PROMOTING CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN EARLY YEARS
By Pritam Kumar Agrawal, Founder, Hello Kids Chain of Preschools & Riverstone Schools
“Diversity is the mix. Inclusion is making the mix work.”- Andres Tapia
As Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
If we look in a classroom, it’s very much likely that you can see kids from different family backgrounds, different religions and cultural groups. They might be familiar with their tradition and cultural activities and customs from home. However they will be unaware and ignorant of that of their classmates and this ignorance is swiped away by preschools through several methods imparting awareness about varied cultures and customs and instilling in the kids’ minds acceptance and inclusion of the diversity. Diversity is easily visible even from the attire and customary practices like wearing head scarf or sacred marks on forehead. This might sometimes leads to kids maintaining a distance from other kids on these regards rooting from the unfamiliarity they have of those practices or gestures or language of others which instil in their mind that those kids don’t belong to their herd during their initial days at school however slowly we can see kids embracing the diversity and becoming friends with each other.
Culture awareness is very much necessary for accepting the diversity and further embracing it. One must realize that there’s something to learn and imbibe from every culture. It’s also important that this awareness about culture and diverse beliefs should start from early years as kids from young age shows greater curiosity to know everything new and moreover develop their own perspectives about each if not given proper guidance and understanding. Hence, for inclusion of diverse beliefs cultural awareness from early childhood is essential. Kids generally try to emulate their parents during their early childhood and hence parents can positively orient them in cultivating an inclusive behaviour in kids. Parents can invite their friends or even their kids’ classmates to home and treat them well. This will serve as an example for kids to behave well with people who seems to be different from them in different aspects and also they gradually realize that seemingly differences apart, all are humans and all are alike and one. Parents can try to show kids the diverse phenomenon and cultural aspects while travelling with kids and should inspire them to appreciate it.
If we observe our working environment, we see this cultural diversity among our colleagues. Not just that but in every strata of society, we see the coming together of different ethnicities, races, religion, genders though there are commotions and discriminations. Why these seclusions and oppressions? Why discriminations and violence on these diversities? It’s because of lack of cultural awareness from early years. If you dig deep in to any culture or religion or myths, you will find that all of them teach you to love and respect each other. Certain humans have created chaos and keep doing it for personal benefits by misleading millions out there creating blood sheds and hatred. Show your kids examples from nature that diversity is strength and there’s a mesmerizing beauty in it. As kids grow, they will have to work in a multicultural environment and these awareness classes from preschools make them capable for that.
Have you ever wondered that culture can drive development? Yes! It can. Colour and culture broaden a child’s perspective about life and the world. For social, economic and cognitive development, culture helps with appropriate impact.
Cultural background gives the individuals a sense of who they are and about the way the society existed and their ancestors lived as culture is not made in one day but it was something that was in place and practise for so long ago than the ancestors of yours you have heard of. The culture, customs and beliefs, languages, food, religious practices, art forms etc kids experience since their birth or the time they can remember has an influence in their emotional, social, physical and linguistic development.
Cultural awareness is very much necessary in avoiding prejudices. Kids might be fed with wrong notions by family members or neighbours and that might plant the seeds of prejudices in their mind. This might be reflected in their behaviour and social attitude which might have inevitable consequences. To avoid this proper awareness about culture and importance of respecting the differences should be taught to kids from preschool age.
Not every time kids are fed with prejudices but the unfamiliarity of kids about different cultures can also be the reason why they show indifference to certain people and practices. Instead of forcing things on them and humiliating them, they must be given clarity and advices as required. Several practices at preschools and schools can be of great help in accomplishing these. Welcome signs at preschools in different languages, books reflecting different cultural backgrounds in curriculum, celebration of various festivals at school etc can exemplify and impart cultural awareness. Hello Kids Preschool use to organise preschool celebrations of various festivals at schools for the happiness of kids in addition to the motive of making them aware of the diverse society they live and to familiarize them with the culture and different festivals and reason behind the commemoration of such fests. Pritam Agarwal the founder of Hello Kids says that it’s very important to embrace the diverse cultures and that they try to impart it to the students of their preschools.
The generally used method to make kids aware that all are one nevertheless the cultural and religious differences are the ‘uniforms’. Kids quickly learn things through what they visually experience. They see that all are given same clothes or the uniform and that it’s because they all deserve the same and moreover that all are one; all are humans. Also, during lunch breaks kids see varied kinds of food in the lunch boxes of other kids. Preschool teachers must motivate kids to share food occasionally. The different flavours and varieties of food and cuisines is yet another way to familiarise diversity and food and tastes are always embraced and never disliked altogether.
Cultural competence is a very important factor and it should be inculcated among the kids of preschool age as it is an opportunity to increase the sense of belonging of individual kids while simultaneously entails the duty of enabling the kids to be more aware of our differences and similarities as groups.
Cultural Competence is described by the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) as “much more than an awareness of cultural differences. It is the ability to understand, communicate with and effectively interact with people across cultures.”
Cultural differences are forgotten and the diverse cultures join hands during the times of crises. Also, culture has other roles like it influences identity, debate and dialogues. Cultural awareness is also necessary for peace and harmony, nation building and unity of citizens and also at times of reconciliation among humans of the entire world. Community plays an important role in cementing ideas and also creating changes in the arena of diverse cultures, religions, attitudes and beliefs. It’s duty of each individual as part of the whole community to awaken in the younger generations the quality of inclusion.
Help the future generations break stereotypes, embrace cultural differences, swipe away all kinds of discriminations and move ahead with inclusive development. Remember the words of Aude Lorde- “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences.”
Pritam Kumar Agrawal, believes in this anonymous quote “Travel the world. Understand the different cultures. Be inspired by beauty everywhere. Make friends all over. Be a citizen of the world.”
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