The UN Convention on the rights of the child article 28 says that ''Every child has the right to an education'' article 2 says'' The convention applies to every child whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, abilities, whatever they think or say, no matter what type of family they come from''. Schools have a duty to adhere to this legislation, they way that they do this is by adopting anti-discriminatory and inclusive practices. In order for us to promote these practices we must firstly understand how they impact on children and young people and what would happen if we did not promote them.
It is vital as a teaching assistant to be aware of how your own attitudes, values and behaviour can impact on the work we do with children and young people. If as a teaching assistant you are condemning, judgemental and not positive this will only have a negative impact on the children around you. Children are influenced by what they see and hear and imitate these behaviours and language. It is therefore important to always show a positive attitude, use correct language and have good values. We must ensure the learning environment reflects positive images. If you were to come into the classroom environment in a bad mood this would reflect on the children and they in turn would react to your tone and language in a bad way. This would then spread throughout the classroom and inevitably all children would then be in a bad mood. It is better and easier to maintain a happy working environment if you yourself is happy and willing.
Discrimination is unfair treatment based on inaccurate judgements and preconceived ideas about individuals or a group due to their age, gender, race, culture or disability.
Anti-discriminatory practice can be defined as words and actions which promote equal opportunities. This means ensuring that all pupils are treated in