Nursery World - Equality & Diversity: Part 6

Early years practitioners have a key role to play in helping children understand the nature and equality of the different languages and cultures in British society, says Anne O'Connor

Culture is not inherited, it is learned. It is shaped by the traditions, values and world view shared by a group of people bound together by one or more of the following: history, religion, language, social class, geographic location or origin.

Language plays a large part in the way that families and communities pass on their cultural traditions and establish their identities. Through our families and communities, we will all have acquired one or more languages, dialects and accents. Any approach to equality and anti-bias has to include respect for all of these.

LANGUAGE DIVERSITY

We want all our children to be able to use English effectively, but the ability to use more than one language needs to be acknowledged, not just as a skill in its own right, but also as a useful tool for supporting learning in general.

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