Aracele Melgoza

Instructor: Joy Hearns

Child Development 259

10/05/2015
Fall 2015
Diversity in Early Childhood Programs Article

The reason I decided to choose the article Diversity in Early Childhood Programs was
because I learned that often we as early childhood educators tend to have a misunderstanding of
what is diversity. I as a teacher used to believe that multicultural was the same thing as diversity.
Not until later in time while taking the class Child Development 262, I was able to learn the
actual meaning of what was multicultural and diversity. This class opened my eyes and taught
me to be careful on what I teach based on this topics. Before taking this class I thought that
teaching children about different costumes, food traditions and celebrations was diversity. After
taking the class I learned that diversity meant being exposed to different family structures,
disabilities and culture.
The article explained how often teachers have a difficult time while teaching children
about diversity and multicultural differences. Since diversity cant be taught through lesson
plans, curriculum or taught directly, diversity is rather taught by working together with families.
It is important for children to learn about each others backgrounds including their own. The
teacher can help with this by proving classroom materials and breaking stereotypes through
organized activities. Not only can the activities help children with accepting differences, but it
can help children learn to accept and respect each other. Its important for teachers to help
children break the stereotypes in the classroom since children sometimes enjoy playing with

children who are like them. Giving children the opportunity to play with different children can
help children learn to accept. Teachers can encourage children by modeling behavior in the
classroom environment by either reading a book or speaking to them about diversity. The article
gives examples on how to help children break stereo types and how to teach diversity in the
classroom.
I learned different ways of teaching diversity in a classroom environment. I learned that
diversity is not taught directly. In order for children to learn what diversity is a teacher must
provide every day experiences through organized activities. One activity a teacher can do is,
walking the children around the center asking them open- ended questions about what they see,
comparing and contrasting. This particular activity can help children view differences around the
world. For example, trees are not the same. Some have small leaves; some have big leaves while
others have different shapes and colors. This example can help a child understand that its fine to
be different from each other. The article did not only explain the difficult time a teacher can have
while teaching diversity but also explain the process on how to teach diversity in a classroom
environment. The article encouraged me to learn different methods on how to teach diversity. I
will use the activity examples provided in the article while teaching diversity in my classroom
environment. Lastly, I will challenge children to become critical thinkers trough concrete
activities.