‘The Color of Heart is More Important’: Korean Kindergarteners Exploring Racial Diversity through Poem Writing

Abstract

ALTHOUGH THE BENEFITS OF poem writing have been emphasised in a variety of contexts, there has been an understandable lack of knowledge about how to promote young children's multicultural/multiracial awareness using poetry writing. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, the current article explores how poem writing after reading and discussing multicultural picture books helps Korean kindergarten children develop an understanding of racial diversity and equality. As part of a large-scale research project on multicultural education in South Korea, this study focuses on data collected over a five-month period including participatory observations, in-depth interviews and written materials. Findings suggest that writing poetry can function as a means to foster children's critical awareness of racial diversity and equality and can help them find their own identities. How to make poetry-writing activities more meaningful and effective in the early childhood classroom is discussed.