Children are able to recognize that people are different and they look different as well. It is unfortunate when a child does not feel comfortable in their own skin. There is nothing that can be changed about skin color for the most part. We need to teach children to appreciate the differences of eachother even the differences of our skin.
One thing that can be done is to have children explore skin colors. They can see the different shades on their own body and look for any freckles or birth marks that set them apart. Then they could find the similarities in their skin, for example, everyone’s skin gets cold when it is touched by an ice pack and lady bugs tickle our skin when they crawl. There are also many books that explore different cultures and people from all over the world. The more children learn about eachother and themselves, the more accepting and understanding they are likely to be towards others. Sometimes there is a fear or dislike of people because of unfimiliarities, a fear of the unknown.
Children often have some very interesting ideas of why they are the color that they are. I heard one boy say he was white because he lived on the east end of the island. Another girl said she used to be white but then she ate and she turned brown. It is very important to teach children about acceptance and equality and we need to remember that they are young children who often have very mixed up views of the world.
Another important factor contributing to a child’s outlook on others and themselves is their family. Often a child coming from a prejudice household is likely to come out with some distorted views on the world. Sometimes families need to be educated and helped through some challenging issues that they may have.
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Hey Kawai,
ReplyDeleteWhere I came from I remember I had very little opportunity seeing an African American. Mainly because of lack of exposure and knowledge of people of dark color skin. I was afraid to even get close to the minority African American in my country. I was never educated that people come from different areas of the world have different color of skins. I also hope what we do to educate our children and help them to change their point of views about different color of skins among their peers.
Ivy
I remember having a boy in my class who was both Caucasian (from mom) and African-American (from dad). At the beginning of the school year we did a study on our bodies and the topic of skin color came up. This boy had made up his mind that he was ONLY brown, like his dad. Though his father was a darker color than he, he had figured that he was nowhere close to looking "white" that he must have been only brown. I didn't force the issue on him but wanted to talk about children from two different races. I didn't bring any special attention to him and his family, but talked to the entire class about it. Though the boy thought he was only brown he at least knew that his mom was white and his dad was brown, which, after the next week, he said makes light brown, which is what he started to refer to his skin color as. It kind of makes you wonder: How do children make sense about race and skin color?
ReplyDeleteHello Kawai,
ReplyDeleteI was born and raised in homogeneous society, so I have been still confused how to deal with the cultural and racial issues.
I agree with you that children coming from a prejudice household are likely to come out with some biased thoughts toward to other cultures. Some families might need to be educated because young children also need to learn about being a flexible, a thoughtful, and bias free at home. We live in a multicultural society!!
Aloha Kawai,
ReplyDeleteI agree that we do need to teach children to appreciate differences of each other, such as different skin colors. Using books, props and family members can help with exploring different people and cultures represented around the world. I feel advantaged living in a place like Hawaii because we are surrounded by people of many different backgrounds and skin colors. My question is, "how can we make use of "teachable moments" to ensure children appreciate their skin colors as well as those around them?"
Hi Kawai,
ReplyDeleteYou have touched upon something I have not read on other blogs yet, the role of family in creating and perpetuating stereotypes and, in some cases, racism. How do educators respond to this? Do we accept these ideas in order to follow through on the typical ece practice of connecting home and school?
I recently wrote a chapter on gender discussing how myself and my co-teacher responded to a child sharing very traditional gender roles in his family. In the research, we tried to disrupt how this child came to understand what it meant to be a boy in order to help him see beyond his viewpoint. Yet, were we wrong in our choice? Did we violate the connection between home and school?
When should this connection be disrupted? Is the classroom as important as the home?
Jeanne
Hi!
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good idea for children to learn similarities and differences in people. One activity I was involved with for my preschool class was tracing the child's body and have the paint their body with the same color skin tone as their own. It was a positive and fun activity for children the learn similarities and differences about them an other. This activity will also teach them how to respect one another because we may be different physically but we all having one heart and a brain to understand treating people the way we want to be treated.