Persona Dolls: Enabling Voice

Persona Dolls

Enabling Voice13rd International Art(s) in Early Childhood Conference

(Mercy K) 2009

What are Persona Dolls?

Life like dolls- created to realistically represent racial and ethnic characteristics of children seen in one’s community.• unlearn discrimination•Unlearn prejudicial attitudes•Develop healthy attitudes to matters of diversity and differences

23rd International Art(s) in Early Childhood Conference (Mercy K) 2009

Doll Profile

Each doll has an individual history: family type/status, location -particular towns and in particular housing types (class considerations).These particulars don’t change within the year.

Teachers create these individual identities at the beginning of the year once they get to know the children in their classes so that some of these identities reflect the characteristics of these children.

The dolls ‘visit’ the children at selected times, for instance, circle time and may play with the dolls if permitted.


My Research Focus• To examine if race and ethnicity play a critical role in peer selection and socialization amongst Singaporean four to six year old preschool students.

• children’s understanding of prejudice, bias and use of stereotypical knowledge, especially in terms of friendship.


Research Methodology• Naturalistic Participant Observation• Semi structured Interview

– Using coloured Photographs of children– Using Persona Dolls

• Scenario Based Segment– Rathi (Indian Doll) presents a case of not being able to make friends at her childcare center which is making her very sad and unhappy. She asks the children why this is happening to her and then, once she hears from everyone their reasons for why she cannot make friends, she asks the children to suggest ways in which she can make new friends.


Research: MacNaughton Studies

• Used Persona Dolls in a series of studies conducted in Australia to understand how prejudice and discrimination operated in young children.

• Dolls were used: “ice-breaker for conversations, invitation to play, focus for conversations about class, race and gender”. (MacNaughton, 2001)

• Interview structure– Position of Child and Researcher (individual basis)– Dolls’ Role – Procedure

• Semi-structured interview


Questions Posed


Pilot Revealed• 4 children participated in the pilot study. • Findings:

– Question wording was understood by all children BUT– Unable to establish belief with the dolls– Clothing effect– Tensed atmosphere


Revisions to enable Voice

2 main revisions1. Play room set up: Semi structured Interview2.Use of a scenario- The story angle


Scenario Segment• New form of using Persona Dolls in research• Process (show a short clip)• Questions- 1) Reasons why the children thought

Rathi could not make friends. 2) Strategies they suggested the doll

adopt to ensure she makes more friends.


Why Connect?

• Empathy enabled: Physical Doll + Story– Children of all ages were able to share in Rathi’s plight: could closely identify with the doll

– Children suggest 2 fundamental reasons why Rathi could not make friends easily • Physical attributes, i.e. the way she looked• Possible behaviour traits: Friendly manner, to share her toys etc, to buy in kind

• Anonymity enabled: Vulnerabilities reduced• Safe environment: Establish Belief


Not as PrettyL

((Leigh answers first by raising her hands)) Because (.)Maybe they(.)maybe= M

= maybe what?]L

Erm..because (.) erm…she’s not erm…she’s not as pretty as this three dolls, ((pointing to the Chinese and the White doll seated at the birthday table.))

MThat could be a possible reason. What about you Crystal? Do you think that is the case?

CAnd (they)…( ) and the two dolls have beautiful clothes… she {Rathi} don’t have.

M

Ok maybe it’s the clothes she wears maybe. And maybe because she’s not so pretty? Now when you say pretty…why do you think she’s {Rathi} not so pretty? (( posed to Leigh)).

LBecause (0.3)she [

C

[Wears a hat ((pointing to the blue scarf the doll is wearing))M

Ok_L

And her face is all brown and dark brown 12

She should be white too

After a lengthy discussion on what strategies the doll Rathi can take in order to make friends, I ask once again, what else Rathi could do to make and keep friends? The next excerpt makes Leigh’s reasoning very explicit. She reaffirms that being white would have most certainly helped Rathi make and maintain friends.

M

((Watching Leigh’s actions and says)) shake hands… talk to each other …be friendly, oh ok be friendly. Anything else?

M

Anything else that she should do? Anything else she can do? You’ll think]L

[I think she should be white also.

13mkanand/ecse/nie/2009

Categorization

14mkanand/ecse/nie/2009

Concluding Thoughts….• Researchers need to ensure that their research designs are able to foreground the voices of the children they study.

• Many a times, researchers interpret the experiences of young children in contexts that are markedly different from the child’s world.

• If we as adults want to make the world a brighter and nicer place for the generations that come after us, we need to first see what the children see, hear what the children hear and feel what the children are feeling.


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THANK YOU!Questions/Comments/Thoughts….


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References• Black-Gutman, D., & Hickson, F. (1996). The relationship between racial attitudes and

social-cognitive development in children: An Australian study. Developmental Psychology, 32(3), 448-456.

• Bowles, M. (n.d), Persona Dolls in two Contrasting settings. Retrieved 14 June 2005, from www.leicester.gov.uk/EasySite/lib/serveDocument.asp?doc=1663&pgid=5997. • Braid, D. (1996). Personal narrative and experiential meaning. The Journal of American Folklore,

109(431), 5-30. • Brown, B. (1998). Unlearning discrimination in the early years. England: Trentham Books Limited. • Brown, B. (2001). Combating discrimination: Persona dolls in action. England: Trentham Books Limited.• Lee, C., Cherian, M., Ismail, R., Ng, M., Sim, J., & Chee, M. F. (2002) A study of

children’s social interactions in informal primary school settings. Symposium on Ethnic Relations and Education in Singapore, Singapore, 8th November, 2002. Published symposium proceedings.

• Lee, C., Cherian, M., Ismail, R., Ng, M., Sim, J., & Chee, M. F. (2004) Children’s experiences of multiracial relationships in informal school settings. In A. E. Lai. (Ed.), Beyond Rituals and Riots (pp. 114-145). Singapore: Marshall Cavendish International.


http://www.leicester.gov.uk/EasySite/lib/serveDocument.asp?doc=1663&pgid=5997

References• MacNaughton, G., & Davis, K. (2001a). Beyond “Othering”: rethinking

approaches to teaching young Anglo-Australian children about Indigenous Australians. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 2(1), 83-93.

• MacNaughton, G. (2001b) ‘Blushes and birthday parties’: telling silences in young children’s constructions of ‘race’. Journal for Australian Research in Early Childhood Education, 8(1), 41-51.

• MacNaughton, G. (2001c). Silences and subtexts of Immigrant and non-immigrant children. Childhood Education, 78(1), 30-36.

• MacNaughton, G. (2001d). Dolls for Equity: Foregrounding children’s voices in learning respect and unlearning unfairness. New Zealand Council for Educational Research Early Childhood Folio, 5, 27-30.

• MacNaughton, G. (2003). Eclipsing voice in research with young children. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 28(1), 37-42.

• MacNaughton, G. (2005) Doing Foucault in early childhood studies: Applying poststructural ideas. London: Rout ledge


Persona Dolls: Enabling Voice

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