Building Inclusive, Multicultural Early Years Classrooms: Strategies for a Culturally Responsive Ethic of Care

The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of culturally responsive care in multicultural Early Years classrooms. Through an exploration of teachers' narratives in an Indian school, the study highlights the tools and strategies used by teachers to promote an ethic of care among a diverse student population of over 16 languages, 5 religions, and 35 ethnic communities. The study identifies three key categories of care practices: affirming and attuning, diffusing and soothing, and anchoring and building. Overall, the findings suggest that teachers employ a range of relational and aesthetic strategies to promote equality, collaborate with students in inclusive policies, and preserve marginalised cultural heritage. They also narrate folktales and mythology to reject exclusionary discipline and model peaceful responses to conflict. Finally, teachers build a shared classroom identity and cultivate students' capacities for care. This study aims to contribute to the theory and practice of an ethic of care in Early Years education and offer culturally responsive pedagogical tools for inclusive and peace-promoting classrooms.