Building bridges for our future: the way forward through times of terror and war By Rashida Baig with Jane Lane (Early Years Equality, 7, 0151 639 1778)
The authors have written a thoughtful booklet to guide early years practitioners as they support young children in issues around war, terrorism and related racist attitudes. They provide key principles to help individuals and teams to approach this sensitive area. Equally importantly, they make a clear case as to why adults cannot hide behind convenient beliefs that young children are unaware. Children are sensitive to the behaviour of familiar adults who are worried. And, with the saturation coverage of certain events, children will hear or see reports in the media.
This short booklet aims to open up discussion, highlighting that a responsible approach has many strands. A clear policy is important, but so is an exploration of how written words translate into good practice through spoken words and actions.
The five case studies in the book should help teams to discuss possible scenarios. Readers are encouraged to talk with colleagues and parents, and the issues around trust and constructive communication are stressed.
However, conversation often proves difficult in practice, especially when practitioners are anxious about 'saying the wrong thing'. The authors invite comments, and if these lead to a revised or extended version, some examples of actual words and sentences would be helpful. The same suggestion applies to the sound advice to talk with children, but with sensitivity to their level of understanding, both about events and their general knowledge and developing attitudes. The authors rightly highlight that practitioners need to reflect on what young children are likely to learn from limited 'multicultural' resources or activities. This booklet should help support that process.
