The purpose of the study was to examine the effects on children's racial attitude after appreciating multi-cultural art. A specific focus was placed on the racial preference and bias of 5 year old children who were in kindergarten class 'A' at 'B' ele...
The purpose of the study was to examine the effects on children's racial attitude after appreciating multi-cultural art. A specific focus was placed on the racial preference and bias of 5 year old children who were in kindergarten class 'A' at 'B' elementary school.
The following research questions were developed.
1. What is the effect on racial preference of children after appreciating multi-cultural art?
2. What is the effect on racial bias of children after appreciating multi-cultural art?
This study conducted fieldwork to examine the possibility that multi-cultural art appreciation can reduce preference and bias of children who live in Korea (Which is rapidly evolving into a multi-cultural society). The target of this study was 28 children in kindergarten class 'A' at 'B' elementary school. Research was conducted for 6 weeks with a total of 12 sessions.
The measurement tool used to study children's preferences about race was the Children's Preference about Race Tool(Park Ji Hee, 2002). This tool was developed based on extensive research(Um Mi Suk, 1999; Clark&Clark, 1947; Hirschfeld, 1995; Horowitz, 1936; Morland, 1958; Radke & Trager, 1950; Ramsey, 1987). This tool was modified to suit this study's purposes. Both tools consist of 4 questions which create social situations and a need to select an individual. Races were added so children had to select one of five cards reflecting different races. Children had to select for the following social situations to play with, cooperate with, help and share with. The individuals reflected on the cards were European, Latin American, South-East Asian, east North-East Asian and African. The measurement tool for children's bias about race(Shin Hyun Kyung, 2007) was also used and modified to suit this study's purposes.
To examine the effects of appreciating multi-cultural art, students took a pretest of preference and bias about race and also took a post-test after the 6week program. The pretest and post-test were done by interviewing each child one bye one and the results from those tests were analyzed with T-test and Frequencies of SPSS 12.0.
The findings of this study were as follows;
First the children's preference about race didn't drastically change especially when examining North-East Asians. However there was a tendency for children's choices about race to be more balanced for each social situation in the post-test compared to the result of the pretest. A preference of North-East Asians and Europeans decreased instead of increasing preference of South-East Asians and Africans. This result is considered as the results of multi-cultural art appreciation. Through the process of appreciating multi-cultural art, they were able to realize many positive aspects of different cultures and understand and respect differences. Also they were able to consider everyone as human even though they looked different. Increasing preference of South-east Asians means more for korean society which has high population of South-east Asians as residents.
Second, children's biases about race decreased. Among the 5 sections reflecting bias about race, almost of all sections showed a decrease except Ability. This result is also considered a reflection of multi-cultural art appreciation. Through this process, they were able to notice that everybody is different, understand why everybody is different, and how individuals are different but are still similar. They could appreciate the good factors of difference which produced a positive outlook on living together with different races. Students also realized their own false biases about different race.
In conclusion, the appreciation of multi-cultural art affected children's preferences and biases about different races. However it does not mean that appreciating of multi-cultural art is enough, During the program, conversations about different cultures must also occur for change to occur. Children need to be offered the opportunities to think about different cultures through our their curriculum and this will lead to having more understanding and for others.