A couple of weeks ago I had a child in my class that noticed how different another classmate spoke because of his accent and mentioned it the class during a class discussion. She asked: “why do you speak like that?”, and giggled while asking the question. I firmly told her that she shouldn’t say that and asked her to apologize to the classmate. I made it very clear that we do not make fun of people who talk differently than ourselves. I started asking students how they would feel if someone laughed at the way they walked or talked. It became an interesting class discussion. It was already very difficult for this student to settle in and make friends, therefore after hearing this comment from another student was heartbreaking for me. By asking her to apologize I may have given her the message that recognizing differences are not good and we shouldn’t recognize differences. However, it is important to set clear and firm limits anytime a student is being hurt either physically or emotionally (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010). Instead of only asking her to apologize I could have explained to her that it is good to recognize differences but we shouldn’t make fun of classmates when we recognize these differences or make fun of classmates because of their differences. I could have then gone on with the discussion on feelings involved when we make fun of each other because of our differences.
It is important to recognize differences, as it will allow us to respect each other, build pride as well as prevent challenging prejudice thinking that could grow into a bias of some sort (Laureate Education, n.d).
References
Derman-Sparks and Edwards. (2010). Anti-Bias Education for young children and ourselves. Washinton DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Laureate Education [Producer]. (n.d). Start seeing diversity: Race/ethnicity [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Laying a Solid Foundation for the Early Years 
You handled that situation great! It is so important to set those limits with children without making them feel ashamed of what they say. Children are learning and when something is different to them they ask. I think it is great that you all had the discussion after the limits were placed. I feel that it may have made the child with the accent feel more comfortable and the child who made the comment more aware.
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Lindie,
I think that you took advantage of a great teaching moment. Children sometimes don’t realize that pointing out a difference can sometimes be embarrassing for the individual that is different. I think I would have done as you and had the girl apologize and then discuss with students differences. I may have asked students to turn and talk to a neighbor about a difference they have identified about themselves. I would have used this time to teach students that we all have differences even those of us that are within the same cultural up bringing or background. I would have then had them identify one way everyone within the classroom was the same. This would bring all students back together as they realize that they have more similarities than differences.
I think you handled this situation in a professional manner and all the students were able to learn from this situation.
Thanks for sharing!
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Teaching empathy is very important in situations like this. I like how instead of just reprimanding the child, you used it as a positive learning opportunity to show that we all have things that are different and would not like it if people made fun of them. I think you made the child with the accent feel supported in his environment which is also very important by addressing it then and there in front of everyone.
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Your post was very enlightening! Questions and outbursts such as these begin in early childhood and can carry on well into adolescence for many students, if not recognized and addressed early. The important thing for us to remember, is to handle such matters calmly, and to be tactful in our delivery of explanation.
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You gave very detailed ways for anti-bias educators to respond to the child’s understanding of the way another child speaks. I like the way you looked at the various ways so the child can learning about feelings and different languages. Children are very honest about their concerns and observations but unlike adults, have no shame speaking about it. We as educators just have to provide them the skills they need to voice their questions about differences but approach them in a respectful manner.
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