Beyond "We are One": Teaching Inclusion in Young Children

Teaching inclusion and empathy is an essential Center value and has been since the school’s founding in 1939. Today, that focus continues to drive the school’s mission to provide a diverse, nurturing learning environment focused on social-emotional wellbeing. The Center is committed to equipping students with the skills they will need to recognize bias and champion equity for all.

Parents and teachers alike know that young children are naturally curious about differences they observe, whether they be in physical appearance or skin color, family makeup, ability, socio-economic status, or gender. Research shows that the “colorblind” approach to teaching young children “we are all the same,” is not effective and does not address the questions that children have about differences. Some adults may believe that talking about our differences in more depth will prompt kids to “notice” differences for the first time, when in fact children are categorizing people by skin color and gender as early as six months old.

A few years ago, a group of Early Childhood teachers started to examine their approach to teaching these mission-driven values to the youngest Center students. They delved into research on the best practices for addressing bias with preschool-age children and discovered that while much of what they were doing fit into the new paradigm, they had an opportunity to incorporate more anti-bias practices into the regular school day and classroom space. Describing their process, they were clear that an “effective anti-bias curriculum is more than an activity-based lesson plan or a monthly theme.”

With the goal of creating an environment in which acknowledging differences, questioning biases, and promoting tolerance are the norm, the teachers found inspiration in the work of Julie Olsen Edwards and Louise Derman-Sparks, authors of Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. In their book, Edwards and Derman-Sparks lay out the four major goals of Anti-Bias Education.

Goals of Anti-Bias Education (Olsen Edwards and Derman-Sparks)

1. Each child will demonstrate self-awareness, confidence, family pride and positive social identities.

2. Each child will express comfort and joy with human diversity; accurate language for human differences; and deep, caring human connections.

3. Each child will increasingly recognize unfairness, have language to describe unfairness, and understand that unfairness hurts.

4. Each child will demonstrate empowerment and the skills to act, with others or alone, against unfairness.

In evaluating the curriculum through the lens of these goals, the team felt that the existing program regularly met goals 1 and 2 in helping children build self-awareness and confidence in themselves while celebrating diversity. Early Childhood students have ample opportunities to share their family culture and traditions with their classmates regularly during the year. Classes create and share family identity boards with photos that depict the students’ family background and culture, and students enjoy personal birthday celebrations during which they can share things most important to them at home and at school. When discussing questions about immigration last year, for instance, teachers guided students through activities in which they examined who they are, where their families came from, why people immigrate, and what it means for our society.

In the classroom, teachers work with their students daily to stretch their perspectives by exploring, inquiring about, and celebrating differences through visual arts, sensory play, and literature. Dramatic play corners have dolls with various skin colors, and clothing that represents a range of cultures and experiences. Mirrors are placed strategically around the classroom to encourage children to see themselves and recognize the similarities and differences in one another’s physical appearance. Teachers encourage students to use accurate terms for who we are, ensuring that children have the language to thoughtfully engage with these issues. Exercises like these help children become comfortable talking about physical differences as a normal part of their school day.

Picture books are also a powerful way for teachers to introduce empathy, compassion, and inclusion. An effective anti-bias library is full of books that provide both “windows” into the lives of people different than the students, and “mirrors” so the students can see themselves reflected in stories. Books that address stereotypes, such as “The Big Bad Wold Turns Good,” subtly address bias and discrimination by challenging archtypical narratives. Others, like “My Princess Boy,” use explicit language to talk about diversity and acceptance. Both stories provide an opportunity to discuss ideas of equity, fairness, and justice.

Accomplishing Anti-Bias Education goals 3 and 4—recognizing unfairness and acting against it—is more complex, especially with younger students. Finding ways to discuss emerging issues with children and empowering them to act against prejudice must be done at a developmentally appropriate level.

As former EC1 teacher and current Interim Assistant Director of EC Programs, Jenna Janzen, explains, “In the world we live in today, children come in asking questions we’ve never heard before—on the topic of police brutality, for example. Students were asking, ‘Are policeman good or bad?’ ‘Why do policemen carry guns if they are good guys?’ ‘My mom said that sometimes policemen arrest the wrong people. Is that true?’ As educators, we felt a responsibility to answer these questions honestly instead of dismissing them. It is our job to address sensitive topics at a developmentallyappropriate level so the conversation is safe and empowering for all kids.”

Jenna notes how it is preferable to say to a child that you don’t know the answer when faced with a difficult question, and opening the opportunity to explore the answers together, instead of providing an inaccurate answer or shying away from the source of the question. Approaching tough questions this way gives children the support to learn more and develop their ability to see and act against unfairness.

Beyond Early Childhood classrooms, teachers across grade levels create opportunities to examine bias and build empathy. In second grade/EC1 reading buddies, students form meaningful relationships with smaller children through reading and storytelling. In fifth grade as well as EC1, the teachers created a unit on consequential “Changemakers,” and introduced stories of young children around the world who are making a difference by speaking up against unfairness and inequality. Teachers are continually finding new opportunities to increase representation in their curriculum in order to achieve the goals of anti-bias education.

As research and teaching practices evolve, CEE faculty and students will build upon these layered experiences to empower them to act against injustice and promote equality for all.

Books are a key mode for teachers to introduce ideas of representation and promoting empathy. Sometimes books that represent a new image, such as “My Princess Boy,” can be sufficient to drive conversation, whereas other books use explicit language to talk about diversity and acceptance. Students and teachers explore ideas of equity and fairness when reading aloud and reflecting on these stories together.