In my school practice, as a strategy to prevent bias and discrimination, I would resort to the theory of contact. It implies that active interaction between members of different groups leads to a more positive attitude toward each other. This contact will help people from the majority group to make sure that the existing stereotypes about the minority group are not true (Martin, 2021). I would encourage openness and inclusivity of children and introduce them to students with different characteristics. Thus, children would develop empathy, which would negate the manifestations of discrimination. Another strategy I would use is the practice of working with parents. Problems with bias and intolerance are often transmitted to school life from the family (Keels, 2020). If a teacher understands that a student takes a parent’s behavior as an example, mediation work between the child and the influencing adult can help.
In my school experience, I did not have to deal with the idea that the teacher is always right. All the pedagogues around me at school reserved the right to inaccuracies or errors. They were able to pronounce it for the whole class and analyze it. This model of behavior convinced me that all adults, including family members, are people who are at the same risk of doing the wrong thing as children. This thought allowed me to build a very trusting relationship with my parents.
Anti-bias curriculum is a set of measures to combat various prejudices, including sexism, racism, ageism, and many other examples. The main purpose of this program is to raise awareness about the causes and consequences of bias, as well as the application of specific measures to eliminate it (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2020). Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) is a perspective that involves building pedagogical practice on the results of research and theoretical knowledge about the child. Teachers also study the needs and cultural background of each individual child. The main difference between DAP and anti-bias curriculum is that the latter deals with the communicative sphere of a child’s life, while some programs focus mainly on achieving educational results.
References
Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2020). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves, second edition (2nd ed.). The National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Keels, M. (2020). Campus counterspaces: Black and Latinx students’ search for community at historically white universities. Cornell University Press.
Martin, K. (2021). Evolving education: Shifting to a learner-centered paradigm. Impress.