Diversity, kindness and humanity

We advertise Mina Lopato Nursery School as an Inclusive community that celebrates diversity, curiosity and kindness. Many of you have enrolled in our school for these reasons (among others). We love that about you which is why we journey together challenging that we are living up to our motto and making sure to better ourselves as and when we find ourselves falling short.

Injustice of any kind is abhorrent to me. Fixing existing injustice feels like an impossible ask, preventing it however is fundamental and necessary. Skilled children who are hateful is a failing of the teachers, parents and adults around them.

Karen Young, (an author, who has worked as a psychologist in private practice as well as in educational and organisational settings and has extensive experience in the facilitation of personal growth groups) wrote the following,

"Children may be distressed and confused about current racial injustices and protests. As we process our own thoughts and feelings, it can be difficult to know what to say, or how much to say to our children and teens. The truth is there is no clear answer. What is also true is that as much as this is a time for learning and listening, it is also a time for the conversations that will grow our children and build a safer, kinder, more compassionate humanity.

Racism, violence, and prejudice isn't a political issue or a country issue. It's a humanity issue. If we want to belong to a humanity that is kind, compassionate and courageous, and if we want our children to feel held by that, we have to actively claim our part in creating it. This means celebrating diversity, talking about prejudice in all its forms, and showing up when the values that underpin a compassionate, inclusive, loving humanity are assaulted. It also means having the conversations with our children that will nurture a mindset that is consistent with this.

As with so many important topics, these conversations have to start when our children are young. They are internalising what they see and what they hear, and it is important not to let this process be a passive one. From a very young age, children will be aware that people are different and that some people are treated unfairly. They will be making sense of this in their own way, and they need our hand to guide them towards seeing differences through curious, loving eyes. They will also need our guidance to empower them to notice prejudice and speak out against it.

From as young as 6, children will show preferences for a group just because they are a part of it. This nurtures a sense of belonging, but if we don't actively influence them towards a mindset of inclusiveness, and a celebration of diversity, it also has the capacity to nurture prejudice."

This encapsulates our ethos and our jobs at ML. We have to have these conversations with each other as colleagues, parents and adults. We have to have these conversations with the children. Calling out unacceptable behaviour towards others doesn't make you a tattletale it shows courage and is foundational in developing a place where children are safe. Children who feel safe, can trust adults to hear them and stand up for them. These children can learn. They will have learnt the foundations on which skills like reading and maths can be built.

So yes at Mina we want to prepare your children for school and life but what we have to prepare them for is kindness, compassion and courage first. Children live what they see, they watch what we do, they say what they hear. We have a big job. We are celebrating diversity, talking about prejudice and modelling values, daily we are shaping humanity.