How to Talk to Kids About Race and Culture
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Welcome to Humanizing History™! Every month, we feature a central theme. Each week, we dive into different areas of focus.
This month’s theme: Race is Not Biologically Real (But It’s Socially Important)
This week’s focus: “How to,” recommendations on how to expand what we teach and/or discuss with young people
Today’s edition of Humanizing History™ is around 2,000 words, an estimated 8-minute read.
The Why for This Week’s Topic
This month, to enhance adult understanding, we’ve reviewed key ideas about race, such as how race is both a biological fallacy and a powerful social reality. For our hidden history newsletter, we examined the life of Dr. William Montague Cobb, an anthropologist who used science to demonstrate that all humans have inherent “equal dignity.”
For today’s “how to” newsletter, we’re making recommendations for how to talk to kids about race and culture, with facts-based, age-appropriate, humanizing frameworks.
Keep in mind that what we are sharing are some ways to discuss race and culture with children, but they are not the only ways.
A powerful social construct, impacting us for centuries, race is woven throughout society — therefore race is also in the classroom. It’s in our curriculum, and it’s a part of our communities.
Sometimes people encourage a “colorblind” approach, suggesting that children don’t see race. But they do. Whether or not race is discussed out loud, we are living and being socialized in a race-based society — and increasingly globalized, virtually connected world — where race, as well as ethnicity and culture, are powerful social constructs that generate a substantial impact on our lives and perspectives.
As described in our recent newsletter, “The Skin We Live In Is a Beautiful Thing,” whether or not it’s discussed out loud, children “see” race at incredibly young ages. Research suggests that by the age of 2 or 3, “toddlers have the ready capacity to use racial categories to reason about others and their behavior.” Other studies reveal that 3 to 5-year olds, “not only categorize people by race, but express bias based on race.”
So it’s not if children notice race, but when, and how.
Rather than being reactive or waiting for a child’s comments (which can unfortunately be harmful, such as pointing out another child’s skin color in a negative way), we can plan ahead so we can be as proactive as possible.
When identity-based harm happens, we can be better prepared to lead discussions that are less reactive and are instead more responsive.
Before we dive in, it’s important to note that not all students will experience or view race in the same way.
Notable scholars — such as but not limited to William Cross and Janet Helms — have developed theories to examine how individuals, often grouped by social race, may develop their sense of racial and ethnic identities.
While not everyone will develop a personalized sense of racial, ethnic, or cultural identity in the same way, what’s clear is that all of us are “raced” (seen by others through a lens of race) whether we are aware of it or not.
Context matters. While families may want to have discussions with their children in ways that reflect their values, lived experiences, and the racial identities of their children, educators often work in interracial, or racially mixed, spaces.
Thus, the following includes recommendations for how to talk to kids about race, with the classroom in mind, based on what students are likely to experience through curricular norms and by age group. Our recommendations are based on sound pedagogy, common curricular frameworks found around the U.S. and international schools, and development models, such as Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development.
Keep in mind, before discussing race with children, it’s also important to examine your own lenses. Practice discussing various identity-based topics out loud with adults, before having a discussion for the first time with children.
Our primary goal is to build an experience that is rooted in positive racial identity development — starting with the youngest grades and carrying through all grades or stages of a child’s life.
Another important goal is to encourage expansive thinking.
Remember, we are suggesting some ways to discuss race with children, not the only way.
Grades PreK-2
How Children Around This Age Typically View Identity
Young children often view their identity through the lens of family, and as they grow, their lens will likely include the school community, their neighborhood, and other environments they’ve been exposed to.
In regard to race, with this age range, students in a classroom will likely represent a wide continuum of understanding. Some children may have readily accessible language to describe race — especially if their families discuss racial identity, racism, and antiracism at home — while other students may not, especially if their families deprioritize, or even avoid, the discussion.
It’s important to be proactive. Common curriculum for this age range includes units such as “All About Me,” or “All About My Family,” where students are encouraged to draw pictures, bring in photographs, or family recipes that represent them. By around Grade 2, some students are also learning about the larger world, including formal lessons around geography, global culture, country studies, etc. Given this context, it’s likely that identity, including racial identity, will be a part of the classroom discussion.
How to Encourage Expansive Thinking
Children will have different access points. An important decision educators and school leaders can make is to ensure that their messaging — through planned curriculum, through the visual representation of what is depicted on classroom walls, and through the books available in the classroom and school library — reflect racial, ethnic, cultural, phenotypic diversity.
“Windows and Mirrors” is a common framework utilized throughout early education, (sometimes expanded to Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors). This framework suggests that curriculum can be a symbolic “mirror,” reflecting our lived experience, or it may be a “window,” something we can look through to learn more about others. Expanding this idea, another way to frame this could include seeing the stories of others as both windows and mirrors simultaneously. When reading books with students, or during other discussions and class activities, consider asking students to, as a common practice, “recognize similarities and celebrate differences.” For example, ask: How are you similar to the character in this book? And, how are you different? Both similarities and differences can exist at the same time.
As mentioned in our recent newsletter, “The Skin We Live In Is a Beautiful Thing,” children around this age will likely see or comment about race by asking about skin color. This curriculum is an example of how to have proactive discussions with young children about skin color, with the goal of building positive racial identity development for every student.
As students get older, and the curriculum expands from ideas about family and the neighborhood to the larger world, consider having discussions about culture. Unpack the word “culture” and what it means. Look for similarities across cultures, celebrate differences. When discussing stories about others, and stories about ourselves, utilize a lens of inquiry and celebration.
Grades 3-5
How Children Around This Age Typically View Identity
By upper elementary, many children view their identities in more complex ways. By this age, social identity may be something students are discussing at home and may (or may not) emerge as a strong component of a child’s identity.
Around this age, students may also view their identities through their skill development, such as seeing themselves as a “good or bad” math student, athlete, writer, artist, etc. They are making a lot of assumptions about themselves, often based on the messaging they receive. For example, do they see mathematicians, scientists, people in positions of leadership that “look like” them? (If not, they need to!) Are they receiving feedback about their own learning that represents more of a “deficit” approach — viewing a students’ skill development as a fixed trait, focusing on what a student lacks — as opposed to a “growth” approach, where educators and other adults view a student’s exhibited strengths as examples of applied effort, and support them to reach identified goals.
Around these grades, it’s vital to note that students will likely learn history for the first time. When teaching World and U.S. history, curricular content will often include learning about ancient civilizations, colonization, and slavery. Race, ethnicity, and culture will be present. Finding ways to discuss this with facts and humanizing frameworks will be essential, especially to debunk stereotypes.
How to Encourage Expansive Thinking
Diverse representation is important. Be sure to include the stories of people who represent different racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. When planning curriculum, aim for “many stories over single stories.” At the same time, keep in mind that no group is a monolith, there is diversity across and within social groups.
Often, history texts craft a limited perspective. When teaching world history, for example, consider including the technological and cultural innovations of people across time and place, including before colonization. We highlighted one example of scientific innovation in a recent newsletter. In addition to historical content, when discussing current-day figures, aim to represent a racially, ethnically, culturally diverse world, as students, especially at this age, need to see themselves reflected in what they are learning about and engaging with on a regular basis.
When unpacking challenging truths of U.S. history, such as colonization and slavery, which we’ll examine in future newsletters, be sure to include stories of people who took different kinds of action to resist, advocate, and persist. The following may be helpful resources: Native Knowledge 360 Essential Understandings, and Talking to Children About the History of Slavery.
Identity, including racial identity, is tremendously nuanced and varies from person to person. When discussing topics related to race, consider expanding the framing of race to also include ethnicity, culture, nationality, etc. For example, racial terms can include references to color (Black, White), country (Mexican, Chinese), nation or tribe (Cherokee, Choctaw), continent (Asian) or a combination, (Asian American, African American). In short, there are many ways to identify. Provide students a safe space to identify themselves if they’re comfortable doing so, but do not force it. When speaking of others, encourage positive language.
Grades 6+
How Children Around This Age Typically View Identity
As adolescents, students around this stage will have a growing sense of independence, and will often view their identity in relation to their peers, as there is often growing social pressure to “fit into” groups.
Many adolescents are integrating aspects of their identity into a more cohesive, though sometimes still oscillating, sense of self, including more focus on, or awareness of, social identities, such as race and ethnicity.
Unfortunately, around this age, bullying, including identity-based harm, surges. As this report states, middle school students are more likely than high school students to experience bullying, and much of it is connected to race (and racism). Therefore, it’s essential that we provide our students and children with opportunities to continue building positive racial identity development, as well as ways to reduce stress and anxiety. At the school level, we may also incorporate restorative practices.This resource, developed by the American Psychological Association, may provide helpful suggestions in regard to racial stress and self-care.
How to Encourage Expansive Thinking
Representation matters. At this age, students still need to see themselves in the larger world. When curriculum includes dehumanizing content, such as chapters of history that speak to war or genocide or inhumane policies, we can aim to actively rehumanize. When planning curriculum, continue to find ways to highlight diverse stories, illustrate how human beings are similar, and normalize differences. Consider highlighting uplifting stories that recognize human agency, justice, community, and growth lenses.
One strategy that may be helpful for students in middle and high school are “values affirmation exercises,” such as writing prompts that encourage students to think about people and activities that are important to them. Research reveals that prompts that encourage self-affirmation, such as thinking about our values, can curb the negative outcomes that often couple identity-based stress, such as stereotype threat.
When discussing identity, continue to embrace nuance. Consider asking students to share more about themselves, perhaps anonymously: What do people see when they see me? What may they not see? What do I want them to know about me?
No matter what age we are, how we tell the human story matters. Nuance, representation, and affirmation are important, as is recognizing the ways we are similar, and celebrating what makes each of us unique.
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