Promote Equality and diversity

PROMOTE EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN WORK WITH CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE.

3.6 – 1.1 Identify the current legislation and codes of practice relevant to the promotion of equality and valuing of diversity.

While working in school it is important to recognise the current legislation and codes of practice which are relevant to the promotion of equality and valuing of diversity. Those are:

Every Child Matters 2003 and Children Act 2004 updated in 2010 to Help Children Achieve More.

Equality Act 2010.

SEN Code of Practice 2001.

Human Rights Act 1998.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989.

3.6 - 1.2 Explain the importance of promoting the rights of all children and young people to participation and equality of access.

All children have the rights to access the fully access of the curriculum. All children have right to: stay safe, be healthy, enjoy and achieve, economic well being and positive contribution as is stated in Every Child Matters. Also as every child is unique – in all sectors of education should be focus on personalised learning. Inclusion, SEN and equal opportunities policies are a legal requirement for settings and they should clearly state how the provision ensures that all children and their individual needs are catered for. The main points are that: all children have right to play and learn together, they should not be discriminated against for any reason (culture, religion, disabilities, background),children do better in inclusive settings, both academically and socially, children should not need to be separated to achieve, children should be involved and integrated with all of their peers. Every child with special needs should have an individual education plan and the setting should work in partnership with parents and other agencies involved for the benefits of the child. Pre-school settings should state their commitment to ensuring that diversity is reflected and valued within the provision and the practice should reflect this, for instance, newsletters should show awareness of the fact that many parents do not speak English as a first language and if it is not possible to translate them then they should be written in clear easy to understand format. The environment should be welcoming and show images of people from a variety of cultures. Children's background and cultures must be give respect and treated with equal concern. It is the responsibility of the setting to ensure that all children and their families are welcomed, valued and given access to the provision.

3.6 – 1.3 Explain the importance and benefits of valuing and promoting cultural diversity in work with children and young people.

There are number of ways the school will ensure that children and their families feel welcome in school.
My school provides opportunities for the moral, social and cultural education of its children to ensure that they understand and value social and cultural diversity in Britain and the world. An essential part of preparation for adult life is preparation to live in a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multi-faith society and this is positively promoted in our school. The school, therefore, does not allow any form of bullying, racism and other forms of violence, whether physical, intellectual or emotional towards any child, thus making sure that it is a safe place where everyone can learn together.
How we do this:

By making children feel valued and good about themselves.
By ensuring that children have equality of access to learning.
By making adjustments to the environment and resources to accommodate a wide range of cultures.(e.g. Bilingual books, different colours of paint, play dough, maths and literacy work shits with multicultural drawings on them).
By positively reflecting the widest possible range of communities in the choice of resources.
By avoiding stereotypes or derogatory images in the selection of books or other visual materials.
By celebrating a wide range of festivals e.g. Diwali and Eid.
By creating an environment of mutual respect and tolerance.
By having displays celebrating the multi-cuturalism of the school e.g. world flags.
By encouraging positive behaviour in children e.g. kindness and inclusion.
By learning about different faiths and cultural practices as part of the curriculum. Our school recognises that the diversity of languages spoken by children and families is a cultural asset. By valuing home languages we are supporting children’s developing cultural identity and their self-esteem. Our bilingual children understand that the diversity of languages spoken within the school is highly valued by staff and a reason for celebration, and this helps all our children to feel settled, happy and valued. When children talk about the different languages they speak, this increases their awareness of the use of language, and makes more confident in speaking their home languages, and this, in turn, develops their skills in English.
In our school we have multi-lingual books within the school library, we ask children to translate words into their own language, we learn important words and phrases of different languages to make children feel welcome and valued e.g. “hello”, “mum”, “dad”.

3.6 – 1.4 Interact with children and young people in a way that values diversity and respects cultural, religious and ethnic differences.

1. Teachers in Saint John Bosco display pictures, posters and other materials that reflect the cultures and ethnic backgrounds of children and families served in our school.
.
2. We select props for the dramatic play/housekeeping areas that are culturally diverse (e.g. dolls, clothing, cooking utensils, household articles, furniture)

3. We ensure that the book/literacy area has pictures and storybooks that reflect the different cultures of children and families served in my class. 4. We ensure that table-top toys and other play accessories (that depict people) are representative of the various cultural and ethnic groups both within my community and the society in general.

5. We read a variety of books exposing children in early childhood program or setting to various life experiences of cultures and ethnic groups other than their own.

6. When such books are not available, we provide opportunities for children and their families to create their own books and include them among the resources and materials in my early childhood program or setting.

8. We encourage and provide opportunities for children and their families to share experiences through storytelling, puppets, marionettes, or other props to support the "oral tradition”.

9. We plan trips and community outings to places where children and their families can learn about their own cultural or ethnic history as well as the history of others among many cultures differences.

10. We select videos, films or other media resources reflective of diverse cultures to share with children and families served in my early childhood program or setting.

11. We play a variety of music and introduce musical instruments from many cultures.

12. We ensure that meals provided include foods that are unique to the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of children and families served in my school setting.

13. For children who speak languages or dialects other than English, we attempt to learn and use key words in their language so that I am better able to communicate with them.

14. We use alternative formats and varied approaches to communicate with children and/or their family members who experience disability.

3.6 – 1.5 Demonstrate ways of applying the principles of equality, diversity ant anti-discriminatory practice in own work with children and young people.

During the phonic lesson, class teacher asked me to seat with small group of SEN children. Before that lesson we discussed my role to support the group and we prepared for them materials related to the lesson but on the appropriate level . However, during the activity time, I realised that one of the children – S. was not able to finish this activity, he was getting upset and I knew that he would not bring anything out of this lesson. I decided to speak to the teacher and asked her if there were any other resources we could use to help S. learn his phonic and avoid him feeling excluded from the rest of the class. She told me about very good computer program called Nessie, where children as well as play could learn. I sat next to S. and helped him to achieve level after level and I was sure he learnt much more during our IT lesson, than during normal phonic lesson. What more – I could se how happy he was that I put that effort to include him in lesson in the way what was enjoyable for him.

3.6 – 2.1. Explain ways in which children and young people can experience prejudice and discrimination.

There are many different ways in which children may experience prejudice and discrimination in school. That could be :
When they are judged because of the colour of their skin – children may be bullied, called names etc. This kind of behaviour must come from bullies homes, their friends and family and may be because lack of acceptation when some one is different to them.
When comes to the sport activities – children are divided by their sex e.g. girls skipping on the skipping rope and boys playing football - children being excluded because they are boys or girls, adults are stereotyping what is “boys” and “girls” games.
When children hear or make comments about other child’s appearance or clothes – that again must be something what other adults had to say and children overheard it and repeated it. People are judgmental and like to gossip about others, not taking enough care not to say anything around their children.
When children only playing together with others of the same race or ethnicity – that could be because lack of communication with others in the group, when they speak among themselves in their first language and feel safer not to different.
When children do not play with others who may be different to them - children do not understand why is this person different to them, they do not know how to communicate with e.g. autistic child, so they are avoiding unknown.

3.6 – 2.2 Analyse the impact of prejudice and discrimination on children and young people.

Children can suffer from a climate of prejudice. Prejudice creates social and emotional tension and can lead to fear and anxiety and occasionally hostility and violence. Prejudice and discrimination can undermine the self-esteem and self-confidence of those being ridiculed and make them feel terrible, unaccepted and unworthy. When that happens, their school performance often suffers, they may become depressed and socially withdrawn and childhood can become a much less happy time.
It is critical that every parent help their child deal with diversity in a positive way. Prejudice is learned at a very young age from parents, other children and people and institutions outside of the family. By about 4 years of age, children are aware of differences among people, primarily in characteristics like appearance, language and names, but later they are aware of religious and cultural distinctions as well. To some extent, children begin to define and identify themselves through their understanding of these personal differences. This is normal.
As youngsters try to make sense of these individual distinctions, they may hear and accept simplified stereotypes about others. When that happens, they not only develop distorted views of the youngsters and adults they encounter in daily life, but they may start to deny and overlook the common, universal human elements and traits that would bring people together. As a result, intolerance may develop where there should be friendship.

3.6 – 2.3 Evaluate how own attitudes, values and behaviour could impact on work with children and young people.

Our own backgrounds and upbringing can have a major effect on how we view society or the people around us, our own experiences with certain individuals or groups may result in viewing individuals in a certain way and personal prejudices that we have held in the past could lead to a biased practice, as adults we all have our own individual attitudes, morals and may sometimes show signs of behaviour that may seem normal and accepting to us as adults but not to children and young people, therefore we need to be aware of these by making sure we do not pass these attitudes onto the children and young people in our care. This can be overcome by developing a greater understanding of diverse groups within our society and learning about the different values and beliefs of the children we work with. Not only do we need to be respectful of other beliefs and cultures but we also need to exhibit a good professional attitude in class and around school by demonstrating acceptable behaviour towards both adults and children, using good manners such as ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and instilling these into the children we work with. I personally display a supportive and helpful attitude at all times in school either as a teaching assistant or midday assistant and by showing this to the children allows them to approach me if they have any problems or need someone to talk to. Sometimes we should think about whether we are treating pupils differently because of our own inbuilt ideas. Personal prejudices, which may lead to discriminatory practice, can be overcome through developing a greater understanding of diverse groups in society. For example, we can overcome them by finding out about the religious beliefs and cultures of the children you work with, and by knowing about any special educational needs or disabilities. Do not make assumptions about children and young people. Finding out about their backgrounds, interests, abilities and individual needs will help you to provide more effective, appropriate and personalised support.
I remember the time when I disliked a boy from my son’s class. He used to bully my son, and I was upset by his behaviour. This year I am on the placement in my son’s class, and it was when I realised that boy is actually very likeable and I noticed that all his inappropriate behaviour is due to lack of attention in his home. Instead of disliking that pupil – I actually started to positively communicate with him and I am trying to give him a bit more attention and my time.

3.6 – 2.4 Explain how to promote anti-discriminatory practice in work with children and young people.

WHAT IS ANTI – DISCRIMINATORY EDUCATION?

“For children to have rich and stimulating experiences, the learning environment should be well planned and well organised. No child should be excluded or disadvantaged because of ethnicity, culture, religion, home language, family background, special educational needs, disability, gender or ability (QCA Curriculum Guidance 2000).

Every member of staff is responsible for ensuring that anti-discriminatory practice is endorsed in school and to identify when discrimination is occurring. The Children Act 2004 requires schools and other childcare facilities to promote an anti-discriminatory practice within that setting and also requires all adults who work with children to promote a child’s needs with paramount importance. Every Child Matters outcomes sets standards for; the education, growth and care that children should experience; equality of opportunity for every child and anti-discriminatory practice; partnership working; improving quality and consistency and lays a secure foundation for future learning for children.
Anti-discriminatory practice is about not judging or making assumptions, promoting and protecting - the children and the views of everyone involved in the setting. Where discrimination exists helping to broaden their or the overall understanding is one way to help integrate it into practice and relationships.

Anti-discriminatory practice can be defined as an approach to working with young children that promotes:

• Diversity and the valuing of all differenced A setting whose practice is anti- discriminatory will celebrate and value differences in identities, cultures, religions, abilities and social practices (e.g. celebrating Edi, Chinese New Year, Christmas).

• Self-esteem and positive group identity
A setting will recognise the impact of discrimination, the social inequalities and their effect on children and their families. Such a setting will identify and remove practices and procedures that discriminate. Any form of discrimination should be challenged straight away – for example – when pupils bullied autistic child, their teacher challenged them shortly after the incident, they had to write an apology letter to the bullied pupil and learnt that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in our school.

• Fulfilment of individual potential
A setting will value children and adults for their individuality and ensure a sense of belonging that promotes self-esteem. It will respect where children come from, what they achieve and what they bring to the learning situation. Children from other cultures will feel valued and their knowledge of another language, school staff will often ask those children question about their culture – so the others will have chance to learn and explore different than their culture. All children will have access to full curriculum and play, disabled children will have special adjustments so they won’t feel excluded.
3.6 – 2.5 Explain how to challenge discrimination. Immediately I witness a discriminatory incident I would address the situation by reporting and recording it. By doing this it is more likely to be dealt with in the appropriate manner.
If I overheard someone making a discriminatory remark or not promoting equality or valuing diversity I would challenge them in a calm and professional way and tell them that what they were saying or doing, is unacceptable and explain why. I could also add that I am upset and offended by their discriminatory words and actions and that it is unlawful. In a work setting, discrimination can be a disciplinary matter and policies and procedures will be in place to deal with this.
I could actively challenge discrimination by acting as a role model for positive behaviour and by empowering people to challenge discrimination themselves. Discrimination usually occurs through ignorance. By making a person aware of the facts it will educate them and hopefully change their opinions and actions in the future.
It is very easy to make wrong assumption about other person e.g. on my placement in year 2 supply teacher asked me to seat beside one of the pupil because that boy acted very disruptive and could not calm down. I have to admit – I tried all strategies I know to make that boy behave: prises, talks, sanctions and nothing worked. I was very tired and emotionally wrenched by the end of the school day and started to dislike that boy and even were thinking negative about his parents – things like they did not teach him how to behave and that he most probably spends all his time playing computer games etc. Next day, situation repeated, boy’s behaviour was still the same and no one could do anything about it. One thing that changed – was different, experienced supply teacher. During the “golden time” I asked how she liked this school and class, she said that she did, then we were talking about who should miss five minutes of their “golden time” and I suggested that misbehaving pupil. However, she said that in her opinion this pupil is not misbehaving because he wants to – she said that is something more serious and she will voice that he should be assessed by S.E.N. professionals as he may need extra help. That teached me not to judge or discriminate people only because they are different than others.

3.6 – 3.1 Explain what is meant by inclusion and inclusive practice.

Inclusion involves making sure all children are given the opportunity to access all areas of the curriculum. Equal opportunities and inclusion should take account not only of access to provision on school premises, but also to facilities outside the school setting, for example, on school visits. Different example of inclusion might be introducing a physical aid for a pupil during PE, using thicker pencils with children who have difficulty with fine motor skills, talking about the culture and beliefs of all the children in the class - a child from another country. It is important for teachers to try and provide opportunities for all children to participate in all the activities that they can and want to. This means designing and adapting lessons to suit the needs of individual children. Children's individuality and differences should be celebrated. Inclusion might also mean making changes to the classroom or learning environment for a child who is considered to be gifted and talented. Inclusion is not just about the lower ability children, but all children. Fully inclusive schools, which are rare, no longer distinguish between "general education" and "special education" programs; instead, the school is restructured so that all students learn together.

3.6 – 3.2 Identify barriers to children and young people’s participation.

Barriers to learning and participation – that is anything that prevents the pupils participating fully in activities and experiences offered by the setting service.
These may include:
Physical barriers – lack of access, equipment or resources.
Organisational barriers – school policies, lack of training, lack of diversity within the school curriculum.
Attitudes within the school community – staff, parents and other pupils.
Language barriers.
Age barrier.
Disability – physical disability and mental disability.
Children and young people and parents/carers not wanting to get involved.
Lack of staff, resources, motivation or time within your organisation or project to involve children and young people and parents/carers
Communication barriers such as language and cultural differences.
Lack of skills to listen, and work with children and young people and parents/carers.
Lack of knowledge on safeguarding and concerns over ethical constraints of involving children and young people and parents/carers.
Working flexibly with children and young people and parents/carers. Some issues are: access, time, venues etc.
Lack of confidence in knowing how to involve children and young people and parents/carers meaningfully.
Lack of awareness of the benefits to be gained.
Over enthusiasm by workers who believe they know what is needed and how it should be delivered due to their experience.

3.6 – 3.3 Demonstrate ways of supporting inclusive practices in own work with children and young people.

There are different ways of supporting inclusive practices in our own work. These include:

Respecting individuality and encouraging pupils to do the same e.g. when pupil is sharing his unique news with us (maybe about his culture) we should show interest, react positively, encourage him to share his news with the rest if the class.
Supporting pupils who have additional needs – e.g. some pupils with behaviour problems, they need more attention, more talks with adults, more encouragement and prise.
Challenging any discrimination when it occurs – every child should feel safely and happy at school, so we should challenge any form of discrimination, whatever this is discrimination because of the race, gander, family background etc.
Demonstrating positive relationships with all children and adults – everyone who is learning or working in school should feel a part of the school society; we should treat each other with respect and set the good example among pupils.
Knowing and fallowing my school’s inclusion or equal opportunities policy – that will make sure we are acting lawfully, and treating each other the way is expected from us, e.g. while working on maths activity (coins) I learnt that is possible and advisable to split different abilities groups and learn them by different methods: using the application on the computers, with the real coins, via pictures of the coins and by playing “ shopping” game.