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Allies and Friends Early Childhood Education Series and Toolkit

by ABC | Educational Resource
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Amplifying cultural diversity, fostering kindness, growing together. This joyful educational series aims to inspire young viewers to become allies and make a positive impact in their communities as they grow and learn. It also provides educators with language suggestions, tools and resources to enhance their cultural capability and teaching practices within early education and care settings.

Allies and Friends is an educational series designed to normalise cultural diversity and the concept of allyship in early childhood education. 

This series uses play-based learning to highlight children's voices, inviting viewers to explore new concepts with them and reflect on their own place in a diverse world.

In this series, a group of children come together to form friendships and collaborate on projects. Guided by Jenae Tien and other educators, they engage in cross-cultural communication and develop critical thinking skills. 

This toolkit for early education helps young children learn how to activate cultural allyship and encourages discussions around five key concepts:

By learning about the experiences of others and recognising the importance of diversity, children can develop empathy and compassion for those around them.

The goal is for each episode to provide provocations for children to share their experiences and perspectives, learn from the unique insights of their peers, and for educators to consider practical ways to empower young children with a strong sense of belonging, while informing bigger picture social impact and change. 

INTERRUPTING STEREOTYPES

Bias and stereotypes begin to form at a very young age. Research indicates that "children as young as 3 months are aware of racial differences, and by preschool age, they make choices based on race about whom to play with and how" (Katz & Kofkin 1997; Van Ausdale & Feagin 2001; Hirschfeld 2008; Quintana & McKown 2008).

This highlights the need to educate children about diversity and inclusion from an early age to foster a more cohesive and anti racist society.

Allies and Friends is grounded in the belief that allyship is a powerful force for good that can transform communities and bring people closer together.

This toolkit encourages you to empower children in your care to engage in community storytelling, cross-cultural communication, and inclusive play with both new and old friends. By doing so, you promote empathy, understanding, and compassion.

You can access all five episodes of Allies and Friends and the toolkit through the ABC Kids website.