Anti-Biased Activity for Pre-Schoolers


I have chosen an activity called "BREADS". I chose this activity for a couple of reasons, but one of the main ones is that I LOVE to cook. Breads are one of the most basic of foods and just about every country in the world has a from of bread that is indigenous to that country or culture. What a perfect way to let children explore other cultures.



Although I would choose to bake all of the breads I was introducing, you may choose to just purchase each of the different breads from a store. This activity is age appropriate for 3-4 year olds as this age group is "naturally curious about the world" and are in their "question asking stage." (York, p.17) The themes (Handout 1) presented by this activity that young children can understand are "People are different" as well as "People are similar". By seeing the different types of bread, children are able to see how different cultures use the same basic ingredients to create (sometimes vastly) different types of breads. In addition, children learn that "It is important to try new experiences." Many children have only had bread from the culture that they have grown up in.



This activity supports anti-biased curriculum goals by introducing children to other cultures, providing children with a positive experience exploring similarities and differences, and encouraging children to respect other cultures (Handout 2).

The activity is simple: 
Plan a bread-tasting party for snack time. Talk with the children about how some people from other cultures eat different kinds of bread. Introduce the different breads. Ask the children if they have eaten any of them before. Give each child a sample to try. Talk about the name of the bread and where it came from. Follow up the activity with stories about bread or baking bread for another snack.

The materials are equally as simple:
Samples of various types of bread. Most common types of bread are available at a local grocery store but you could also visit some ethnic stores and find some unique breads that may not be available elsewhere.

Variations: 

1. Find out what kinds of breads the families from your class eat and use them for exploring different types of breads.
2. Visit an ethnic bakery
3. Set out jars with different grains and flours and talk about the fact that people eat bread that they make from the grains that they grow. People living in different places grow different grains and make different kinds of bread.

The following books would be great for discussion with this activity:

In this memorable story, Frances decides that bread and jam are all she wants to eat, and her understanding parents grant her wish at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snack-time. Can there ever be too much bread and jam?

A rainy-day errand introduces Carrie to many different kinds of bread, including chapatis, challah, and papussah. 

 

“Lotsa Matzah” offers some tempting ways to enjoy the unleavened bread, including “syrup on fried matzah brei. Matzah pizza, cheese piled high.”

Reference list:

York, Stacey. Roots & Wings: Affirming Culture in Early Childhood Programs. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf, 2003. Print.

Handout 1, Multicultural Concepts Children Can Understand, 2015

Handout 2, Goals For Anti-Biased Curriculum, 2015

My review of the Disney movie "Planes"

I have to start off this blog by saying that I first noticed a LOT of stereotyping and sexism in the movie "Cars". From the Hispanic low rider that owns a custom paint shop to the VW bus that is a hippie, "Cars" had plenty of stereotypes. With the release of "Planes", which is a kind of sequel to "Cars", the sexism and stereotyping has carried over to that movie as well.



I have watched the movie several times and saw it in the theatres with my children. After watching the movie again with a focus on looking for stereotypes and "ism's" and then doing some online research, I found that a good deal of the online talk about stereotypes came from reviews of the TRAILER of the movie. This was odd to me. I didn't realize that people reviewed trailers. So in my research I started with watching the trailers and seeing what other reviewers were looking at.

Hollywood.com noted that one of the trailers, of which there are only a few, shows a "Southern yokel leading the cast, backed up by a passionate and poetic Latin lover, a mystical Indian temptress, an uptight and rigid British character, and a quip-snapping African-American forklift. Seems as though the days of Peter Pan's American Indians aren't as far behind us as we might have thought..."


I too noticed those particular stereotypes and would add the following, El Chubacabra is painted like a Mexican Lucha Libre, Rochelle is painted pink, and Ishani is painted with Indian henna designs. Those are just the planes shown in the trailer. There are many other planes in the movie.

So on to the movie itself. The story centers around a group of international planes that come together for a massive race around the world. Each of the planes is drawn to represent it's country of origin and this is where the stereotypes begin to unfold. For example, the British plane is posh and rude with repressed emotions, the Asian planes have eyes that open a little less vertically than the others, and the Mexican plane is large and loud and a hopeless romantic bordering on sexual predator. Variety.com says, "A "Cars" spinoff that seems to have taken an unfortunate detour through "It's A Small World", "Planes" is so overrun with broad cultural stereotypes that it should come with free ethnic-sensitivity training for especially impressionable kids."

There are so many cultural stereotypes in this movie that it goes far beyond what would be considered cute and acceptable for a family movie. By the time EL Chubacabra serenades Rochelle with a makeshift Mariachi band, or when Dusty (the main character) arrives in Asia and flies over a field of cars wearing bamboo hats, the stereotyping has long exceeded it's limits.

With so many cultural stereotypes to choose from, I hadn't noticed the sexist aspects of the movie until I started doing online research. There are 2 main female planes in the movie but both planes are portrayed as objects of lust for the male planes that have much bigger parts. The actual race in "Planes" is dominated by male characters. There is a dream sequence that involves some fighter jets that refer to the slower, less capable planes as "ladies". The female characters are definitely a minority in this movie. Jezebel.com noted that these characters will be reviewed as being "feisty" by most people. She has named these characters that show up in many animated features as "Minority Feisty" which I thought was brilliant!! The Minority Feisty is "rarely a protagonist (and) her power, lines, and screen time are carefully and consistently circumscribed to show that she is not as important as the male star."


As an adult, aware of stereotypes and "ism's", this movie is a hard watch. It may be a good educational tool to watch with your child to later discuss how stereotypes are not always accurate and how we should be sensitive to racism, sexism, etc.. But children learn from what they see over and over again and this movie needs to be a careful exercise for impressionable young children.

This is my review of the book "Little Hiawatha".
The book actually began as an animated short by Walt Disney in the 1930's and the story was later published as a "Little Golden Book" and is called either "Hiawatha" or "Little Hiawatha". It was also published as a record and book that you could follow along with a narrator as you read.



According to the book, all Hiawatha wanted to do is become a brave hunter. He searches the forest for his prey. When Hiawatha is scared by a cricket, the forest animals laugh at him and Hiawatha chases a rabbit until he corners him and pulls his bow and arrow. The rabbit begins to cry and Hiawatha cannot shoot. Hiawatha then decides he doesn't want to be a hunter and breaks his bow. He then follows tracks to bear's cave and must run from the bear. The forest animals save Hiawatha and he returns to his birch canoe that is in the river and heads home.

The racial undertones are present on the cover of this book (that is still available NEW). Little Hiawatha is shown wearing no shirt, an Indian headband complete with a single feather, moccasins, and pants adorned with a tribal decoration on the bottom. Hiawatha also is carrying a bow and quiver.

Other than the clothes that Hiawatha is wearing and references to his canoe, the story is fairly harmless and does not focus on any stereotypical portrayals. Hiawatha is the only character other than the forest animals. The website American Indians in Children's Literature lists the book on their site but does not reference any stereotypical aspects of it. They show the cover only and no discussion or inside quotes. "'I' is not for Indian: The Portrayal of Native Americans in Books For Young People" asks questions of what to look for in books that discriminate against Native Americans. One of the questions is, "Is there anything that would make a native American child hurt or embarrassed to be what he/she is?" I cant say for sure if this would be embarrassing for a child. It's a pretty simple story and other than Hiawatha's clothes, there are no real derogatory references. 

The original publish date of this story is 1953 and the illustrator is not credited. The original cartoon was released in 1937.



                                                             Reference List


Caldwell-Wood, Naomi and Mitten, Lisa. (June 29, 1991). Selective Bibliography and Guide for "I" IS NOT FOR INDIAN: THE PORTRAYAL OF NATIVE AMERICANS IN BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE [Bibliography]. Retrieved from http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/ailabib.htm