The lack of multicultural main characters in book collections at some Perth childcare centres could be damaging children's self-worth, a study has found.
Researchers from Edith Cowan University examined 2377 books from five day care centres and found only five per cent contained "non-white" characters, who were usually portrayed using outdated stereotypes.
Even racially diverse books had non-white characters in supporting roles, which could easily be turned into a white character without affecting the story.
"Children who do not see representations of themselves reflected within book collections may begin to doubt their self-worth in the centre and in society in general," lead researcher Helen Adam said.
She said children needed to see their own culture represented in "authentic and contemporary ways" to develop a sense of identity and respect for other races.
"We know that in the early stages of life children are forming their attitudes related to racial identification," Ms Adam said.
The research team also found restricting the world-view of Caucasian children to only white characters could lead to "prejudice and misunderstanding" as they saw their culture portrayed as "normal" and others as "deviant".
Published in the Australian Journal of Early Childhood, the study deliberately focused on five childcare centres on the basis of their demographic and socio-economic diversity, and where at least one-quarter of the population were born overseas.
Ms Adams said the daycare centre educators recognised the importance of addressing diversity, but needed guidance on how to provide and use appropriate children's literature.
"Unfortunately it is unlikely educators would be able to engage with children in meaningful discussions about other cultures with such a restricted choice of books," she said.
Key findings from the study
- 1018 books had human characters
- 778 contained characters of one race, with 750 Caucasian and 28 from another race
- 240 contained characters of more than one race. 112 were mostly Caucasian, while 128 contained characters were from different races
