Celebrating Differences

In kindergarten class, teacher Liam Nolan prefers to tell stories that are interactive, allowing the children to stop the action and help shape what happens next. Students were paying close attention when Liam introduced a new story, using familiar cutout photos of “story people” as props, the children noticed right away that the story people were all wearing nametags – but why?

“Our students brainstormed what type of special events might be happening. They were excited to learn that a new teacher, 'Pat,' would be joining that community, “ Liam said later. The students began asking questions about the new teacher. But Liam noted that no one asked about Pat’s gender. Liam wasn’t surprised, because the school’s anti-bias curriculum seeks to downplay gender roles and open up children to differences they encounter in the world. To represent the new teacher, Liam brought out a new cutout photo the students hadn’t seen before. Hands shot up in the “pause signal” so the students could suggest how the story should proceed.

“Let’s show her around the classroom.” “Let’s take her around the school.” “We can tell her how to find the elevator.”

Liam smiled broadly. The photo cutout showed the teacher in a wheelchair. But that piece of new information didn’t seem to matter at all to the students.

“The kids reacted with total acceptance,” Liam said. “And that willingness to accept people as they are, and not to label them, is something we try very hard to promote at Lesley Ellis."

“They wanted to do things for Pat that would make the teacher comfortable and feel welcomed,” he said, noting that one student asked if he could show Pat the restroom on their floor – the one accessible by wheelchair. “That’s a rare quality in a lot of children, but I see it all the time among the students and families here.”