1 Stages of racial identity development in primary years

Between the ages of three and five, children’s ideas about race change rapidly. By around age three, many children start to see members of the majority racial group, that is the group that holds the most social and cultural power in their society, often represented most in books, media and leadership roles, in a positive light because of the messages they pick up from family, friends and the world around them. By age five, this picture becomes more complicated. Children may still see positive traits in the majority group but can also begin linking negative ideas to minority racial groups (Hirschfeld, 2008). This shows that even at a young age, children are noticing who seems to be valued in society, and who is not, and these early lessons can shape how they view themselves and others.

As children’s thinking skills develop, they become better able to notice and interpret subtle social cues. Their understanding of race grows not just from what they see, but from how they make sense of these cues within their daily lives. Developmental psychologist Jean Piaget described this as part of the concrete operational stage (Piaget, 1970), where children begin thinking more logically and systematically. They start to understand racial labels more literally, leading to clearer racial preferences and behaviours.

A classroom example

Consider two children, Aisha and Tom. At around four years old, they play together freely, without much thought about physical differences such as skin colour or hair texture. By the time they are six, Aisha begins to notice comments from peers about her curly hair, asking her parents why it looks different and whether she can make it straight like her friends’ hair. Tom begins to gravitate towards peers who look more like him, with lighter skin and similar hair.

These changes show how children begin attaching social meaning to physical differences. Aisha may internalise subtle messages that her hair is ‘different’ or ‘less desirable’, while Tom’s growing awareness of social groups may guide him toward friendships with children who share similar features.