Seeing Diversity through Our Lens

Awareness empowers us to notice when details (similarities or differences) are informing our perceptions of and interactions with others and to take active steps to change our perceptions and interactions.

In her book Start Seeing Diversity, Wolpert outlines similar goals reinforcing the needs and importance for anti-bias curricula, one of which is to promote the child's developing awareness of these differences and to help foster preschoolers' empathic responses to others (Wolpert, 1999, p.13).

As we enter our years of growing up, we get to understand through our lens how all of us have a wide variety of abilities, cultures, interests, and backgrounds. It is indeed natural for us, being curious beings, to notice similarities and differences. However, it is totally up to us to frame our lens to look through diversity as a unique value in learning together. 

In Children & Friends we choose to appreciate the similarities and differences in respectful ways. We encourage ourselves to be open-minded to converse about our differences and mention, "It's okay to be different."

We acknowledge how sometimes differences may infuse some kind of tensions into our situations. To a certain extent,  it may create some discomfort. However, we choose to learn how to be comfortable with and embrace it constructively. 

We are too proud to stand up for our points-of-views which is important for our self-identity and self-esteem. Below is an applaudable example of how bold a friend to share her unique thoughts. 

Afterward, we provide ourselves with opportunities to support one another and to make each other feel valued during the sharing session. We learn to say, "Let me hear you" or "Can you tell me what you think?"

Building up on our understandings that we have different points-of-views and thinking on how we should go from here open up another learning opportunity. We include include a mini voting to further our sense of democracy.

Kindest, 
​Children & Friends.