STAR : Types of Positive Image Resources

"Promoting diversity, inclusion and equality for all children"

Registered Charity No. 1023528

Types of Positive Image Resources

Faith

Resources such as books about faiths and festivals help children understand the differences and similarities in religious beliefs.
Beware of using these in isolation – e.g. celebrating festivals once a year may make different faiths appear “exotic” and strange.
Use themes such as light to link festivals with general topic work and encourage children to think about special times in their lives.

Heritage

Resources such as fact books or photographic representations of children’s lives around the world, e.g. India, African Countries.
Useful to give children a global perspective and to appreciate the heritage of families with routes in these countries.
Use these resources to discuss how people may have felt when moving from, e.g. Jamaica to Britain.
Beware of creating a false impression that black or Asian people living in Britain
belong to these countries rather than being British citizens.
Be careful of children drawing false conclusions about “all Africans live in mud huts” and have “primitive” life styles, leading them to make further incorrect assumptions about people of African heritage here in the UK.
Use a Peters Projection Map, which gives an accurate representation of the relative sizes of the different continents.

Folktales/Global Music/Art

These resources are important in providing an understanding of the artistic heritage of all children and a better understanding of how all parts of the world have contributed to the arts.
Look at the common themes in folktales, such as good and evil or family relationships.
Beware of using these resources in isolation and making cultures appear exotic – a tribal dance may be no more representative of an African country than Morris Dancing is of England!

Integrated Resources

Essential for normalisation and for showing black and minority ethnic families as an integral part of British society.
These include story books, people paints/crayons/craft paper etc., dual language books, home corner meal settings, posters, jigsaws i.e. everything in an early years setting!
All the above resources should portray positive images of black and minority ethnic people in everyday situations, with which ALL children can identify, e.g. a black policeman helping a white child, dual heritage children reading with their parents, books featuring a black child experiencing sibling rivalry.

Anti-Racist

Vital to help children understand the historical and social effects of racism.
Include resources on challengers of racism, e.g. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and also on black people who have contributed to society, e.g. Mary Seacole.
Use books such as “Dealing with Racist Incidents” in PHSE with infant/junior children.
Use circle time to explore feelings of exclusion and to develop the self esteem of all children.