What is Anti-Bias Education? Teaching children to respect,…

Question Answered step-by-step What is Anti-Bias Education? Teaching children to respect,… What is Anti-Bias Education?• Teaching children to respect, appreciate, and positively interact with people who are different from them• Teaching children to avoid teasing and name-calling• To stand up for themselves and others who are experiencing bias Research Shows• Children begin to notice differences and evaluate categories very early on• Biases influence children’s self- concept and attitudes toward others • Children construct their identity and attitudes through the interaction of 3 factors:• 1. Experience with their bodies• 2. Experience with their social environment• 3. Their cognitive developmental stage The Role of an Educator• Accept cultural differences• Describe a safe and nurturing environment for all children (affirm & respect cultural/linguistic differences)• Use materials that demonstrate acceptance of all children’s gender, family, race, language, culture, and special needs.• Design and offer learning opportunities reflecting the cultures represented in the community of the program• Work effectively with families from a variety of cultural linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds• Find ways to prevent and counter damage before it becomes too deep Remember!!• Children learn to reject bias through our modeling, classroom materials, classroom activities, and community involvement. Goals and Teaching Guidelines for Anti-Bias Education with Young Children  Anti-Bias Teaching builds on four interacting goals.  These goals are for all children, though the ways of working towards these goals will depend each child’s age, family background and culture and specific life experiencesGoal One Nurture each child’s construction of knowledge confident self identity and group identityThis goal requires the creation of educational settings in which all children are able to like themselves without needing to feel superior to anyone else.  It also means enabling children to develop biculturally- it means developing the capacity for comfortable cross-cultural interaction. Goal Two Promote each child’s comfortable, empathetic interaction with people from diverse backgrounds. This goal means guiding children’s development of the cognitive awareness, emotional disposition, and behavioral skills needed to respectfully and effectively learn about differences, comfortably negotiate and adapt to differences, and cognitively understand and emotionally accept the common humanity that all people share. Goal Two Promote each child’s comfortable, empathetic interaction with people from diverse backgrounds. This goal means guiding children’s development of the cognitive awareness, emotional disposition, and behavioral skills needed to respectfully and effectively learn about differences, comfortably negotiate and adapt to differences, and cognitively understand and emotionally accept the common humanity that all people share. Goal Three Foster each child’s critical thinking about bias. To achieve this goal, we must guide children’s development of the cognitive skills to identify unfair and untrue images (stereotypes). We must help children become aware of comments (teasing, name-calling) and behaviors (exclusion, discrimination) directed at someone because of their gender, race, ethnicity, disability, class, age, weight, or other such personal characteristics. Further, we as educators must help children to develop empathy so that they know that all kinds of bias hurts someone. Goal Four Cultivate each child’s ability to stand up for herself or himself and for others in the face of bias. Critical thinking and empathy are necessary components of acting for oneself or others in the face of bias. This activist goal includes helping every child learn and practice a variety of ways to act when another child acts in a biased manner toward him/her. Choosing Anti-Bias Literature for Young Children”Literature should be both a mirror in which children can see themselves reflected and a window through which children can explore the world around them.”                                                 ~ Linda A. Santora Show people from diverse backgrounds working and playing together Show people using conflict resolution strategies to resolve conflicts in peaceful ways Show both males and females in leadership roles Show people who are differently abled in many roles Good characters represented a variety of backgrounds Represent cultural settings realistically Explore different values and perspectives Lead to discussion with the children 1. Why do you think it is important to teach children to resist bias?  2. As an educator, what impact do you want to have on children, families, and society? 3. If you could change one thing in our country, what would that be?     Arts & Humanities Writing CH DEV 042 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)