Educating Young Children in a Diverse Society.

Overview & Synopsis

This text aims to provide information, strategies, techniques, innovative ideas, and encouragement for teachers, administrators, and parents in implementing a diversity perspective to education for children ages 3 to 8 years. Major focuses are on ethnic, gender, and social-class differences, but issues related to special needs children, including the disabled, are not ignored. An introductory chapter considers some basic concerns in diversity education. Chapter 2 focuses on the importance of viewing multicultural education from the perspective of diversity and reports on a study of bilingual education in an early childhood classroom. Chapter 3 considers the importance of developmentally appropriate practices, and Chapter 4 explores historical and theoretical views of multicultural education. Chapter 5 highlights the importance of ethnic, social-class, and gender identity, and leads the way to the examination of culture in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 concentrates on gender awareness. Chapter 8 presents a sociological view of the young child, and Chapter 9 considers the importance of research and evaluation in the teaching of young children. The final chapter examines what the education of young children must accomplish. References follow each chapter. (SLD)