Abstract

ALFAYEZ, Shatha Abdullah  and  ALLEHYANI, Sabha Hakim. "It is okay to be different" - Anti-bias practices of early childhood teachers in Saudi Arabia. S. Afr. j. educ. [online]. 2024, vol.44, n.3, pp.1-14. ISSN 2076-3433.  https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v44n3a2389.

Early education helping young children manage prejudiced attitudes towards themselves and others is urgent. Early childhood (EC) teachers in Saudi Arabia are making significant changes by applying an anti-bias approach to deal with such issues with young children. In the study reported on here we used a quantitative approach to explore anti-bias education, including an analysis of approaches to the cultural environment, which includes teaching practices and associated learning resources. Many teachers (n = 142) in the cities of Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia contributed to this study by completing a questionnaire. Teachers' classroom practices, such as role-play, pictures, books, toys, and materials in teaching children the concept of anti-bias, were deeply explored. The results of the study show that the greater the previous experience of teachers in teaching children from a culture different from their own, the greater the application of the concept of anti-bias in creating the classroom environment. There is a need for further studies on the extent to which anti-bias education is being implemented on a larger scale in primary schools in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords : books; curricula; diversity; education; equity; multiculturalism; pictures; prejudice.

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