Challenging racism and stereotypes in OSHC settings · 2016. 10. 25. · understanding (Bussey &...
Transcript of Challenging racism and stereotypes in OSHC settings · 2016. 10. 25. · understanding (Bussey &...
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C a p a c i t y | C o m m u n i t y | C o l l a b o r a t i o n
Challenging racism and stereotypes in OSHC settings
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http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Article 29 – Education
• Respect for the child's parents
• Cultural identity, language and values
• Responsible life in a free society
• Spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality and
friendship
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http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Article 30 – Cultural and linguistic rights
• Enjoy his or her own culture
• To profess and practise his or her own religion
• To use his or her own language.
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What is culture?
What is culture? Culture can be defined as ‘what we create
beyond our biology. Not given to us, but made by us’
(Williams, in MacNaughton 2003, p.14).
Using this definition, culture incorporates the scope of
human diversity and ways of being, such as gender,
ethnicity, class, religion, ability, age, and sexuality.
Educators Guide to the Framework for School Age Care, p58
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What is culture?
What does culture mean for you?
What are some of the examples of different cultural
backgrounds and understandings within your service?
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Cultural competence
• Using the Educators Guide to the Framework for School
Age Care, p57, develop your own working definition of
cultural competence
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Cultural competence
• Willingness and actions to build understanding
between people
• Respectful and open to different perspectives
• Understanding each other’s expectations and attitudes
• Being willing to find out more
Educators Guide to the Framework for School Age Care, p57
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Culture and language
• Inseparable
• Scope of nuances in language
• Cultural messages conveyed by language choices
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Culture and identity
As culturally competent educators we need to think deeply
about how our work can support each child’s developing
identity and self worth.
Educators Guide to the Framework for School Age Care, p58
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Our role as educators
• Why are educators important in relation to a child’s
developing identity?
• In your opinion, why is it important to discuss racism
and discrimination in childhood?
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What is racism? What is discrimination?
Racism and discrimination are always operating in every
social setting – not just when an incident occurs
• Concepts and thinking
• Spoken discourse
• Everyday experiences, restrictions and privileges
• Identities
Swindler Boutte et al 2011
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What is racism? What is discrimination?
Institutional racism
Important not to personalise in reflections
Swindler Boutte et al 2011
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Racism and discrimination in childhood
The vast majority of educators do not intentionally commit
acts of racism.
Nonetheless, anybody can contribute to institutional
racism unless efforts are taken to avoid doing so.
Swindler Boutte et al 2011
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Racism and discrimination in childhood
• Schools and care settings are not neutral spaces
• Children absorb attitudes from wider society
• Children need opportunities to formulate and question
initial understandings of difference
Swindler Boutte et al 2011
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Stereotypes
• From very early on, children absorb stereotypes that
surround then concerning their own and others’
identities.
• Children pay close attention to how the important
people in their lives feel about differences and
similarities.
Derman-Sparks and Olsen Edwards 2010
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Stereotypes
• Adults do not necessarily believe stereotypes to be true,
but young children are less flexible in their
understanding (Bussey & Bandura, 1999; Golombok &
Fivush, 1994)
Ambady et al 2001
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Raising awareness of the social information children
absorb from us
• Identification I am a girl
• Social information Girls don’t do maths
or stereotype
• Self-concept I don’t do maths
Meltzoff 2012
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Our role as educators
• We need to think about our own values, beliefs and
attitudes and acknowledge and address any bias we
have.
• Recognising and addressing bias is part of becoming a
culturally competent educator.
Educators Guide to the Framework for School Age Care, p58
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Assessing your own comfort level
• I would rather not talk about discrimination and racism
• I am always/usually/sometimes uncomfortable talking
about discrimination and racism
• I am very comfortable talking about discrimination and
racism
Adapted from Teaching Tolerance 2016
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Assessing your own comfort level
• I feel underprepared to talk about discrimination and racism
• I am worried I won’t have the skills to answer children’s
questions about discrimination and racism
• I try to redirect conversations with children where
discrimination or racism are highlighted
• Others don’t understand my own experiences with racism or
discrimination
Adapted from Teaching Tolerance 2016
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Assessing your own comfort level
• The hardest part of talking about racism for me is…
• The benefits of talking about racism in my opinion are…
• I am worried about talking about race and racism because…
• My experiences regarding discrimination and racism are different
to others’ because…
• The things I need to help me feel prepared when talking about
discrimination and racism are…
Adapted from Teaching Tolerance 2016
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Assessing your own privileges
• I can, if I want to, be in the company of people of my race most
of the time.
• I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured
that I will not be followed or harassed.
• I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the
paper and see people of my race widely represented.
• I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
Adapted from McIntosh 1990
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Our role as educators
• Overt and covert messages
• What are families talking about with their children?
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Our role as educators
• What are the overt values of your service?
• What else could you add to your overt values?
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Our role as educators
• How can we challenge racism and stereotypes on a daily basis
(not when an incident occurs?)
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Things to consider
• Our language choices
• Planning and documentation
• Resources
• Environments
• Family engagement
• Community input
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Our role as educators
• What strategies can we use when a specific incident of racist or
discriminatory behaviour occurs in our setting?
• What support do you need?
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Action planning
Commit to three actions to:
1. Support a child’s sense of identity and self worth
2. Take a strong approach to racism and bias
3. Uphold the cultural and linguistic rights of every child
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Our role as educators
Our will and actions to build understanding between
people, to be respectful and open to different cultural
perspectives, to strengthen cultural security and work
towards equality in opportunity.
Educators Guide to the Framework for School Age Care, p57
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Useful websites
• FKA’s Home page
• www.fka.org.au
• Request Bicultural Support
• http://fka.org.au/bi-cultural-support/request-bicultural-support
• FKA Multicultural Resource Centre and Catalogue
• http://library.fka.com.au/
• FKA Translated information for families
• http://fka.org.au/resources/translated-information-for-families
• FKA Reflective Tip Sheets for Educators
• http://fka.org.au/resources/tip-sheets
• UNICEF Information for Children
• http://www.unicef.org.au/our-work/information-for-children
• http://www.unicef.org/rightsite/files/uncrcchilldfriendlylanguage.pdf
http://www.fka.org.au/http://fka.org.au/bi-cultural-support/request-bicultural-supporthttp://library.fka.com.au/http://fka.org.au/resources/translated-information-for-familieshttp://fka.org.au/resources/tip-sheetshttp://www.unicef.org.au/our-work/information-for-childrenhttp://www.unicef.org/rightsite/files/uncrcchilldfriendlylanguage.pdf
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References
Ambady, N, Shih, M, Kim, A and Pittinsky, T, 2001, Stereotype susceptibility in children: Effects of identity activation on quantitative
performance, in Psychological Science, Vol. 12, No. 5, September 2001.
CLASAlliance, 2012, What is cultural competence and why is it important?, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTh3pe8N3DQ
Commonwealth of Australia, My Time Our Place, Framework for School Age Care in Australia
Commonwealth of Australia, Educators' guide to the Framework for School Age Care in Australia
Derman-Sparks, L and Olsen Edwards, J, 2010, Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves, Washington, D.: National
Association for the Education of Young Children
McIntosh, P, 1990, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, in Independent School, Winter 1990,
http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/ele3600/mcintosh.html
Meltzoff, A, 2012, Early Interpersonal Relations, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbGT-enRSFk
Swindler Boutte, G, Lopez-Robertson, J and Powers-Costello, E, 2011, Moving Beyond Colorblindness in Early Childhood Classrooms,
in Early Childhood Education Journal, Issue 39, pp335-342
Teaching Tolerance 2016, Begin within, in Teaching Tolerance Magazine, Issue 52, Spring 2016,
http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-52-spring-2016
United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner - Convention on the Rights of the Child;
www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
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Section break
heading to go
here.
Thank you.
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