Persona Dolls Research Articles

All about … Persona Dolls

What is the purpose of Persona Dolls in helping to tackle issues such as diversity, and how do practitioners use them in early years settings? Vicky Hutchin explains

Using Persona Dolls in research with children to combat the insider/outsider researcher status dilemma

ABSTRACT Persona Dolls are fabric dolls that are used as part of a specific approach (The Persona Doll approach) with young children to encourage inclusion and to challenge inequality and discrimination. Whilst dolls have been celebrated for foregrounding children’s voices in research, previous scholarship has not considered the potential for dolls to evade the insider/outsider researcher status dichotomy, facilitating a position of ‘inbetweenness’. In this Viewpoint, we propose the use of Persona Dolls in research with children as useful tools to combat the insider/outsider researcher status dilemma recognised in much geographical and other scholarship.

Discarded Identities/Inspiring Just Sustainability with Reuse Persona Dolls

The author identifies as a mixed-race Chicana teacher/educator, bridging ecology, culture, and learning situated within an early learning center on a university campus. This inquiry integrates Gloria Anzaldúa’s autohistoria teoría/autobiographical theory and documents (1) the social construction of a gender-fluid persona doll named “Logan” during a focus group with REMIDA Reggio-inspired educators, (2) a (dis)rupture that took place after engaging the persona doll to introduce the term “transgender” during a preschool circle time, and (3) lessons learned to move early childhood education for social sustainability forward. During this disrupture in our learning community, the question of whether or not to discard Logan’s (gender non-binary) identity emerged. Logan’s story is one of curricular innovation in the examination of topics and concepts of ecological sustainability, equity-based pedagogy, and creative reuse through the construction and use of persona dolls. The dolls themselves are created from reuse materials, and they adopt personas and social backgrounds reflecting awareness of ecological and social injustice while co-developing ideas of actions for equity with the input of children.

Promoting positive intergroup attitudes using persona dolls: A vicarious contact intervention program in Israeli kindergartens

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a vicarious contact intervention program for improving knowledge and attitudes of Jewish-Israeli secular and religious children regarding their ingroup and three outgroups: secular/religious Jews, Ethiopian-descendant Jews, and Arabs. One hundred and nine kindergartners participated in a four-week intervention, in which experimenters introduced to them four persona dolls representing the different groups. Accompanied by stories, children were exposed to the dolls’ individual and group characteristics, and to positive encounters between the dolls. A pre- and post-test battery assessed the intervention’s effects on children’s intergroup knowledge and attitudes. Findings revealed an increase in children’s knowledge of the groups, improvements in religious children’s attitudes towards Arabs, and in both secular and religious children’s willingness to sit closer to Ethiopian-descendant children. These findings highlight the potential of indirect contact for reducing intergroup bias in young children living in multicultural and conflict-ridden societies.

Empowering refugee children with the use of Persona Doll

This study focuses on Arabic-speaking children with a refugee or/and migrant background and its purpose is to explore if and how the Persona Doll method can influence this target group in terms of their attitudes and learning. The present study is a qualitative research in the form of action research. On the basis of data collection through participant observation, interviews and identity texts, a Persona Doll was designed that mirrored specific characteristics of the participant children and shared stories that reflected their personal experiences. The designed sessions with the Persona Doll were based on Brown’s methodology and were implemented in a non-formal education setting. In this paper, a detailed description is provided and after content analysis, the major findings are presented. Specifically, it was demonstrated that the Persona Doll generated positive attitudes, contributed to language education and empowered bicultural identity.

Empowering refugee children with the use of Persona Doll

Empowering refugee children with the use of Persona Doll

Barriers and bridges between mother tongue and English as a second language in young children

Background: Social and economic aspirations held by parents can reflect a desire for their children to learn English as a second language. Bilingual education has the potential for empowering traditionally disadvantaged groups, particularly through competence in English, a language that positions identity with power, privilege and status, thus being a political and an economic issue. Aim: The aim was to look critically at the language development of young second-language learners within their social context. Setting: An early childhood centre in Durban, South Africa. Methods: Methodologically, a qualitative praxeological framework was used. Parent partnership in sustaining the mother tongue was sought and explored in focus group interviews, using an action–reflection cycle to understand the dilemma of young second-language learners in South Africa. Ways of overcoming language barriers using the strengths of the child were explored using persona dolls. These methods helped to develop sustained, shared thinking between children, their parents and the researcher. Results: Young children found their own means of engaging in meaning-making processes both at home and at school. The issue of linguicism was tackled by encouraging parental participation in sustaining the mother tongue while children learned English as a second language. Conclusion: As long as English means access to improved economic opportunities, there will be a bias against those whose home language is not English. The dilemma of the young English language learner remains an issue of equity, access and redress for past injustices.

See things differently with Persona Doll training

Persona Dolls now have a starring role when it comes to promoting British values. Karen Hart investigates a one day course that can support their use in many areas of personal, social and emotional development.

A Pedagogy of Friendship: young children’s friendships and how schools can support them

ABSTRACTChildren’s friendships are often neglected by teachers and researchers. This phenomenological study conducted with seven children aged five and six years explores young children’s perceptions of their everyday friendship experiences. This multi-method study used role play interviews, drawings and persona doll scenarios to consider children’s everyday experiences of friendship in school. The paper discusses the importance of socio-cultural aspects of children’s friendship including: imaginary friends; losing friends; protecting time and space to develop friendships and children’s routines and practices as they form and maintain friendships. Data and findings are discussed, leading to an original conceptual framework: a ‘Pedagogy of Friendship’. This is designed to help children make meaning from their friendship experiences and also provide practitioners with the opportunity to nurture and scaffold children through their friendship experiences in schools. We suggest that there is a need to raise the profile of children’s friendships in early childhood education and generate an educational perspective on friendship. Finally we conclude that listening to children’s views of friendship indicates that the application of the framework of a ‘Pedagogy of Friendship’ would be beneficial to children’s all round learning and development.

A special visitor

When used by skilled practitioners, Persona Dolls are a powerful resource for encouraging children to think and talk about their emotions and understand difference. Judith Harries provides an introduction.

Children colouring: speaking ‘colour difference’ with Diversity dolls

This article draws on data from qualitative research that was conducted with children between 6 and 13 years of age as a part of an 18-month project that explored respectfully engaging with cultural diversity in Australian primary schools. We used persona dolls as a research tool to enable children to explore and articulate their knowledge of ‘race’ and ‘colour’ operating in Australian society. Children’s voices revealed to us how they had conceptualised ‘difference’ based on colour, by using their everyday school experiences with peers. Children as young as 6–7 years of age were able to articulate how they positioned and related to the attributes of these dolls, and how these were connected to the material realities of their daily lives. Thus, we raise some important and critical implications for teacher education, including the need to train teachers to recognise, and address, how ‘race’ and colour operates overtly and covertly in school communities and is mobilised through children’s everyday experiences at school.

Moving Toward a Humanistic Social Studies and History Curricula

Current reflective practices in the social studies are examined in light of how these strategies can add value and meaning to social studies curriculums. Many of these reflective practices were introduced within teacher education programs’ social studies methods courses, to expose pre-service teachers to innovative teaching practices that could be used in the classroom. An ineffective textbook-centered curriculum has dominated education in the United States for over a century. The researchers in this article argue for a new, reflective approach to teaching history and social studies curricula. New pedagogical models are needed to revive an ailing social studies program in the public school system. This article includes a selective examination of some traditional and non-traditional methods for promoting student learning and growth through reflective practices. Those considered in this article include dialogue journals, textbooks, culturally responsive texts (CRT), the Persona Doll Project, mask-making, primary source documents, and co-teaching. Each reflective practice strategy has its merits and could be easily implemented to improve pedagogical practice.

Empathy and Personal Experiences of Trainees in an Emotional Literacy and Persona Doll Programme in South Africa

South Africa's young children face many devastating problems that can hamper their emotional and social development. As a result, the Emotional Literacy and Persona Doll programme is an attempt to intervene in the emotional development of young children. The Persona Dolls are used as an educational and therapeutic tool to encourage and develop emotional expression, management and emotional literacy in young children. Previous studies have shown positive effects of the programme with children. However, the development of the trainees and practitioners who use these dolls has yet to be researched. Therefore, this research study is an assessment of the development of empathy, and the personal experiences of trainees who underwent the emotional literacy and Persona Doll training programme in South Africa. This was done through the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and a thematic content analysis of the participants' feelings, experiences, and thoughts in a journal, process notes, and an evaluation form. There was a total of 14 participants, including newly trained psychologists, social workers and teachers. Although the quantitative results did not show any significance in terms of an improvement in empathy, the qualitative results demonstrated that the participants found that they were more able to think and talk about their own emotions, and the emotions of others. Furthermore, the group of participants learned important skills of reflection and containment, which they believe they can now use and which they are using in their work with others, and their families.

The Persona Doll Project: Promoting Diversity Awareness Among Preservice Teachers Through Storytelling

The Persona Doll Project describes an experiential intervention with undergraduate preservice teachers designed to increase awareness about diversity and apply this awareness to curriculum planning and advocacy for children. Sixty-three undergraduate students in a social studies methods class were each assigned a persona doll for the semester whose background differed from their own. Each was charged with becoming the advocate for the child, represented by the doll, by telling informed stories that would help other students better understand a level of diversity beyond what they knew from their own lives. Students heightened awareness of their own assumptions through narrative, inquiry and reflection and used that knowledge to critically analyze teaching practices that promote inclusion or exclusion. Students reported increased confidence for working in diverse communities. One goal of teacher education programs is to prepare teachers to work with students from racial/cultural/linguistic backgrounds other than their own. This article provides one example of how to address this important goal.

Doll tales: foregrounding children's voices in research

This paper discusses how the use of Persona dolls in research is an effective means of enabling children (ages 4–6) to share life experiences openly. It investigated the place of race in the peer choice of preschool children. Two key research questions drove the inquiry: (1) Do four‐ to six‐year‐old children know their own racial identity? (2) Do four‐ to six‐year‐old children choose friends based on racial characteristics? Semi‐structured interviews using Persona dolls were conducted, with the dolls acting as conduits through which the children engaged in conversations with the researcher. Findings revealed that children were aware of stereotypes and discrimination. One minority child showed deep empathy with the posed dilemma of a dark skinned Persona doll and her inability to establish friendships. Implications are shared with regard to the significance of Persona dolls, play and life stories in presenting the views of young children.

The master of puppets

The use of Persona and Empathy Dolls has re-ignited an interest in the use of puppets in settings. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have many benefits, as Sharon Paul-Smith explains.

Eye brings you another batch of the latest products and books on offer

Persona Dolls are used to promote social justice and are a very powerful and engaging way to help empower children to develop an understanding of people unlike themselves.

The story of empathy

Kirstine Beeley examines the similarities and differences between the empathy doll and persona doll approaches in the UK and looks at how empathy dolls can be used to develop emotional awareness.

Participatory-research methods with young children: experiences from the field

For some time now, many childhood sociologists and early childhood researchers have argued that children are active participants in research and not merely passive recipients of experiences (Clark & Moss, 2001). Alongside growing interest in children's rights and childhood sociology, there has been concurrent stream of interest in listening to children (Moss, 2006; Podmore, May, & Carr, 2001; Prout & Hallett, 2003; Smith, 2002). It is no longer regarded as appropriate to marginalise children as objects to be studied--there is now an expectation that researchers adopt participatory-research approach (Christensen, 2004; Davis, 1998; Thomas & O'Kane, 1998) to include children's contribution to research about the conditions of childhood. Aotearoa New Zealand has led the way in curriculum development with Te Whariki (Ministry of Education, 1996) and in research-led professional development resources like Kei Tua o to Pae/Assessment for Learning. Early Childhood Exemplars (Ministry of Education, 2004). A significant feature of these two resources, particularly the latter, is the recognition given to the voice of the child. Research in early education needs to consider how to support children's participation in the actual research process. How might strategies support children's active participation in research about them or the conditions of childhood? This article details some participatory-research approaches used with children in kindergarten setting that was part of wider doctoral study. Participatory-research strategies included: reading book together with children; making posters of some of the pictures from the book; conversations with persona doll (Brown, 2001; Derman-Sparks & the Anti-Bias Curriculum (ABC) Task Force, 1989); and conversational interviews with groups of children as they went about their day-to-day activities in the kindergarten. Background to the study This study investigated perceptions of children's rights in three early childhood settings (an under-two care and education centre, playcentre, and kindergarten). Four teachers (one reliever), student teacher, and an education support worker, together with 43 four-year-old children participated in the research, which was conducted during the morning sessions (held five times week) over one month. When the research started, there were two permanent trained teachers and trained reliever. A week into the research, new permanent appointment was made and this teacher began in the last week of data collection. She participated fully in the research for that short time period. The following questions were the focus of the study: 1. How do teachers and children perceive children's rights in early childhood settings? 2. How are these rights enacted in early childhood settings? The research design adopted mixed-method approach, intended to reveal a different slice of the social world (Denzin, 2001, p. 326). The combined effect of the topic children's rights, plus commitment to the methodological paradigm, participatory-research approaches, was influential. A wide range of traditional ethnographic research methods were used--observational field notes, photographs, interviews, and focus group meetings; and as mentioned earlier, strategies to include children as participants were: book; posters made from the book; and persona doll, as well as conversational interviews. These strategies were all successful with some children, and each one generated different data, which eventually acted together to support the robustness of the findings. Consent or assent? Gaining entry to the kindergarten was very straightforward. The proposal was discussed during staff meeting with the teachers month before the fieldwork started, and information sheets were handed out (by the researcher) to parents and children at the end of kindergarten session, two weeks before the fieldwork began. …

The value of persona dolls in tackling sensitive issues

PERSONA dolls enable us to raise difficult issues with young children in a non-threatening enjoyable way while at the same time promoting emotional literacy, inclusion and good citizenship.