Nursery staff‐child interactions were analysed to determine if adult style varied according to the ethnicity of the child. A series of situations was set up to highlight certain specific educationally important aspects of adult‐child interaction. Individual adults were paired with a Scottish child and an Asian child in counterbalanced order. Across the three situations staff adopted a more controlling style with Asian children; they were moreover less responsive to Asian children than to Scottish children. The implications of these findings for Asian children's educational, language, social and emotional development are discus