Children, ages 2-7, learn through concrete experiences (Piaget, 1960). Children need to learn about themselves through being exposed to people, having role models in the center, and visiting people in the community who are like them. To learn about and be comfortable with people who are different, young children also need direct, concrete experiences with people who are different from them: children in their program, teachers, and people in the community. This is needed for all children.

Challenging Stereotypical Thinking

Young children think in simple terms so they tend to think in stereotypes. One of our tasks in supporting diveristy is to continually challenge young children's thinking about:          

• gender - boys can dress-up in dresses; girls can become mathematicians; 

• religion - no one religion is the 'right' religion for everyone;

• race/ethnicity/culture - every child can become anything she/he wishes;

• income/poverty - many people have overcome poverty, neglect, and difficult situations to become successful and fulfilled; 

• language - children can learn two or more languages at the same time. For some reason, we are unwilling to recognize that very young children can learn more than one language. We should look at bilingual and multilingual students as having a tremendous asset.

Group Belonging

All people are comfortable around people who are like them. While our children need to feel comfortable and to be around people who are like them, they also must enjoy investigating and exploring differences, newness, and what is unfamiliar. One way to encourage this behavior is to expose our children to the new and diverse; another is for teachers and administrators to model a joy and enthusiasm in discovery, exploration, and uncertainty.

There Is More Than One Way

Finally, a basic concept of diversity is the idea that almost everything can be done in a variety of equally acceptable ways: building block structures, playing outside, lining up, creating art, etc. We must continually help children realize this multifaceted approach to life and help them discover a variety of ways to address issues, especially ways different from the ways that are familiar to them. We need to help children see a variety of perspectives on issues and problems. We can do this by asking children if they can come up with alternative approaches, allowing children to solve problems on their own, by using a variety of possibilities when modeling behaviors to children, and by encouraging children to think creatively.

Ways to Include Diversity in Early Childhood Programs

Since diversity and multicultural education must occur all the time in early childhood programs, we need to look at ways that we can make our curriculum and instruction as multicultural and diverse as possible (Wardle & Cruz-Janzen, 2003). 

Probably the best way to support young children's own secure identity development and at the same time expose them to diversity and tolerance is to take the children into the community, and to bring the community into the program.

Going into the Community

We must find all sorts of ways to expand the young children's view of their world beyond the confines of the school or early childhood program. Clearly, the kind of trips children take into their communities depends on a variety of factors, including the child's developmental age and safety. But programs must make every effort to take their children out into the community on a regular basis. Here are some ideas.

• Walking Around the Neighborhood. On these walks children might collect natural objects representing the season of the year; observe environmental print of all kinds - traffic signs, advertisements, names of buildings, numbers on houses; make rubbings of interesting textures, signs and artwork; discover the smallest yard, etc. On these walks I suggest a camera be used to record the things students observe. With young children the teacher should take the pictures, but at the direction of the children (as a record of their point of view); older children can take their own pictures. Following the walk, the pictures can be developed or downloaded into the computer (depending on the camera used) and used to create wall newspapers, journals, class books, parent newsletters, etc. 
• Visiting Parents' Places of Work, if possible.  Not only does visiting a parent's place of work expand each child's view of the world, but it gives the child whose parent is visited a great sense of pride and belonging. When children return to the program, they can chart parents' occupations, create a community map of work locations, and study various occupations. 
• Visiting Unique Community Resources. Every community has its own unique community resources. Teachers need to become familiar with those resources and then to use them to expand their children's worlds at  their individual developmental levels. 
• Field Trips to Complement a Curriculum or Children's Interests. Community visits should occur early in the study - thus creating in children a meaningful, concrete experience around which to develop their knowledge and skills. 
• Caring for the Community. Part of the idea of diversity is the idea of community. A central notion of community is the sense of collective responsibility. Children can become responsible for caring for part of a community - a park, the street in front of the center or school, etc. They can plant flowers, pick up trash, or write an "Adopted by _____ Class" sign. 
• Pair with a Senior Center. Pairing an early childhood program or class with a senior center provides wonderful benefits both for the seniors and the children. Children can engage in a variety of activities, from painting pictures and singing songs, to sending letters, illustrating greeting cards, and doing dances.

Visitors to the Program/School

There is a whole world of possibilities for bringing the community into the program or school. Here are some examples. 

• Parent Visits. Again, when parents share with young children, they not only bring their culture into the center, but they create tremendous pride in their own children. Parent activities depend on the children's ages and the parents' interests and skills. Possibilities include helping children to cook a meal or desert, talking about the country from which the parent came, demonstrating a folk song or dance, reading a children's book from his/her culture, telling a folk tale, or showing children how to make something the parent used to make as a child.
• Visits of Community People. Every community has diverse, unique members. These members should be invited to share with the children. 
• Visitors from Other Schools. To expose children to diversity in all these areas, a school or classroom should match up with a school or classroom that is radically different from their own.

Conclusion

Supporting diversity in early childhood programs requires helping children to feel good about themselves, their families, and their communities, and also exposing children to differences, things that are unfamiliar, and experiences beyond their immediate lives. In doing so we must make sure these experiences are real and concrete, and that they continually challenge young children's stereotypical thinking. We must insist on tolerance and respect toward all who are different. Finally, this process must be continuous and ongoing, not simply addressed on convenient occasions and implemented as an add-on to the curriculum.