Ethnic identification during early childhood : the role of parents and teachers
Date
1992
Authors
Waniganayake, Manjula Subodhini
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Abstract
The primary purpose of this thesis is to examine the interconnections between
the roles played by parents and teachers and children’s own sense of ethnic
identification during early childhood. Although the study of ethnicity and
multiculturalism received much attention during the 1980s associated research applicable
within the Australian early childhood scene remains largely an unchartered territory.
Much of the research todate has focussed on adults’ perceptions, paying little regard to
children’s view of the world.
This study is based on twenty-seven children aged between 5 to 8 years,
descendants of Scottish, Finnish and Indian immigrants living in Canberra, Australia.
To analyse the differences between the learning environments of home and school, a
typology based on the participants’ perceptions of their roles is advanced. The findings
confirm the view that ethnic identification is a product of socialisation processes and
that its outcomes are difficult to predict. More importantly, there is evidence to suggest
that the process of learning to be Scottish, Finnish or Indian does not follow a serial or
linear path, progressing neatly from the home to the school. It was found that although
parents and teachers can alter the context of learning, children’s capacity for
independent thought and their everyday experiences with grandparents, siblings and
peers, for instance, also contribute to children’s sense of ethnic identification. Hence,
when examining the contexts of learning, both adult and child perspectives must be
considered together.
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Thesis (PhD)
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