funded by the Home Office, helps community and voluntary groups who currently have little contact with the media, to make their voices heard.
Let’s talk to the media, produced by the Refugee Media Group in Wales, is a practical guide for refugee community organisations and other practitioners on working with the media.
Case studies
Portsmouth Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS) developed work with Persona Dolls in several early years settings and schools. Video clips of work in one infant school can be found on the EMAS website Persona Dolls - a case study.
The case study describes a Refugee Week project with Penhale Infant School in Portsmouth. The project developed a series of lessons on refugees, and issues of bias and stereotypes with a class of nursery children. The activities were linked to early learning goals in the personal, social and emotional area of learning in the foundation stage curriculum. The project received a Five Star Rating and was awarded Beacon Status from the Home Office Challenge Fund evaluation in November 2005.
‘Journeys’: A Refugee Week competition for schools (.PDF)
The South of England Refugee and Asylum Seeker Consortium (SERASC) worked in partnership with several LEAs to promote Refugee week in 2004 through a competition for children and young people on the theme of ‘Journeys’. The case study describes how the project provided opportunities to learn about refugees, and develop greater empathy and awareness.
The winning entries from schools in Portsmouth LEA can be viewed on the website of Portsmouth Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS)
SERASC has built on the success of the ‘Journeys’ competition and continues to support ways that LEAs in the south east can collaborate on initiatives which promote refugee integration. For Refugee Week in 2005, they worked with LEAs in Portsmouth, Hampshire and Reading to develop a new web-based interactive quiz aimed at key stage 2 and 3 pupils, designed to dispel myths about refugees.
Celebrating Refugee Week at Star Primary School (.PDF)
Star Primary School, in East London includes children from a wide range of minority ethnic backgrounds most of whom are at the early stages of learning English. Every year the school celebrates Refugee Week in a variety of ways. This case study describes some of the activities and events that have taken place and the benefits to the children, school and community.
See the Star Primary School short film extracts.
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