How can you teach children to value diversity and inclusion?

Children are naturally curious. They are drawn to things that are different and similar to themselves. It is important to help children to embrace differences with some support and boundaries. It is also important to model an appreciation for diversity in your actions and engagements. If you are open to diverse people and perspectives, then children can become open to diverse people and perspectives. Attend events that highlight diverse cultures and experiences and children will grow to expect diversity in all of the spaces that they occupy.

As a mother, a working professional and a person growing up in a nation with citizens who are from very diverse ancestry.. allow me to give my perspective. Children are born with a clean slate. At very early ages they have no bias, they will include everything and everyone, they will try all sorts of activities and accept a lot. You put a child to play in group of other children with different backgrounds, unless someone has taught them to be biased; they will include everyone. They learn from their caretakers, and from observing the world around them. They unlearn how to be inclusive from us. Maybe the question should be how to keep children inclusive and inquisitive about diversity.

Children loves something that sparks and calls for attention. Another easy and extremely effective way is the use of comic books that has heroes with disabilities. This will enable them develop appreciation for diversity and inclusion. It will stimulate empathy and children’s desire to meet persons with disabilities and identify with them and their needs.

Dr Lindsey Cameron researched influences on children’s perceptions of others in groups different to their own. She found that children observe and use subtle non-verbal cues from adults to make their own judgments about who is and who is not a worthy person to work with and have as a friend, and that the quality of interactions between teachers and children is picked up by children and strongly affect their perceptions of children and adults from groups other than their own. Such things as the quality and quantity of eye contact and use of people’s names give strong signals to children and actors models for the respect, value and friendship possibilities regarding people in what the researcher called ‘the outgroup’.

It is very simple. Children practice what they see and hear from their parents. Here are some facts and explanations to support this statement: Social skills: Social interactions and interpersonal skills are learned through observing how parents interact with others. Children pick up on social cues, manners, and communication styles by watching their parents in various social situations. Cultural and value transmission: Parents transmit cultural norms, values, and beliefs to their children through their actions and discussions. Children internalize these values by observing their parents' attitudes and behaviors in different contexts. Conclusion: You are what you preached

This topic is really close to my heart - as a mother and as a professional. Since my husband and I come from very diverse backgrounds, we have been conscious about exposing our son to the richness of all cultures - not just what we represent. In addition to reading and celebrating different cultures, we also find that immersing into the cultural heritage of a new place we travel to or speaking to locals has helped our son build a wider lens to the world.

Include children in interventions such as Circles of friends as they actively support the inclusion of classmates. Such deep learning and social experience.

This, to me, was the most difficult part to be honest. We are surrounded by biases everywhere - in media and books, in stereotypical roles at homes and extended families. How do we explain all these biases to a child? Our answer was instead of fighting or shielding him from these biases, we encourage an open discussion every time we encounter a bias. For example, if he reads in the news about a particular community being referred to in a coloured way, we discuss if the same thing could be done differently.

Challenging stereotypes and biases is an important part of raising children to be respectful and inclusive individuals. The bias and stereotypical thinking today is a whole lot and is affecting the generation here and would affect the ones to come, looking at the widespread of these biases, they may seem impossible, but I believe can one day be achieved. The first thing is that changing the narrative starts with our immediate families and how we make them see the world, especially the children. So talking to your children about stereotypes and biases, exposing them to a variety of cultures and perspectives, and modelling respectful behaviour, can help them to develop critical thinking skills and to become advocates for social justice.

Totally agree with this step because here is where children start to form their own world-view of diversity and inclusion, independent of the grown-ups. They start inquiring and forming their own frames of reference - which they may choose to verify with you if we create a safe space for dissent.

To actually see, meet, play with, interact and work alongside peers who are VERY diverse is probably the best way children really learn about inclusion in a positive way. We as educators need to include the full range of children including those who are very neurodiverse, who do not speak and even those whose behaviour is hard to understand and manage. Children follow are lead. When classmates are sent away to segregated schools and units- what are we teaching them? So often we are removing an amazing asset from the community and deep life lessons!

We have a small startup aimed at developing children's skills so they can be prepared for future changes. One of our goals is to expose children to diversity; that is, to provide opportunities for children to interact with people from different backgrounds, cultures, and abilities. Iran is a country with a variety of cultures in different cities, and we organize child-centered trips so that children can become familiar with this cultural diversity. @Korpeh

It is so important that children see us walk the talk. The scope of diversity and inclusion is so vast, and ever-evolving that it is important for us to continuously learn as well.

Show up with all of your intersectional identities intact and live them out loud in the presence of young people. Too often adults are complicit in sanitizing the environments where we should be our most authentic selves. When young people see the adults who are the leaders they look up to living unapologetically out loud those identities at risk for marginalization, they receive the message that it is okay to be authentic and that it is not expected that they leave their intersectional identities at the door or that they have to turn the volume down on their identities. We must be bravely ourselves if we want young people to do the same. How do you tend to adjust the volume on your intersectional identities and what message does that send?