Nursery World - Equality & Diversity: Part 7

Faith is deeply integral to many aspects of society and holding occasional celebrations in the nursery will not be enough to teach children about different cultures, says Anne O'Connor.

By the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage it is expected that children should 'have a developing respect for their own cultures and beliefs and those of other people'.

This complex aspect of personal, social and emotional development is a fundamental part of equalities work, but often causes anxiety and confusion. We don't always realise just how much faith and belief can be intrinsically linked with culture and the way that society has organised itself.

As Jennie Lindon writes in Understanding World Religions in Early Years Practice, 'When a particular faith has been part of a society for a long time, the religious practices often become intermingled with the culture to form traditions that affect virtually every aspect of society: social, moral and political. The traditions originated with specific beliefs in the religious faith but then became part of what people see as "normal" life. Simplified religious ideas are absorbed into everyday language and rituals, and religious celebrations continue but with secular cultural overtones rather than religious ones' (page 5).

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