Parenting and Pedagogical Practices: The Racial Socialization and Racial Identity of Pre-school Trinidadian Children
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Much scholarly attention has been devoted to Caribbean family dynamics. Researchers have examined family structure, parenting practices, and, to a lesser extent, child outcomes. Indeed, empirical studies have identified a range of child-rearing strategies adopted by Caribbean parents. However, while research has shown that issues of race and racism remain pertinent in the Caribbean context, there is scarce empirical literature on the race-related messages that parents and educators transmit to pre-school children about the meaning and social significance of race. Similarly, a paucity of research exists on Caribbean children's awareness of race and their self-identification in racial terms. This study attends to the critical gap in the literature by examining components of children's racial identity, and the roles of parents, educators, and curricula in racial socialization in Trinidad. More specifically, it examines two dimensions of racial socialization practices: messages about racial identity and messages that promote positive cross-ethnic interactions. This qualitative study is based on interviews with 20 parents, 18 four-and-a-half-year-olds, and 4 teachers who self-identified as Indian, African Trinidadian, or Mixed, and observations of classroom materials and activities. The data revealed a low prevalence of explicit racial socialization. In fact, most of the parents and teachers did not communicate any direct messages to the children about racial identity. Further, it appeared that the nationalist ideology, in particular its emphasis on silence on matters of race, has fostered a conceptualization of race and racism in the adult participants that contributes to their reticence to engage in explicit racial socialization.Lastly, while the children were found to be basing their racial identification on hair and skin colour, an analysis of the children's, parents', and educators' data indicated that children's developing cognitions, along with environmental factors such as racial socialization by parents and teachers--as well as the context-specific race relations of Trinidadian society--influence how children understand racial terms, how they perceive and assign value to racial criteria, and how they identify with their respective racial group(s).
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Kerry‐Ann Escayg
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2566820045