Cultural diversity in early childhood education

Cultural Diversity

The Importance of Diversity Curriculum

Imagine a young child in a preschool classroom, the lone Hispanic student among his white and African-American classmates. He is teased about his appearance and slight accent, as well as the fact that he can speak Spanish. Now, imagine that same student in high school being offered an entry into honors-level Spanish and refusing to take the class because of this early childhood experience. From preschool through post-graduate school, it is important to encourage cultural diversity in the classroom in order to help students develop their self-identity and synthesize their learning with their personal backgrounds. It is of the utmost importance not only to understand the importance of a diverse curriculum that addresses the needs of students of different cultures, genders, socio-economic status, and family structures, but also to plan and implement a curriculum of that sort.

It is important to develop a diverse curriculum in order to dispel students' stereotypes regarding other ethnic groups, as well as to teach the importance and benefits of diversity. According to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (n.d.), the federal government agrees with this, passing The Race Relations Act in 2002, which "requires every school to have a policy about valuing diversity and challenging racism," as well as developing a curriculum "that meets the specific needs of individuals and groups of pupils" (para. 1). By learning about diversity, students will be better able to accept others and lead unified lives in their future. According to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (n.d.), teaching diversity-based curriculum can create more unified schools (para. 3). In Humphreys' (1998) article about diversity in the college curriculum, the author states that diverse curriculums help students work together across cultural and ethnic lines that would have otherwise separated them (para. 5). In addition to foster awareness and building communities, diverse curriculum is needed in order to include all students and for standards of fairness ("Curriculum, 2008, para. 2).

Actually implementing this diverse curriculum, however, can be difficult. In my classroom, I intend to focus on diversity by gaining a basic understanding of diversity and "expanding on our [the students and my] understanding of diversity" (Guion, Chattaraj, and Lytle, 2004, para. 7). I plan to use this first step in the curriculum by asking my students to think about how they are different from each other and why that is a good thing. I will let students share aspects of their cultural heritage, as well as any other differences that they want to share, such as spiritual differences.