Based on the group discussion and related readings. Group: Wilhelmina Fröberg (writer), Krista Vihantomaa and Hanna Markoff
Our group discussed about Van Ausdales and Feagin´s (1996) article about very small children´s understanding of abstract concepts like race and ethnicity and Dovemark´s (2013) article about everyday racism and race based discrimination in Swedish schools. These articles discussed in our group had one thing in common. They indicated, that racism in kindergartens and schools is a subject which existence is often denied or silently accepted.
In their research Van Ausdale ja Feagin (1996) noticed that adults have a tendency to deny that small children are capable of understanding abstract concepts like race and ethnicity. Therefore could one assume that children cannot consciously behave in a racist way? However, the study indicated that even very small children were familiar with race, ethnicity and white superiority. So we think that it isn´t surprising at all that racist acts and procedures were common in school as well. In Dovemarks (2013) research racist acts made by students and teachers were ignored, neglected and accepted by other individuals, which made it possible for them to recapture. By silently accepting those racist acts prevailing social structures were maintained (Dovemark, 2013).
It seems that racism in kindergartens and schools is an under researched subject. By denying the existence of racism and race based discrimination in kindergartens and schools there is really not much we can do about it. Instead we should recognize and face these problems. Even though either one of the researches took place in the context of Finland we believe that the issue is actual here as well. Increasing immigration increases the importance of this subject also here in Finland. It´s internationally widely known that early childhood education and teacher education are high standard in Finland. We believe we could have good possibilities get rid of racism in kindergartens and schools.
Literature:
Van Ausdale, D. & Feagin, J. (1996) Using racial and ethnic concepts: The critical case of very young children. American Sociological Review
Dovemark, M. (2013) How private ‘everyday racism’ and public ‘racism denial’ contribute to unequal and discriminatory educational experiences, Ethnography and Education