You are hereStrategies for Promoting Arab Heritage in the Anti-Bias Classroom
Strategies for Promoting Arab Heritage in the Anti-Bias Classroom
Learning how your children think
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• Make time to listen and observe your children identifying themselves and expressing their feelings about their own and other’s race and ethnicity. As children play, talk, draw, and paint pictures they often reveal how they see themselves. They also indirectly express their feelings though their choices of playmates, toys, images, and books. Watch for children’s playmates, and for teasing about Arab heritage and/or their family’s way of life. Also, note any rejection based on biases directed toward them. |
Preparation Strategy 2
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• Generate conversations with your children about their ideas and feelings about people of Arab heritage. Using images and stories, ask them who they see and who do they think people are. Where do they think people live, have a family, go to school, and work. Listen for misconceptions and statements that make others uncomfortable. As a rule, when you are collecting information, do not intervene. You want children to feel comfortable to express their true views, not what they think you want to hear or see. However, if you think something will especially hurt a child of Arab heritage, you can say something like "Not everything being said is true or fair. Soon we will be learning about what is really true and fair.” Merrie Najimy relates that when she intentionally plans a lesson that will expose negative images and hurtful stereotypes about Arab people, she talks to her Arab heritage students in advance. She explains what might be raised in conversation. She affirms their identities, makes clear that these images are not true or fair, and explains that the lessons are to help everyone to recognize and stop misinformation. |
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Arab American families live in a variety of ways. They are both alike and different from your own families. (With older children—upper elementary, middle, high school—you can also expand to include Arab families in other counties.) • Always connect learning activities about different kinds of families to the similarities and differences among your children’s families. Affirm all the ways of being a family and help the children make the connection between their experiences and those of the children in the stories about Arab/Arab Americans. In Merrie’s case, she was able to use her story about growing up Arab American, the year she lived in Lebanon as a child, and her visit to Lebanon and Palestine as an adult. If you cannot do this, you may know people of Arab heritage who can tell you or your students directly about their families. Two children’s books to use are Everybody Bakes Bread by Norah Dooley and Sitti’s Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye. Dooley’s book depicts real people who live in the author’s neighborhood, including a Lebanese family who own a restaurant, and Nye’s depicts an Arab American child who visits her grandmother in Palestine. Talk with your children about how Sitti’s experiences are like theirs (e.g., stories about visiting their grandmothers; grandmothers who have fruit trees in their gardens), as well as the differences, like where the grandmothers live. |
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Arab American people work and contribute in many ways. (With older children, expand to include the work and contributions of Arabs in other countries.) • You might be able to assemble a wall chart of such images, with the title of “Arab American people work in many ways.” Many anti-bias educators use the technique of storytelling with dolls that have the identity and heritage of the group under discussion (e.g., Miriam’s mother is a doctor and works in a hospital; her father is an actor on television). Called “persona dolls,” this technique allows you to explore several concepts with children (families, work, where people live, and stereotyping). It has shown itself quite effective to build knowledge, emotional connections, and critical thinking. (See Anti-Bias Education for ideas and further resources.) |
Guidelines for Concept 3
| Untrue/unfair stereotypes about people of Arab heritage. |
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• Be alert for unfair practices that directly affect their lives. The children or you may identify the problem. |
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• With preschool/kindergarten-age children: The most useful strategy is to provide learning experiences that counter the information and stereotypes children hold about people of Arab heritage. To do this, you must first find out how they think. Then, provide photos, books, and, if possible, direct experiences that contradict erroneous ideas and offer alternative information. Help the children compare and contrast inaccurate and accurate images and ideas (e.g., Arab people live in deserts vs. an assortment of true images of people living in cities, coastal plans). |
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• With primary school-age children: If you have worked with the children on the previous concepts, they are ready for critical analyses, which is identifying untrue and unfair images and messages. Focus on critiquing images and information in the media—cartoons, news clippings, photographs, videos—that contradicts their new information. Critiquing the Disney movie Aladdin is one example where anti-bias work becomes visible.
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Through our activities, the children began to reject negative images about Arabs and to identify positive aspects: “The Arab people we read about are calm and generous”; “Arabs share things.” They also reflect on the possible reasons the people who made Aladdin depicted so many stereotypes. Finally, the discussion moves to the potential consequences for Arabs who see themselves portrayed negatively: “Maybe Arabs who use violence do it because they get mad because of stereotypes”; “People might think their ancestors were bad.” |
Strategies for Concept 4 (for primary school-age children)
| Building empathy with ordinary people in countries of conflict. |
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The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq (J. Winter) puts a human face on a people in the midst of war and shows that even then, individuals can work together for good in their community. This book tells the story of Alia Muhammad Baker, chief librarian of Basra’s Central Library. Set in 2003, just before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Alia is worried about protecting the library’s 30,000 books. Because the government refuses to help, she recruits friends to help her move the books into a nearby restaurant. The library is bombed nine days later. One student asks: “Why go through the risk of trying to save the books?” I let them discuss and debate it as a group: “She wants to save them to remember the people”; “Books give info on how to stop troubles”; “Books give you relief so you can feel happier.” Although it may be beyond school-age children’s developmental level to understand that books transmit history, culture, and identity to future generations, they can explain why books are important to them. They also can understand the bravery and resourcefulness of the librarian of Basra. |
| Children of Arab heritage are supported |
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As with learning experiences about any group of people, do not expect children of Arab heritage to be their ethnic group’s expert or spokesperson. Instead, create a safe environment for that child to volunteer personal stories of culture or identity if she or he chooses. One popular strategy is for children to share their family’s holidays. This strengthens the child’s positive self-identity and classmates' awareness of and comfort with diversity. In this example, from a private college kindergarten, Adam, a Muslim, Arab American child, initiated the following activities. (Be aware that the activities are not about teaching children what religious beliefs to practice—rather it is child sharing his family experiences.) In the weeks before Christmas, the other 4- and 5-year-olds in Adam’s class begin talking about Santa Claus, including asking each other what Santa Claus was going to bring them. Adam keeps calmly saying: “I don’t believe in Santa Claus. I don’t celebrate Christmas. I’m Muslim.” His classmates are puzzled. That night Adam tells his mother: “The children at my school do not know about Muslims. My teachers celebrate Christmas, so let’s get them Christmas presents. I celebrate Eid ul-Fitr so let’s get them Eid [pronounced “eed”] presents, too.” Adam’s mother related this conversation to his teachers, who invited Adam to tell his classmates about what his family does for Eid, and to share Eid food and a game with them. Adam then decided to ask his Imam and his mother if he could bring his class to his mosque. The teacher and Adam’s mother arranged for a visit. Adam was thrilled that his classmates visited his mosque, and it was a lovely experience for everyone. Subsequently, other children also decided to tell their classmates about their families’ religious practices—and an ongoing theme for the curriculum emerges. |
As with all children, make sure your learning materials and aesthetic environment reflect each child’s home culture. Always find out from families how they choose to identify and what they teach their children. Remember that identity is always complex. Not all people of Arab origin identify as Arab first. Many identify by national original first or only; some see their religious identity as most relevant. Since Arab American children are not immune from the realities of heightened prejudice and discrimination against Arab heritage people, keep your antenna out for hurtful comments, teasing, and rejection from other children. (See Anti-Bias Education for ways to address such behavior with young children.)
To learn more about goals and strategies for working with young children, see Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, NAEYC, 2010).
Also Recommended
- Resources for Teachers
- Book Recommendation:
Rethinking Early Childhood Education
