STAR : Anti-racist Practice is Good Practice

"Promoting diversity, inclusion and equality for all children"

Registered Charity No. 1023528

Anti-racist Practice is Good Practice

Anti-racist multicultural practice fosters children's all round development. This good practice is appropriate everywhere, in inner cities and rural communities.

Meeting Children's Needs

To promote health and happiness and to enable them to learn new skills children need to experience the following:

feeling relaxed, confident and secure
feeling good about themselves and their families
being given encouragement, support and praise
feeling accepted and valued by others and reciprocating these feelings
being in an atmosphere in which they feel a sense of belonging
being able to respond co-operatively to adults and other children
knowing what adults expect them to achieve and that these expectations are realistic
trusting adults and feeling at ease with them
being given as wide a range of suitable learning materials and situations as possible

Where racism goes unchallenged, all children, black and white, are being disadvantaged

The effects of racism on black children are apparent. They may:

be excluded; physically and/or verbally assaulted; and made to feel hurt, rejected, bewildered, frustrated and angry
feel ashamed of the colour of their skin, their hair, their language, and their way of life
receive verbal and non-verbal messages that they are less valued and that less or worse is expected of them
their confidence, motivation and achievement may be affected as a consequence

Being in a 'white' world, they may find it more difficult to establish their own identity and self-esteem. Being fearful of taunts and physical abuse, they may not play or communicate freely. They may be labelled as disinterested and generally unsatisfactory.

If white children see racist remarks and behaviour go unchallenged, they are more likely to develop uncaring insensitive attitudes. This affects their ability to empathise and relate positively to other people. They may become afraid of people and things different to them. Thus, their interest in learning and curiosity about the world around them becomes blinkered.

If children are educated in an anti-racist multicultural approach, they are:

more likely to develop positive attitudes towards other children and adults
more likely to be happy, relaxed and enjoy learning new skills

Good practice involves examining resources such as books, toys, music and pictures to determine whether they reinforce or counter racism.