Promote Equality and Inclusion in Children’s and Young People’s Settings Essay

The importance of diversity in an early years setting is that children need to have their own sense of identity and have a sense of pride in themselves and their cultures. Equality This means to treat everyone fairly and equally. Children should be treated as individuals, equally and fairly. Sometimes treating children equally, you have to treat them differently. All children should be valued for their individuality and offered any support they may need. Everyone should be treated with the care, consideration and respect that they have a right to and given the same opportunities to learn and achieve as others. Inclusion This mean to include everyone and meet the individual’s needs. It is a human right for every individual. Everyone counts and differences should be valued, respected and celebrated. Inclusion involves identifying barriers that prevent people from taking part, being involved and fitting in. Knowledge is needed to understand these barriers which can only then be broken down. It is everyone’s responsibility to remove these barriers. It involves making sure that all support systems are available in order for everyone to participate fully. The importance of having equality and inclusion in a setting is so the child does not have poor self-esteem or lack of respect or confidence. The child should not feel as though they are being stereo-typed which could make the child aggressive towards others and prevent the child from interacting. The child should believe in themselves and behave in accordance with others expectations. Equality Act 2010 is the law which bans unfair treatment and helps achieve equal opportunities in the workplace and in wider society. Participation Every child matters, whether they have a different culture, race, gender or if they have a disability, all children have equality of learning and to participate to allow them to grow and meet their full potential. Discrimination Discrimination is a preconceived attitude towards members of a particular group formed only upon the basis of their membership of that group that leads to less favourable or bad treatment of that person. Discrimination could be direct or indirect. Direct discrimination is when a person is treated differently to other people when they are in the same circumstances and indirect is when discrimination is done un-intently. Potential effects may include: Causing upset Affecting an individual’s self-esteem Causing stress Individuals feeling isolated Affecting individuals’ hopes and expectations Creating tensions Leading to stereotyping Leading to labelling Producing prejudices The types of discrimination are:- Racial discrimination This is a belief that some races are superior then others based on the false idea that skin colour may make people better than others. Institutional racism This describes any kind of system of inequality based on race. It can occur in institutions such as public government bodies, private business corporations and universities. Disability discrimination Disability discrimination is about being denied equality of opportunity with their non-disabled peers because of their disabilities or impairments. Sex Discrimination People of one gender reinforce the stereotype that they are superior to the other gender. Discrimination is generally based on either prejudice or stereotypes. Prejudice means to prejudice people based on assumptions and stereotype refers to forming an instant or fixed picture of a group of people, usually based on false or incomplete information. By being discriminated can cause a lifelong effect on a child. They could feel shy and lack in confidence which can then stop them from fulfilling the full potential.