Equality, Diversity And Inclusion In Work With Children And Young People

Dominic might be feeling excluded, lonely, confused and have low self esteem as he could feel that the children he sees attending the school have a higher status in society as they are allowed to attend the school. He is old enough to have probably attended school in his home country before moving to Britain and may be missing it and may make him feel anger towards the country/system he has moved to. He will be worried for his Uncle in prison without understanding why he is there.Dominic may also feel an amount of resentment to his parents as he might not understand why they have not tried to get him into the school if this has not been discussed with him. He may feel disempowered as at such a young age he might not feel able to express his feelings succinctly to his parents. 4. How might the discrimination affect other children in the setting? If there are other children within the hostel who are attending the school they might feel that Dominic is different as he doesn’t go to school like them.This can lead to them not wanting to socialise with him as children have a propensity to shy away from people/situations that are different to their â€Å"norm†. The children that are living in the surrounding area would wonder why this child is not going to school like most of their peers. This could lead to them thinking that Dominic, and other asylum seekers are different to them and perhaps lower in the social sector. They may not want to socialise if they see him outside school in a park or play area for instance.This can perpetuate the problem. 5. What could be done to prevent the discrimination? The managers of the hostel, who will be getting income from the government to house the family, should have information on a notice board or in a folder in the room, for example, in many different languages about local authority contact details. It would also be hoped that they would notice that Dominic is not attending school and, if they could not communic ate effectively with his parents, contact the nearby school and explain the situation.As it is the governments’ policy to provide education for all children of compulsory school age, it is the LEA’s legal duty to ensure this happens. Therefore, when the family applied for asylum and they listed Dominic as being 7, the LEA should have been notified and have contacted Dominic’s parents. This is irrespective of the asylum status. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in work with children and young people Case Study 2 1 Who is being discriminated against? The travelling community are being discriminated against.This case study highlights Sally in particular within the school setting. 2 What kind of discrimination is taking place? Cultural discrimination 3 How might the child experiencing the discrimination feel? Sally might be feeling a loss of motivation as she does not have a progress file, she may feel it is not worth trying her best as she may feel that there is no point as it is not cherished in the same way as her peer’s work is. This could also lead to resentment and anger.A child in this situation could feel depressed and confused, and that her work, and therefore herself as an individual, is not as valued as the other children in her class. This could bring on low self esteem. 4 How might the discrimination affect other children in the setting? The fact that Sally has settled into the nursery school well and that she is enjoying certain activities suggests that the discrimination is stronger amongst the adults in the setting rather than the children.As it is a nursery school the children will be younger and, to a certain extent, less likely to discriminate against Sally because she is a traveller. Another factor to this is that Sally has been there for 3 months which is a long time for children in this age range (normally 0-5 years old) to create friendship bonds, this however may be challenged if the other children notice that sh e is not being treated in the same way by not having a progress file. One very negative aspect is that it is stated that the local community have started a campaign to get the travellers removed from the area.The children within the homes of adults with this view may hear discussions and opinions that have a negative impact on how they see travellers themselves. This could be made worse if they learn that Sally, who is a traveller, is attending the same nursery as their own children and they may see her as someone they wish their children should stay away from. 5 What could be done to prevent the discrimination? The most obvious course of action would be that Sally’s key worker is challenged and reprimanded for her comments and for not having created a progress file for Sally.It should be explained to the key worker how this may make Sally feel and that especially as her key worker, it is the key workers role to make Sally feel included. Colleagues should have questioned why there was not a progress file for Sally, and a discussion, perhaps involving the parents of Sally, as to whether a progress file could be made for her to take with her if she did end up moving out of the area. This could be given to another nursery school as part of continuity in monitoring her progress in key stage 1.It can be difficult in an area where there is a lot of local opposition to a group in society but it would be the responsibility of the nursery to try to educate the children attending, about the travelling community, perhaps with stories and wall displays about their way of life and cultural beliefs. This could help to break the cycle of prejudice and the children may then challenge their parents views, making the parents stop and think about their own actions. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in work with children and young people Case Study 3 1Who is being discriminated against? Daniel 2 What kind of discrimination is taking place? Stereotyping 3 How might the chil d experiencing the discrimination feel? Daniel might be feeling a sense of disempowerment as he might believe that he is unable to challenge the practice of the playgroup even if there are other children who would prefer not to the run around game before snack time as it is insinuated that the children are not asked what they would like to do. There may be other reasons why Daniel doesn’t enjoy the afterschool club that are not explained in the text.He may have hearing problems and more sensitive to noise, this could be made worse by there not being a separate room for the children to go to for some peace and quiet. It may be simply that he needs some quiet time after a long day at school but feels ostracised to a certain extent as, for him to do what he wants he is not only physically, but socially put outside the group to the corners of the room. Although Daniel is happy to play by himself at home, he is of an age and maturity, where he may feel that this is socially unacce ptable when in a large group. This may lead Daniel to feel depressed.How might the discrimination affect other children in the setting? There are probably other children in the setting that, like Daniel would benefit from some quiet time after school, they may be physically and mentally tired but feel that the expectation to join in with the group activity it too much to say no. This can, like Daniel, lead to them feeling disempowered as the playworkers will be encouraging them to conform to the rest of the groups activities. There may also be children with other disabilities, whether they are physical or behavioural that excludes them from joining in the activity.They might then feel depressed or angry that they are not able to participate in something that is done every day. The exclusion could then give them a sense of lowered self esteem. 5 What could be done to prevent the discrimination? The play group should look into finding a separate â€Å"chill out† area for the ch ildren to use. Ideally it would be a room adjacent to the hall so that the noise levels would be greatly reduced, but failing this, a partitioned area that had a television and perhaps a games console would be useful.There could be soft furnishings like bean bags and oversized comfortable pillows for the children to relax on and perhaps read a book at the opposite end of the â€Å"chill out† area to the television. There should also be a weekly rota as to what group activity happens, this could be based on asking the children themselves what group activities, if any, they would like. This could mean that the children who like taking part in a fun quiz, or craft session for example, would be able to participate in a group activity.This would still allow the children who enjoy the run around games the opportunity burn off some energy. Daniel should be assigned a key worker who should notice the difference in his attitude between the morning and afterschool club. If he is assign ed a different person or the key worker does not work both sessions, then there should be discussion between the staff. It should then be raised gently with Daniel and his parent/carer to find out what was wrong. Question 2 Consider how your own attitudes, values and behaviour could impact on work with CYP.My own culture, background and upbringing can have an effect on my attitude towards the children I am working with. It would be important to understand and recognise this as any personal prejudices may lead to me discriminating against certain groups or individuals. It is my legal duty to protect the rights of children and young people. I could overcome this by researching different cultures and disabilities, especially of those children I am working with and by knowing and understanding any special educational needs it would enable me to help and communicate better with the children.If I find out about their own back grounds, abilities and individual needs, it will enable me to b e more effective and provide more appropriate and personalised support for those children. It would also be personally empowering when dealing with a new situation I hadn’t expected.Question 3 Describe what is meant by the term ‘inclusion’ and how this is implemented in schools. Inclusion or inclusive practice is a method of identifying and understanding barriers to participation and belonging. It is then being able to breakdown these barriers to ensure that the children are able to fully participate in all aspects of their school.In a school where inclusion is practiced everyone feels valued. It is not about viewing everyone as the same, or providing everyone with the same equipment, but giving them all the same opportunities to achieve their best through a high quality of education and understanding. Differences and similarities are understood, accepted and celebrated. Pupils should be educated along side their class mates and not segregated when they need supp ort. An example of this could be a child with a sight disability having a magnifier on hand for work books, or the same information in large print ready for him for each lesson.