Racial Identities & Fairness

Race is something we all belong to. Sadly, some humans define or categorize other humans due to their differences, causing endless hurt to various people simply due to said differences. 

H O W  T O  E X P L O R E  R A C I A L  I D E N T I T I E S  &  F A I R N E S S  I N  T H E  C L A S S R O O M

• Ask students about their ideas regarding what skin does for us. Talk about how skin does the same work for each individual, regardless of its colours. Do the same for hair and eyes.
• Make life-size cutouts of each student and use a mirror for the student to look at their features (eye colour, hair colour), then allow the students to select their colours of skin that closely match them, and so on.
• Make a book about the physical appearances of every child and staff member.
• Introduce children to basic scientific explanations for variations in skin colour, hair texture, and eye shape.
• Tell persona stories that introduce students to diversity in racial identity. 
• Read books about children from different racial backgrounds that might be similar to some students in the classroom. 

Q U O T E S  T H A T  R E A S O N A T E D  W  I T H  M E

“Immediately responding to children’s questions and comments, as well as initiating activities for all the children to explore their observations and curiosity about skin colour, hair, and eyes, supports healthy identity development.”

(Derman-Sparks et al., 2010, p. 81)

• Immediately responding to children’s comments and questions is important because children are learning on the go. If a child is asking a question, it usually means they are having a thought in their head about that topic/ situation. Handling these questions and comments quickly allows children to quickly understand or correct their thought, or even behaviour. It is also important we truthfully educate children on their rising comments and questions as they are learning about these topics for the first time. Children need to understand the world and the people around them to help make the world a better place and assist them in developing into educated individuals.

“If we want children to thrive in a diverse world and chose to stand up for themselves and others to create a more just place for all, then we must be proactive in helping children to construct a healthy, positive racial identity and respectful attitudes towards people of differing racial identities.”

(Derman-Sparks et al., 2010, p. 81)

• Our children are the future of our world; specifically, our students are the future of our world. I hope for a more accepting and loving world than what we have now where everyone is loved and appreciated, included and accepted. I want my students to feel safe, excited to come to school, okay for them to come and talk to me, and feel accepted within the classroom by everyone. I also want them to be able to stand up for others when needed and knowing the correct terms to use when discussing this topic. The children of the future are in our hands, therefore we need to be sure we are assisting them with creating a positive and healthy racial identity and respectful attitude towards people who may differ from them. 

T E X T – T O – T E XT

I was searching how to appropriately deal with certain situations that may be a touchy subject in the classroom (race) and came across this TED Talk: “How to teach kids to talk about taboo topics“. Liz Kleinrock was a grade 4 educator at the time when they started to learn about race. Children’s comments and questions rose, as they should when they are about to learn something new, which led to a class conversation to resolve their rising thoughts. I found this video very educational for me, especially because Liz is talking about her experience that rose at the moment, rather than planned. This helped me gain an understanding of how to quickly and efficiently deal with comments and questions being said by children, especially about race.