Diversity and inculsion 2021-2022
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: 2 VERBS
DIVERSITY = COPING WITH DIVERSITY
Diversity as a verb: it is a call to take more account of differences that we still cannot or do not
want to face sufficiently
Diversity = reality in all contexts
Misconception to narrow (verkleine) diversity down to one specific dimension such as ethnicity or
cultural background
Diversity as a verb: sheer (puur) contact between children and youngsters from different origins,
ages, …. Does not automatically lead to qualitative coexistence (samenleven) or joint play
Learning to deal with diversity is general, necessary competence in our continuously changing,
pluralistic society
Democracy: learning to deal with different opinions by actively listening, negotiating, discussing,
and eventually finding solutions
Participation: we motivate children and youngsters to contribute, especially to their own living
environment
Identity: build their own identity so that they can base their actions on their own values and norms
INCLUSION = INCLUSIVE WORK
Inclusion always requires action
Action alone is not enough, comes down to an interplay
WITH THE CHILDREN
Starting point = children’s strengths and insights to formulate adjustments in the extracurricular
childcare sector
WITH PARENTS
Collaboration = important
Before entering conversation be professionally prepared by acquiring knowledge
Inclusive work = establishing a dialogue
Parents & children are important source of first-hand knowledge
Too often, inclined to gather knowledge on ‘what’ a child has and not ‘who’ a child is
WITH PEDAGOGICAL CONTEXT
Inclusion = match that must be played every day
Inclusion ≠ a characteristic of children with disabilities
Inclusion = how we as an environment deal with differences among children
The way we try to remove barriers daily, so that all children can participate fully
1
,Diversity and inculsion 2021-2022
WITH EXTERNAL PARTNERS
Neighborhoods or volunteer organizations that might offer potential partnerships
Out-of-the-box thinking
Not an individual act
PRINCIPLES OF INCLUSIVE WORK
Differences tracked back to different sectors
PRINCIPLE 1: THE NEEDS OF THE CHILD ARE CENTRAL: AUTONOMY, COMPETENCE
AND RELATEDNESS
Try not to automatically assume to know what a child wants
What a child wants, is related to his needs for autonomy
Zone of proximal development: offer activities that children are ‘close’ to mastering
Know what children can do without help zone of actual development
What a child can do, is related to competence
Look for connection
Parameter’s well-being and involvement can help to see if a child is really belonging or how
children experience a situation
Focus on all children
PRINCIPLE 2: A STRENGTH BASED APPROACH THAT MATHCES THE CHILD’ S IDENTITY
AND CAPABILITIES
Look for real connections, who the child is with his capabilities, dreams, interests, strengths,
talents, and competences
Discover and take your time to really get to know a child
PRINCIPLE 3: A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS WITH ALL THOSE INVOLVED
Process of continuously searching together with all those involved
Strong ideas might come from the child itself or the other children
Parents are also experts at knowing what their child needs
Research shows that such specific knowledge is not required to effectively cope with diversity
PRINCIPLE 4: SYTEMIC: INTERACTIVE AND IN RELATION WITH THE ENVIRONMENT
Different way to look at things (dominant paradigm)
All about the way we adapt the environment so that each child can fully participate get to
know the context
Focus is shifting from the individual to the environment and the interactions within that
environment
Reasonable adaptions: how can we adapt oud pedagogical environment to meet the needs of a
child?
2
,Diversity and inculsion 2021-2022
Universal design: how can we design a pedagogical context in such a way that it allows each child
to participate fully?
DIVERSITY COMPETENCES FOR INCLUSIVE WORK
Important to be aware of what drives us and therefore become more aware of our own reference
framework
Only by recognizing and acknowledging what fuels our outlook on children that are (slightly)
different, we can integrate the appreciative approach that is put forward throughout the ECEC
program, into our own reference framework
Appreciative approach: all children are powerful (krachtig kind)
Six basic competences:
1. Diversity as normality: another way of looking at things
2. Learning from one another: being genuinely interested, asking questions and being open
to learn
3. Multi perspectivity: put on different perspectives, look at things from different angles and
empathize
4. Dialogue and collaboration: time is taken to listen and exchange perspectives, use
diversity as an added value
5. Flexibility: needs flexibility to respond to what presents itself
6. Unbiased and against discrimination
DEVOLOPING AN OWN VISION
A pedagogical worker can realize children’s right to be an active participant in their own care,
development, and knowledge acquisition (verwerven)
Vision on dealing with diversity and inclusive work
3
, Diversity and inculsion 2021-2022
IMAGES OF DIVERSITY
DIVERSITY = THE MIX OF DIFFERENCES
Look for books about diversity
Diversity is not always visibly present in groups
Beginning = what is visible
Under the waterline: invisible diversity dimension
One can consciously choose to make an invisible identity
dimension visible
Important: adults are sensitive to the visibility and how
children deal with this
Most important objective is that a child feels acknowledged
in his uniqueness and that differences are accepted
Challenge pedagogical workers: work with diversity by making it at least visible and discussable
LENS 1: CATERGORICAL THINKING ABOUT DIVERSITY
We create images that allow us to organize the world
and therefore allow us to gasp it natural and
necessary
= social categorization: causes us to think about others in
homogeneous, stereotypical categories
Generalizations = based on a specific angle
Based on several aspects:
Provides something to hold on to
Contributes to one’s own identity
Connects people
Takes little energy
WHY CATEGORIES CAN BE USEFUL
Specific mechanisms/ inequality that are experienced by the people belonging to these
categories, can be uncovered, and addressed
Delineating categories also allows us to translate certain targets
Allows to highlight the disadvantages experienced by certain categories of people
Such labels can be the gateway to additional support or accommodations, which might ensure
full-fledged participation for children
THE PITFALLS OF A CATEGORICAL DIVERSITY APPROACH
We see individual as a member of a category than a unique person
Social categorization leads to segregating groups: we vs. them
Given a label based on the category to which they belong, then this is by definition an indication
of disadvantage deficit or innate inequality
4
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: 2 VERBS
DIVERSITY = COPING WITH DIVERSITY
Diversity as a verb: it is a call to take more account of differences that we still cannot or do not
want to face sufficiently
Diversity = reality in all contexts
Misconception to narrow (verkleine) diversity down to one specific dimension such as ethnicity or
cultural background
Diversity as a verb: sheer (puur) contact between children and youngsters from different origins,
ages, …. Does not automatically lead to qualitative coexistence (samenleven) or joint play
Learning to deal with diversity is general, necessary competence in our continuously changing,
pluralistic society
Democracy: learning to deal with different opinions by actively listening, negotiating, discussing,
and eventually finding solutions
Participation: we motivate children and youngsters to contribute, especially to their own living
environment
Identity: build their own identity so that they can base their actions on their own values and norms
INCLUSION = INCLUSIVE WORK
Inclusion always requires action
Action alone is not enough, comes down to an interplay
WITH THE CHILDREN
Starting point = children’s strengths and insights to formulate adjustments in the extracurricular
childcare sector
WITH PARENTS
Collaboration = important
Before entering conversation be professionally prepared by acquiring knowledge
Inclusive work = establishing a dialogue
Parents & children are important source of first-hand knowledge
Too often, inclined to gather knowledge on ‘what’ a child has and not ‘who’ a child is
WITH PEDAGOGICAL CONTEXT
Inclusion = match that must be played every day
Inclusion ≠ a characteristic of children with disabilities
Inclusion = how we as an environment deal with differences among children
The way we try to remove barriers daily, so that all children can participate fully
1
,Diversity and inculsion 2021-2022
WITH EXTERNAL PARTNERS
Neighborhoods or volunteer organizations that might offer potential partnerships
Out-of-the-box thinking
Not an individual act
PRINCIPLES OF INCLUSIVE WORK
Differences tracked back to different sectors
PRINCIPLE 1: THE NEEDS OF THE CHILD ARE CENTRAL: AUTONOMY, COMPETENCE
AND RELATEDNESS
Try not to automatically assume to know what a child wants
What a child wants, is related to his needs for autonomy
Zone of proximal development: offer activities that children are ‘close’ to mastering
Know what children can do without help zone of actual development
What a child can do, is related to competence
Look for connection
Parameter’s well-being and involvement can help to see if a child is really belonging or how
children experience a situation
Focus on all children
PRINCIPLE 2: A STRENGTH BASED APPROACH THAT MATHCES THE CHILD’ S IDENTITY
AND CAPABILITIES
Look for real connections, who the child is with his capabilities, dreams, interests, strengths,
talents, and competences
Discover and take your time to really get to know a child
PRINCIPLE 3: A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS WITH ALL THOSE INVOLVED
Process of continuously searching together with all those involved
Strong ideas might come from the child itself or the other children
Parents are also experts at knowing what their child needs
Research shows that such specific knowledge is not required to effectively cope with diversity
PRINCIPLE 4: SYTEMIC: INTERACTIVE AND IN RELATION WITH THE ENVIRONMENT
Different way to look at things (dominant paradigm)
All about the way we adapt the environment so that each child can fully participate get to
know the context
Focus is shifting from the individual to the environment and the interactions within that
environment
Reasonable adaptions: how can we adapt oud pedagogical environment to meet the needs of a
child?
2
,Diversity and inculsion 2021-2022
Universal design: how can we design a pedagogical context in such a way that it allows each child
to participate fully?
DIVERSITY COMPETENCES FOR INCLUSIVE WORK
Important to be aware of what drives us and therefore become more aware of our own reference
framework
Only by recognizing and acknowledging what fuels our outlook on children that are (slightly)
different, we can integrate the appreciative approach that is put forward throughout the ECEC
program, into our own reference framework
Appreciative approach: all children are powerful (krachtig kind)
Six basic competences:
1. Diversity as normality: another way of looking at things
2. Learning from one another: being genuinely interested, asking questions and being open
to learn
3. Multi perspectivity: put on different perspectives, look at things from different angles and
empathize
4. Dialogue and collaboration: time is taken to listen and exchange perspectives, use
diversity as an added value
5. Flexibility: needs flexibility to respond to what presents itself
6. Unbiased and against discrimination
DEVOLOPING AN OWN VISION
A pedagogical worker can realize children’s right to be an active participant in their own care,
development, and knowledge acquisition (verwerven)
Vision on dealing with diversity and inclusive work
3
, Diversity and inculsion 2021-2022
IMAGES OF DIVERSITY
DIVERSITY = THE MIX OF DIFFERENCES
Look for books about diversity
Diversity is not always visibly present in groups
Beginning = what is visible
Under the waterline: invisible diversity dimension
One can consciously choose to make an invisible identity
dimension visible
Important: adults are sensitive to the visibility and how
children deal with this
Most important objective is that a child feels acknowledged
in his uniqueness and that differences are accepted
Challenge pedagogical workers: work with diversity by making it at least visible and discussable
LENS 1: CATERGORICAL THINKING ABOUT DIVERSITY
We create images that allow us to organize the world
and therefore allow us to gasp it natural and
necessary
= social categorization: causes us to think about others in
homogeneous, stereotypical categories
Generalizations = based on a specific angle
Based on several aspects:
Provides something to hold on to
Contributes to one’s own identity
Connects people
Takes little energy
WHY CATEGORIES CAN BE USEFUL
Specific mechanisms/ inequality that are experienced by the people belonging to these
categories, can be uncovered, and addressed
Delineating categories also allows us to translate certain targets
Allows to highlight the disadvantages experienced by certain categories of people
Such labels can be the gateway to additional support or accommodations, which might ensure
full-fledged participation for children
THE PITFALLS OF A CATEGORICAL DIVERSITY APPROACH
We see individual as a member of a category than a unique person
Social categorization leads to segregating groups: we vs. them
Given a label based on the category to which they belong, then this is by definition an indication
of disadvantage deficit or innate inequality
4
