Ethnic identification during early childhood : the role of parents and teachers

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.