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Why Is It Important And How Can It Be Done In A Developmentally Appropriate

Way?Stone Soup Conference

October 22, 2013Anne Marie Davidson

AJ Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities

Talking to Young Children About Race

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ObjectivesParticipants 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

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Ground Rules

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Deep Structure of Culture• Culture is a set of rules for behavior, influencing,

not causing, 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

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Town Meeting: Exploring Your Culture

Patterns of communicationSocial valuesPreferred ways of learningChild rearing practicesFamily Structure/adult child interactionsOutward displays of culture

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Influence of Culture on Development

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.

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How Do You Experience Race?What is race?

Share your earliest memory of race

And a most recent

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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

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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

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Young Children and RaceMany 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.

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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?

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What children say – The Early Childhood ResearchC (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)

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What adults think

“Most adults refuse to accept that 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.”

Van Ausdale and Feagin, 2001

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What children say – The Early Childhood ResearchA 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

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What children say – The Early Childhood ResearchExamples 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 year-old)“You have to be sure everybody knows not to

be mean” (4 year-old)

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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)

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Engaging Young Children in Activities and Conversations about Race and Social Class

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Research BaseTourist approachMeaningful activities and questionsSimulationsRole playing

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What Works?Art ActivitiesSongsBooksPuzzles and GamesRole Play (doll houses and dolls)

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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

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Persona DollsEach 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 featuresNameBirth dateFamily make-upA historyRaceCultural backgroundLanguage(s)Personality traits, shy, curious, caring, etc.Personal likes and dislikes

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What Does It Look Like?The Persona Doll sits on the lap of the

teacherThe Doll does not speakThe teacher “listens” to the Doll and acts as

the Doll’s voiceThe 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

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Creating StoriesFirst 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

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

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Possible Story ThemesBuilding ConnectionsValidating and Supporting DifferencesManaging ConflictIntroduce Diversity

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How Persona Dolls Support ChildrenExpress their own feelings/increase feeling

word vocabularyDevelop empathyLearn to interact respectfully with others

who are different from themselvesDevelop an understanding of fairnessPrompts children to think about how they

can protect themselves against and challenge unfair behavior

Supports problem solving

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First MulticulturalA recent termDescribes people from a non-white

background, people of color, or people of all cultures regardless of race

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What Is Authentic Multicultural Literature?

Various perspectives from various sourcesAuthentic 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

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Authentic Multicultural Literature Con’tIn it’s most authentic form it focuses on the

reality of various culturesIncludes 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

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Common Issues in Selecting Multicultural Books for Children1. Popular but problematic books

Brother Eagle, Sister Sky2. A single book can adequately portray that group’s

experience3. A wide range of quality books are available in

libraries and bookstores.4. Time- to learn about a culture, to locate books, to

evaluateExamining Multicultural Picture Books for the Early Childhood

Classroom: Possibilities and Pitfalls, Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese

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Authentic Multicultural Literature Assessment

High literary qualityNo distortions or omissions of historyStereotypingLoaded wordsLifestylesDialogueStandards of successThe role of females, elders, and

family

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Authentic Multicultural Literature Continued…

Possible effects on child’s self-image

IllustrationsRelationships between

characters from different culturesHeroines and heroesCopyright dateAssessment Summary page

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ActivityChoose a book someone brought inRead the book aloud to table matesRead each indicator and rate it as a groupComplete the assessment summary page as

a group

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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 itGuiding questions to askHow would you evaluate the impact?Follow-up-family involvement ideas,

other extension activities

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Thank you!!!

Anne Marie Davidsonadavidson@uchc.edu860-679-1589