When I first started working at a school in Bangkok, I soon started realizing how it is impossible to find an Asian doll for children to play with. The first week of working with my first group of children I noticed how more than half of my students were Asian, but there were no books and no toys in the classroom that reflected their culture, or any other culture other than white Europeans. All the books especially the books with human characters all looked white European. I couldn’t find one single book in the classroom with Thai people, or any other culture in it or even just something like food or customs that represented the Thai culture, or any other culture. Research has clearly indicated how play in early childhood is an important element of promoting cultural awareness (Rettig, 2009). The relationship between play and cultural diversity is significant as we have a rapidly growing population and therefore more and more children from very diverse backgrounds are entering our schools (Rettig, 2009). Through play, children learn about cultural beliefs and values and through play children also learn about the world around them (Rettig, 2009). I was on a mission to find dolls, toys and books that represent different cultures as I have learned how through play I can provide children with positive learning experiences about human differences and similarities, which will help children in resisting incorrect and harmful messages about themselves and also about other people (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010). To be honest, it was so very difficult for me to find Asian dolls, books in which characters are not only white Europeans and also family toys that are of different cultures.
In the video segment, it is mentioned how a teacher had to guide children’s thinking of stereotypes that were made about that doctors could only be male (Laureate Education, n.d). A few months ago our topic was work that people do. In our first class discussion, we all discussed different work that people can do and one girl said that she wanted to be a farmer. A couple of the boys and some girls laughed at her, saying that she can’t be a farmer as only boys could be farmers. I asked her more about what kind of work her mom and dad do, and it was clear that she wanted to be a farmer as her mother is a farmer. I continued the discussion on how either boys or girls could be nurses, kindergarten teachers, firefighters, soldiers etc. When it came to our next project the following day, several girls wanted to be farmers, a couple of boys chose to be nurses, and some of the girls chose to be engineers. Through this topic and the discussions and projects that we completed, I was able to see the influence that we as early childhood educators could have on children’s view about gender stereotypes. It is also interesting to learn how “one of the first differences children are likely to be aware of are gender differences” (Rettig, 2009, p. 3).
References
Derman-Sparks and, E. (2015, July 08). Teaching Young Children about Race: A Guide for Parents and Teachers. Retrieved from Teaching For Change: http://www.teachingforchange.org/teaching-about-race
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d). Start seeing diversity: Gender [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Rettig M., Ph.D. (2009, June 04). Play and Cultural Diversity. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.424.6176&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Laying a Solid Foundation for the Early Years 
I think that is so important to have these conversations with children. It gives them the space and opportunity to really analyze what they have been taught previously in comparison to the new information. I am constantly having these conversations with my children. Between the media, television shows, and what their parents have taught them, children develop these ideologies that girls and boys can only do, wear, and say certain things. Your post was truly great!
LikeLike
Lindie, you are right according to Njoroge, Benton, Lewis, & Njoroge, (2009) children at a very young age start to notice difference in people as well as objects they play with and if we do not expose them to difference they will grow up thinking that is the norm. I remember 20yrs ago, one of my nieces saw a an African American doll at my mom’s house and she was really scare of it. Because, 20 years a go there were very few dolls that represented other nationalities. My niece although, we are Hispanic her parents are more on the brown side then darker side, so she had never seen a doll other then white because at that time most of the dolls where Caucasian. My mom started to tell my niece how beautiful the doll was and soon she was playing with it. Now in our classrooms, we have dolls, posters, books dress up materials from different nationalities; at least here in Washington State we now, compared to 20 years ago, have more materials related to other cultures. I think its very important to introduce children to different materials at a young age so, they can see that all cultures are the norm not the exception. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Anna
LikeLike
Wow Lindie how crazy is that. To be teaching in a classroom of majority of the children being Asian, and their is no representation of Asian characters. That is crazy to think, but you know what many other countries, especially the third world countries are like that. The third world countries adores western culture and many fantacizes about being a westerner. in Haiti as a young child, i remember only playing with dolls that were of western and caucasian beauty.
LikeLike
Lindie,
I think you brought up so really great points around gender identity. I also thought that it was strange that the first thing that children become aware of is gender. This made me think more about the mother in the video that was worried about her son playing with dolls. I think that as educator we must be aware of this curiosity and allow children to explore with different gender roles. As the teacher explained to the mother, sometimes children role playing in other roles would require them to take on roles of different genders or even as a caregiver. I think that it is great for children to explore and learn through their own exploration and curiosity.
LikeLike