Society tells our children that a beautiful person is someone who has the right clothes, pretty eyes, nice hair and the “perfect” body. As a longtime educator, I’ve come to believe that education should offer and nurture an alternative definition of a beautiful person: someone who lives with a sense of wonder, has respect and compassion for others, expresses a deep appreciation of the natural world, works for a more just and peaceful society, and recognizes the beauty in others.
To help children understand this alternative concept of a “beautiful person,” I’ve often turned to children’s literature for examples. One of my favorite books is Crow Boy by Taro Yashima. I’ve used this book to help students understand that beauty can be found in others who may, at first, seem lacking in what we usually think of as “beauty.” Chibi, the main character, is shunned by his classmates because he looks and acts differently. He wears “funny” clothes, eats strange food and lives in a different neighborhood. By the end of the story, however, Chibi is recognized for his special talents and respected by the people in the village for what he contributes to the community. A teacher plays a major role in helping others appreciate Chibi for the beautiful person that he is.
To make the idea of finding beauty in each other more concrete to my students, I once made a bulletin board display of “beautiful people” that featured each student in my class. I posted photos of all of them and added short notes describing my gratitude for each child. This was at Thanksgiving time, and one of my goals was to expand students’ ideas of what they might be thankful for in each other. Across the top of the bulletin board, I placed the words “I am thankful for…” Examples include “Tommy’s love of nature,” “Lila’s beautiful drawings,” “Oliver’s friendliness” and “Tony’s helpfulness.” After this, I wasn’t surprised when children started telling me some of what they saw and appreciated about each other.
To further support students’ recognition of beauty or goodness in others, I added a “comment box” to our classroom. I explained that they could use this box to comment on actions or qualities they saw in each other that they considered praiseworthy. I gave students the choice of signing or not signing their names to the comments they wrote, and about once a week, I shared the written comments with the class. I sometimes added written comments of my own to make sure that, over time, all students were recognized for their goodness.
Introducing this comment box to the students gave me the opportunity to lead a discussion on inner beauty. I wrote the words “beautiful people” on the board and invited the students to share their ideas about what makes a person beautiful. It didn’t take them long to sort out the difference between superficial qualities and more substantial characteristics, such as kindness, honesty and respect.
I have no formal data on how an emphasis on recognizing beauty in each other changed students’ perceptions, but their comments and interactions with each other indicated a deepening awareness of and appreciation for each of their classmates. I was especially pleased to see in this group of students far less excluding or teasing than what I had seen in some other groups of children. I can only hope that the time we spent considering the many ways each person is beautiful will lead these young people to work toward a more beautiful society.
Editor’s note: See Teaching Tolerance’s Anti-bias Framework for a road map to building anti-bias education into your curriculum—at every grade level.
Wilson is an educational consultant and curriculum writer.
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