New research shows that One Globe Kids can transform how children perceive and interact with the diverse world around them. With support of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, researchers from the University of Kent found how the One Globe Kids program increases intercultural competence in the primary years.
Students in the UK participated in the research
From December 2016 t0 March 2017, 203 primary school students in 4 schools in the United Kingdom worked with the One Globe Kids program. Researchers found increased intercultural competence and perception of similarities in participating students. Intercultural competence is an essential building block for positive cross-group interactions and a means of helping young people resist prejudice and stereotyping.
Over the course of three weeks, students visited three virtual One Globe Kids friends, one new friend per week. They experienced friendship with Jenissa in Burundi, Valdo in Haiti and Larasati in Indonesia through a variety of activities. Educators used the One Globe Kids ‘Friend Guides’ with activities, which include online and offline exercises.
The research insights will help improve the One Globe Kids program
The project was led by Dr. Lindsey Cameron, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Kent. Dr. Cameron’s research focuses on the roots of prejudice and its consequences in childhood. The results were first presented at the IAIE conference in France in June. In September, they were also presented at the Royal Geographical Society conference in London.
The official EHRC publication ‘One Globe Kids in Action: Evaluating an Online Platform for changing social attitudes in young children’ is available online.
This is the first time academics evaluate the impact of this form of indirect intergroup contact through technology. The results of the research will help us to refine the One Globe Kids program.
