Multicultural Pedagogy: Strengthening Social Interaction Among Multi-Ethnic Pre-School Children

This study explored multicultural pedagogy in pre-school education and how it plays an important role in strengthening the social interactions among children. The Multicultural Pedagogy approach in teaching children has established the multi-ethnic (PERPADUAN/Unity) pre-school. It is a qualitative study with data drawn from observation and interview sessions aimed to identify strategies in nurturing social interaction among multi-ethnic children. Through purposive sampling, a teacher with twenty-five children and parents from various ethnicities were selected. This study revealed that practising multicultural pedagogy reflects the diversity of ethnics strengthening social interaction. The teacher exposed the children to the cultures of every ethnic group to ensure they have understood other cultures from different ethnicity. When the children are exposed to the elements of different cultures, a sense of acceptance and tolerance attitude can be fostered. This strategy nurtured national integration, encouraging interactions among multi-ethnic children, stimulating acceptance and tolerance between children and creating a school environment that reflects the diversity of ethnicities. Core multicultural elements have been found in the PERPADUAN/Unity School. Overall findings from the current study provide new evidence illustrating how multicultural pedagogy implemented strengthens social interaction in early childhood education.