A child's understanding of equality begins with his own interpersonal relationships. At the beginning of the year, a group lesson can introduce children to one another and establish a basis for friendship and understanding. Begin with a song or rhyme that incorporates the children's names, such as "The Name Game" or "Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?" Perform the song daily, with increasing student participation, until the children can identify everyone in the class by name. After singing, ask the children open-ended questions about their lives. Allow children to respond in their own words and encourage polite listening and taking turns. Demonstrate that every child has a story worth sharing and deserves an equal opportunity to express himself. You may also ask questions as a class poll, and teach how to respond by raising hands. Taking polls on food preferences, family size, favorite colors or any other concept will inspire students' awareness of their similarities and differences as a community. Record the results in colorful charts, emphasizing icons and symbols instead of words.
Throughout the year, use negative experiences, such as bullying or teasing, as learning opportunities for the entire class. Rather than shaming the bully, focus on establishing compassion for the victim. Help the bullied child explain his feelings and invite the other students to imagine how the experience felt. Explain the premise of the Golden Rule: treat everyone how you want to be treated. Have the children brainstorm communally what the class would be like if everyone obeyed or disobeyed this rule. Let them draw their interpretations of a utopian or dystopian classroom.
Broaching the subject of racism or societal discrimination with young children is delicate and difficult. The archetypal lesson on discrimination requires students to experience unfair treatment. If you think such a lesson would be valuable for your students, seek administrator and parental permission first with an explanatory letter. Before beginning the lesson, explain to the students that you are going to begin a game in which not everyone will be treated fairly. Emphasize that after the game is over, your classroom will return to normal and children will receive fair treatment. In the game, choose an arbitrary physical characteristic, such as children wearing a certain color or names that begin with certain letters. Avoid racially charged features, such as eye or hair color. Reward those children with a treat or privilege. After observing their reactions, start a class discussion about the experiment. Guide their expressions to help them explain to you why your actions were unfair. Tell them that you have been convinced by their explanation, that you were wrong and distribute treats to the remaining children. Generalize this lesson to situations that are relevant to children's lives, such as Valentine's Day cards or birthday party invitations.
After children have grown to understand the value of diversity and equality in their own classroom, they will more readily learn lessons about other nations and regions. A lesson on kindergarten-age children in other countries will demonstrate cultural differences to the kids while affording the opportunity to remember that all people are fundamentally the same. Distribute coloring pages that illustrate children in traditional dress and indicate on a globe which nation each child is from. Have a cultural food day and send a note to parents welcoming food from their ethnic tradition. Allow the children to sample each food, and remind them to be courteous and polite even if they dislike the taste of the food.