The new curriculum-compatible learning environment, designed to align with the Swiss national curriculum (Lehrplan 21), focuses on diversity and aims to support kindergarten teachers. This resource includes a handbook, idea cards, question cards, and reflection sheets, all intended to foster interdisciplinary and sustainable competences, promoting a tolerant school culture in everyday pedagogical life.
The goal is to help students experience diversity comprehensively and developmentally, encouraging teachers and pupils to engage with the topic in an enjoyable and fear-free manner. By actively exploring both similarities and differences and facilitating discussions, students can develop a positive understanding of concepts like justice, fairness, and tolerance.
The T-BOX components were tailored to meet the specific needs and requirements of kindergarten education through collaboration with kindergarten teachers and experts. Positive early experiences with diversity can help children view it as a natural part of life, enabling them to practice empathetic interaction with people and see diversity as an opportunity.
The handbook offers background information, practical examples, and an overview of the T-BOX components. It also includes a bibliography for teachers and a list of 32 picture books and resources on diversity.
Reflection sheets enable teachers to assess their own approach to diversity, values, and ideas. These questions can be applied in various settings, promoting conscious engagement with diversity, difference, and stereotypes in kindergarten life.
The Tolerance Box provides materials and ideas for teachers to explore diversity playfully with students. The idea cards take into account the kindergarten's structure, classroom management, and learning methods, and they align with Curriculum 21. They also suggest which teaching sequences are suitable and provide documentation possibilities for portfolio contributions.
Question cards are tools for discussing diversity with children in everyday life. They address different aspects of diversity and encourage both teacher-pupil and peer-to-peer dialogues, focusing on experiential learning. Additionally, these discussions promote language acquisition and facilitate competent interaction among students.
The T-BOX is distributed nationally by the SET Foundation Education for Tolerance in Switzerland with the support of the Federal Office for Combating Racism.