We often struggle with the concept of fairness. Fairness is about equity, and for some equity means all being treated the same. However, we know that treating every child in the same way is not equitable. All children have different needs, and treating them all the same actually ignores the needs of many.

Imagine you have two new children joining your centre today. Mary comes from a family with a lot of financial and emotional resources. She has been nurtured, her needs have been responded to, and she is a secure and outgoing little girl. Sophie comes from a family that has lived under the poverty line all her life. She has often been hungry and is chronically unwell because her family cannot afford a doctor or medication when she is sick. The adults in her life are stressed out and rarely have time to attend to her needs. She is insecure, nervous and anxious, and demonstrates this by clinging and whining.

Would you consider it fair and equitable to treat these two young girls exactly the same on their first days and weeks in your service? Sophie may need more adult time and attention over her first few weeks and months with you in order to settle and be able to participate in the learning that you offer. Is it inequitable to give her more adult time than Mary?

Equal rights, equal benefits?

Our understanding of fairness and equity is based on the balance between two slightly different sets of rights: the right to equality of 'opportunity' and the right to equality of 'participation'. Unfortunately, having equal rights to access a learning activity does not mean that children can all benefit from that activity. We see this every day in our services and our schools. In Australia, for example, we all have the right to attend school. However, that right (of opportunity for an education) does not result in all Australians gaining acceptable levels of literacy and numeracy. Some children are not able to benefit from education in the same way that others are able to. We know that children who are disadvantaged have lower school achievement levels than others, poorer physical and mental health, and poorer overall wellbeing.

Offering individualised support

Fairness and equity occur when we think beyond equality of opportunity and start to address equality of participation. In the example above, Sophie clearly needs more support than Mary in order to benefit from the learning opportunities provided in your centre. Of course Mary also needs support; however, the support offered to Sophie must be different than the support offered to Mary. When we offer each child the individualised support she or he needs, each child can learn and develop – and we can congratulate ourselves for delivering a program that addresses this key component of Outcome 2 in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). However, we need to do more to really address the intentions of this key component of Outcome 2.

We have to plan learning experiences for children that help them develop the understanding needed to demonstrate fairness and equity in their interactions with others. Given that many of us struggle with the concept of fairness and equity, it is not surprising that many early childhood workers find this a difficult and perhaps overwhelming task. How do you teach a baby or a toddler to understand that it is fair to treat people differently? How do you get a preschool-aged child to understand that same idea?

We need to begin by reflecting on our own behaviours and sharing those reflections with children. When we offer children different kinds of support, we can explain what we are doing in simple language. For example:

'I'm helping Jimmy put his boots on today because he finds it difficult to push his foot through the narrow opening here at the top. You have shoes with a Velcro strap and I know that you can manage that by yourself. Why don't you sit down here beside me and I can watch you doing this all by yourself.'

This modelling – identifying the needs you are addressing – will help children realise that your actions are linked to specific needs rather than favouritism or a generalisation about children's ability levels. Compare this to:

'I am helping Jimmy because he can't do it by himself.'

What's wrong with being different?

We need to help children recognise that we are all different, and that difference is exciting. Often we are nervous about this because we feel that it draws attention to difference and overlooks our common humanity. We are scared that if we recognise difference, we are teaching prejudice. It is, in fact, the opposite. Children recognise difference from birth, and refusing to acknowledge difference only serves to make it seem frightening for them (things that are hidden and not talked about are scary). It is perfectly natural for children to be interested in differences in skin colour, hair colour, size, shape and appearance. We need to seize these teaching moments and use them as a way of celebrating the wonderful variety of humans on this planet.

When children notice a difference, take the opportunity to expand on it. You can have an exciting discussion of different skin colours – compare different colours between children, and even different colours of skin on our own bodies. This exploration of difference helps children understand that being different is fine (it's even fun), and your no-nonsense, empathetic approach teaches them that there is nothing wrong with being or looking different.

You can then lead on to an exploration of how others react to that difference. For example, you can:

• validate children's experiences of how they find playing with Maria (who does not know English) difficult
• help them understand how Maria feels to be excluded from their play
• model strategies the children can use to include her in their play
• find opportunities for Maria to demonstrate skills and knowledge that the group does not share
• you can challenge behaviours that operate to exclude Maria, making children aware of what they are doing (it is often unconscious behaviour) and call on their sense of fairness to make an effort to include her.

Discussions do not need to be complex (though you can increase the level of complexity as children develop their understanding) and should occur every time you see exclusionary behaviours, starting your modeling with babies.

The EYLF gives us an opportunity to challenge stereotypes and help children develop the knowledge and skills to behave in a fair and equitable manner. If we could succeed in teaching these skills to young children today, imagine the world we might have tomorrow.

Margaret Sims
University of New England

Every Child magazine – vol. 15 no. 4, 2009, p. 16

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