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Early childhood educators would like to believe that racism and bias do not exist in their classrooms. Although they may be less motivated to hire diverse teachers or site supervisors, many directors actively recruit diverse children and require preservice and in-service teachers to enroll in courses and professional development workshops that focus on anti-bias curriculum, culturally responsive practices, and trauma-informed care. Cultural and linguistic diversity have been nationally accepted as essential elements of a best practice program design. But it is 2020, and I still meet teachers who proudly declare they are color-blind and don't believe racism is real.
Unfortunately, even teachers who believe themselves to be open-minded, inclusive, and race neutral can harbor unrecognized implicit biases that influence every lesson, decision, and facial expression they bring to the classroom.
These implicit biases are so entrenched in American culture that unfortunately they are learned unconsciously at a very early age and are normalized by those we trust, unquestioned as standard practice (Delpit 2012).
Through inquiry, teachers and children can create authentic learning that informs their understanding of themselves and others.
While some studies suggest that racial preference is innate, racism and White privilege are learned behaviors (Winfield 2007; Tatum 2017; DiAngelo 2018). Children learn by observation. They notice who their families invite to picnics and holiday parties. They recognize where their families encourage them to play, which peers' homes they are allowed to visit, and who they can invite to spend the night. They may not watch the news, but they can see who their families avoid on the street, who lives in their neighborhood, and who their teacher repeatedly sends out of class or into the time-out corner.
In a statement issued by NAEYC, Ann McClain Terrell and Rhian Evans Allvin (2020) said that we each have a role to play in interrupting the systems of oppression that have had a devastating and deadly impact on the lives of Black people in the United States for centuries. The architecture of racism must be dismantled by all of us. As a family child care educator, I also have a role in that battle. What follows is an example of that role.
Baby Steps Nature School
My home-based early childhood education center's back gate opens to...