Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Work with Children and Young People

Inclusive practice is identifying and understanding any barriers that are stopping children from completing the activity. We have to make sure that whatever the child’s background they are able to fully join in with everything within the school. This will make the children feel valued and have a sense of belonging.

Explain the meaning of equality, diversity and inclusion in the context of positive outcomes for children and young people. Diversity is about valuing individual difference. So 'diversity' is much more than just a new word for equality. A diversity approach aims to recognise value and manage difference to enable all employees to contribute and realise their full potential. Diversity challenges us to recognise and value all sorts of differences in order to make our environment a better place for everyone to work.Equality is about making sure people are treated fairly and given fair chances. Equality is not about treating everyone in the same way, but it recognises that their needs are met in different ways. Equality focuses on those areas covered by the law, namely the key areas of race, gender, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, transgender and Age. People must not be unfairly discriminated against because of any of these factors and we must all contribute to creating a positive workplace and service delivery environment where discriminatory practices and discrimination no longer happen.Inclusion is about ensuring that children and young people, whatever their background or situation, are able to participate fully in all aspects of the life in school. It is not about viewing everyone as the same or providing the same work, but about providing the same opportunities and access to a high quality of education. 4.2

Children Act 1989 – Protecting children’s welfare and to provide services according to the specific needs of children.

Support is offered to children to enable them to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being.

Assessment of how own attitude values and behaviour could impact on work with young people and children.

Understand the importance of promoting equality and diversity in work with children and young people

1.1. Identify the current legislation and codes of practice relevant to the promotion of equality and valuing of diversity.

As a member of a school team I would share the responsibility to ensure discrimination does not take place and to recognise any discrimination if it did occur. My own knowledge of policy practice and procedure would ensure I would be able to deal with any incidents via the appropriate channels.

The legislation that is in line with this policy is the every child matters: change for children (2003) this legislation thinks about the welfare of children and young people. Organisations that work with children and young people work together to protect children from harm and help achieve their goals. Children and young people are involved in decision - making processes. In 2005 the children commissioner for England was chosen to help give children and young people input into government.

The benefits of promoting and valuing cultural diversity within a school setting is extremely important as children and young people will learn to understand all the different cultures and respect them. Learning about different cultures and religions helps a young mind broaden and see that no matter what culture, race or ethnicity another person is they still have equal rights and opportunities and can achieve the same goals as each other. For example, many people see all Indian/Pakistani adults as doctors, this is a common form of stereotyping and if an English child is lead to believe that this is only the case then they may not want to follow that career path due to feeling that they are not allowed. Within my setting we promote cultural diversity within our resources, this means that when we show our pupils books or home-made resources to help assist them with their learning we always try to ensure that all ethnic backgrounds and abilities are shown

All staff must act as role models and promote cultural diversity this helps reduce prejudice and discrimination and if staff are putting this in place then it will influence pupils to be tolerant of other cultures and with this helps the children understand the diverse society to which they belong. Pupils who understand cultural diversity will be more likely to participate and those of different cultures will feel more involved as they can help with the learning of their culture, with this it will help children in schools and outside in the wider society.

4. Why it is important to you to study this discipline in a school that emphasizes cultural awareness, competence, and understanding of diversity (see our Commitment to Diversity Statement).

All children should be able to participate in all school activities, whether they need additional support or they require the environment to be adapted to meet their needs e.g. wheelchair access or individual learning plans etc.

Unfortunately some children, at some point in their life will experience some form of discrimination. This could be anything from being called names because they wear glasses or being shunned in the playground because they aren’t wearing the latest fashion in coats or trainers. Sadly as children become young people this could also grow into discrimination due to their race, colour or even sexual preferences.

In relation to diversity, the early years practitioner can attend to the diverse needs of each child and their individual requirements in many different ways.