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Building Inclusive, Multicultural Early Years Classrooms: Strategies for a Culturally Responsive Ethic of Care

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of culturally responsive care in multicultural Early Years classrooms. Through an exploration of teachers’ narratives in an Indian school, the study highlights the tools and strategies used by teachers to promote an ethic of care among a diverse student population of over 16 languages, 5 religions, and 35 ethnic communities. The study identifies three key categories of care practices: affirming and attuning, diffusing and soothing, and anchoring and building. Overall, the findings suggest that teachers employ a range of relational and aesthetic strategies to promote equality, collaborate with students in inclusive policies, and preserve marginalised cultural heritage. They also narrate folktales and mythology to reject exclusionary discipline and model peaceful responses to conflict. Finally, teachers build a shared classroom identity and cultivate students' capacities for care. This study aims to contribute to the theory and practice of an ethic of care in Early Years education and offer culturally responsive pedagogical tools for inclusive and peace-promoting classrooms.

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Notes

  1. Rather than stereotyping these socialisation processes as fixed realities within Indian society, they can be historicised within different political, social and economic factors, including the role of colonialism in reifying conservative gender roles and persistent disparities in women’s unpaid care-work and labour force participation (Jain, 2018; Mahadevan, 2018).

  2. Jainism is an Indian religion that does not permit consumption of meat.

  3. A reference to two Sanskrit epics which are popular artefacts of Indian mythology.

  4. A reference to a warrior-character in the Mahabharata (a Sanskrit epic) who is known for his strength. Draupadi is the heroine of this epic.

  5. A much-revered deity in Hindu mythology, who assumes a simian avatar.

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The author did not receive support from any organisation for the submitted work. No funds, grants, or other support was received. The author has no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

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    Nomisha Kurian

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Kurian, N. Building Inclusive, Multicultural Early Years Classrooms: Strategies for a Culturally Responsive Ethic of Care. Early Childhood Educ J 52, 863–878 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-023-01456-0

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