Background to the Research

• This article reports on the development and systematic evaluation of an innovative early years programme, developed in NI and aimed at encouraging young children to value cultural diversity and respect differences. The MIFC-NI programme is the product of a partnership between a US-based organization (Pii) and NIPPA - the Early Years Organisation, and has been supported by academic research and a range of voluntary and statutory organisations. Of particular interest is the lack of research on younger children's attitudes and experiences in conflict-affected societies.
  

Research Approach

• The MIFC-NI used three specially-developed one-minute cartoons, produced with computer-generated animation, to address the issues of disability, race and cultural differences. During the pilot programme, these cartoons were broadcast for 6 weeks during children's television on the main commercial television stations in NI. Curriculum materials (hand puppets, jigsaws, feeling cubes, lotto games and posters) were piloted for a 3 week period in 5 playgroups in different settings, chosen to be broadly representative of the diverse range of social backgrounds in NI. Five further settings subsequently served as controls.
• The attitudes and awareness of the children were tested during the week before and the week following the pilot programme.
  

Main Findings

• A total of 193 children, aged 3-4 years, took part in the pilot programme (105 in the intervention group and 88 in the control group). Fifty-five percent were male and 45% were female; 53% were Protestant, 37% were Catholic, and 10% were from mixed backgrounds or not specified.
• Objective 1 was to increase young children's ability to recognize instances of exclusion. When shown a photograph of a playground scene with three children huddled together and a fourth standing further away and expressionless, and asked to describe what they could see, there was no change found in relation to the control group. A significant change was found for the intervention group, with the proportion of children believing that the fourth child was being purposefully excluded by the other three rising from 12% to 50% after participation.
• Objective 2 was to increase young children's ability to understand how being excluded makes someone feel. After being asked to describe what they thought was happening in the playground photograph, the fourth child was pointed out, without comment, and the children were asked to state how they felt s/he was feeling. No change took place within the control group. A significant change was found for the intervention group, with the proportion of children believing that the fourth child was sad rising from 44% to 67%.
• Objective 3 was to increase young children's willingness to be inclusive of those who are different from themselves. When shown a range of photographs of individual children and asked if they would like to play with each child, and if so, whether 'sometimes' or 'all the time', no change was found in the control group. A moderate effect was found in the intervention group, in terms of an underlying tendency for children to increase their willingness to play with others. There was also an increase in the willingness of the children in the intervention group to play with a Chinese girl and a girl wearing a corrective eye patch.
• There was no evidence of any changes in the children's willingness to play with the other children in the pictures, so while the programme appeared to have achieved some measurable success in terms of encouraging young children to be more inclusive of others in relation to disability and 'race', it did not seem to have had any effect in relation to the third difference - Catholic and Protestant children's attitudes towards one another. A re-analysis of the baseline data from the pilot evaluation then showed that, while there was already a pre-existing tendency for children to be less willing to play with the children wearing eyepatches and also the Chinese children, no such tendencies were found among Catholic and Protestant children's willingness to play with those wearing Celtic and Rangers shirts. The pilot programme was therefore attempting to address a problem that was simply not evident among the children.
• Findings form a half-day seminar. Leaders and assistants from the 10 playgroups reported that the children were very attracted to the cartoons and were soon able to recognize and recall the storylines and sing the common signature tune. The resources and range of recommended activities were felt to be appropriate for the children.
• There was a widespread sense of discomfort among the early years' educators with regard to addressing the third difference associated with Protestant and Catholic divisions, with many participants acknowledging that they may have downplayed this dimension in their playgroup work.
  

Conclusions

• Five key lessons are noted to have emerged from the piloting of the MIFC-NI:
  • The need to forge grassroots partnerships between various organisations and agencies around a common vision;
  • The need for a comprehensive programme of training and support for pre-school settings engaged in delivering diversity programmes;
  • The need for such programmes to engage meaningfully with parents and thus develop a community outreach approach to its work;
  • The way in which the use of the mass media has helped not only to attract the interest of young children but has also helped to avoid the development of misunderstandings and distorted perceptions among the wider population of the nature of the MIFC-NI that was a very real fear given the sensitivity of some of the issues being addressed;
  • The importance of research not only in providing an evidence base but also in evaluating its delivery and actual effectiveness.
• These key lessons have helped to inform and influence the subsequent development of the MIFC-NI. Ambitions and objectives for the future are noted, such as making the curricular resources available to every pre-school setting across NI and the Republic of Ireland by the end of 2008 and the production of a fourth media message and related curriculum materials on the theme of bullying.