Parents and teachers perceptions of the effectiveness of Equality Practice for children from culturally diverse background: Examining Perception of equality practice in Early Year

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Action Plan Summary

Focus of the Research

Learning how to live with people from different communities and countries and with different histories, customs, and languages is often absent from today's public school curriculum. At a time when the world becomes increasingly multicultural, our classrooms have remained stagnant environments where dominant narratives construct U.K. history, devoid of the histories and experiences of other social groups. As children become aware of their race, ethnicity, class and gender identities at the age of four (Ramsey, 1991; Sani &: Bennett, 2004) and begin to develop feelings of prejudice and discrimination as young as five (Sani &: Bennett, 2004, p. 77), studying the construction of these identities in the context of a preschool classroom is important to developing a more integrative multicultural curriculum.

Even if teachers do not hold any negative or racial attitudes towards students, their interactional and pedagogical styles can conflict with culturally diverse students. Lack of culturally relevant instruction and pedagogy can lead to a classroom environment that does not facilitate the success of culturally diverse students. Moreover, as parents are central to the lives of their children, they also play a critical role in developing a sense of equality in their children. By working with teachers, they can improve the effectiveness of multicultural education and thus, help the society to become much better for people from diverse cultures.

There is a dearth of studies that examine how a critical consciousness can be developed in young children through a multicultural curriculum that incorporates subordinated social identities and social context. In this dissertation, I will examine the perception of parents and teachers regarding the equality practice for children from culturally diverse background. The findings will illustrate how current multicultural teaching methods construct subordinated social identities in a manner that “Others” these groups, rather than provides a true integration of difference.

Research questions

The parents have the greatest influence on how their children perceive, think, and form opinions; and consequently on the outcomes of their children's educational experiences. Similarly, educational settings provide a place where children from different culture meet, and therefore, it is the responsibility of the teacher to use culturally responsive teaching methods that eradicate prejudice and discrimination against different cultures. It is important to find out more about how and what the parents and teachers think about Equality practice in Early years' education. Therefore, the study attempts to answer the following research questions:

What is the perception of teachers regarding equality practice for children from culturally diverse background in preschool educational setting?

What is the perception of parents regarding equality practice for children from culturally diverse background in preschool educational setting?

To what extent has the expectations of parents and teachers regarding Equality Practice in Early Years' education has been met?

Aims

The following are the aims of the study:

To examine the parents and teachers perceptions of the effectiveness of equality practice for ...