3-year-old Callum, a white child who identifies as a boy, is drawing trains at the art table with his teacher, Ms. Chen. Callum says, “You look like my mom’s friend.”

Ms. Chen is curious and says, “Tell me more. How do we look alike?”

He responds, “Your black hair, your eyes.”

Ms. Chen replies, “I wonder if your mom’s friend is Asian like me. My parents came from China, and I was born in the United States so I identify as Chinese American. Did you know that in Seattle, Chinese Americans built the railroads?”

Daily interactions in the classroom are opportunities for teachers to prompt students to learn and think deeply about racial history, our personal connections to that history, and the ways that history continues to influence our present.

Research makes it abundantly clear that young children see racial differences and can engage in conversations that support their understanding of inequities in the past and present (Perszyk et al., 2019; Sullivan et al., 2021). As part of anti-bias, anti-racist education, teachers have the responsibility to create a learning environment conducive to having conversations about race in ways that honor the real histories, struggles, and brilliance of the Black and Brown folks who built the United States. It is not too early to share with children the honest truth about history and to foster children’s critical thinking and curiosity. Children need brave spaces to have difficult conversations. They require adults who will answer their questions honestly and fully, and teachers who support and honor children’s identities, lived experiences, and questions.

Children are sociocultural beings who grow and learn within the contexts of their families, communities, and schools. Their development is influenced by and embedded in the social, cultural, linguistic, and historical environment in which they engage directly and indirectly. Place matters. As does acknowledging and learning the histories of our schools, neighborhoods, and families to provide a larger context for each student’s individual identity. This learning is directly connected to children’s sense of self and belonging. To recognize, appreciate, and embed classroom experiences, materials, and environments in connection to place-based contexts is at the heart of engaged and culturally sustaining pedagogies.

As teacher educators in higher education, we argue that high-responsive teaching begins with supporting children’s understanding and connection to place through everyday teachable moments and with intentional instruction. We are taught so little about our history and its connection to our current place and time. There are many ways for educators to enter into this work and a first step is to unlearn the half-truths and white-washed narratives of history. Once we start critically examining what we know and don’t know, we can begin to dispel the myths about our history, and better engage in current social movements and pressing equity issues.

Sharing and wondering with children about the historical contexts, decisions, and moments engages them in both critical thinking skills and justice-oriented action.

Ms. Chen introducing Callum, who loves trains, to the history of Chinese Americans’ vital role in building the railroad, opens the door to learning about the many contributions of Chinese Americans to the U.S. To extend the discussion, Ms. Chen could enlarge a map and share the original plans for the railroad, the intention of building the railroad, and the displacement of Native Americans. These histories continue to influence modern stereotypes such as the Model Minority Myth, Manifest Destiny, and the erasure of Indigenous cultures.

History as a Lens

History can be embedded in every subject or theme. Through this lens, we can critically examine the ways in which unfairness and injustice have been perpetuated, as well as celebrate the brilliance, ingenuity, and perseverance of our ancestors.

Viewing curriculum and teaching through the lens of history reminds us to always ask the question, “Whose perspectives are we elevating?”

When we prioritize the dominant perspectives in our classroom and our curriculum, we send the message that this is the right and only way. We dismiss and diminish these “other” perspectives. Relegating the discussion of notable African-American leaders to February or the achievements of Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) innovators to May, tells our children that these discussions should be limited and isolated, and are not as important. Instead, early learning must include everyday conversations that feature influential and courageous dreamers, thinkers, and creators.

We must acknowledge and engage children in discussions with transparency.

For example, we know that Indigenous communities created thriving and robust infrastructure and trade routes that pre-existed colonization, and their stewardship of the land, air, and water, continues to be the solution to climate injustices. These topics cannot be isolated to particular months, weeks, or days, but are at the essence of a full and thoughtful early learning curriculum. As Ms. Chen and the children learn about the expansion of the railroad, we can also discuss the disruption and harm done to Indigenous communities and the Chinese American lives that were lost. We can examine sustainable practices and environmental stewardship beyond reductionist practices such as recycling. We can talk about the pollution created by industrialization and continue with capitalistic interests in fossil fuels. Early childhood curriculum can bring these topics in to consider the impact of individual and systemic decisions on humans, animals, and the environment across the global with an emphasis on the toll of the Global South and Indigenous communities.

Furthermore, in recognizing that history impacts our lived experiences today and the fullness of our humanity, Ms. Chen and the children can partner with families and communities to engage in a deeper connection to the land on which their nearest rail station is situated. Ms. Chen may extend invitations to community elders who can share their wisdom and firsthand experiences of connection to the land and changes to the region.

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Strategies For Engaging Children

The opening vignette is one example of a teachable moment that invites conversation, curiosity, and opportunity for educators to engage in dialogue that counters dominant narratives. In relationships, educators have the unique and powerful role of influencing and educating young learners and future leaders. Ample opportunities emerge from daily conversations and can be planned to dispel myths and connect children with the events that shaped their current realities.

In addition, early educators can use planned curricula such as open-ended, creative, and challenging projects that are situated within the community context.

Teachers can partner with families and the community to address relevant and connected issues. Students are embedded in a rich history and community in which their learning is most relevant and meaningful. In the classroom, we can provide these opportunities to engage our students in researching, sharing, and critically thinking about the learning embedded in our experiences and the ancestral knowledge that is passed down through generations.

We invite educators to use these strategies every day and encourage the criticality of our young learners.

• Invite, and respond to every opportunity to share counternarratives and to bring up conversations about race and history.
• Model your curiosity, wonder, and critical thinking to show children that learning is lifelong, that curiosity is encouraged, and that we can learn together in the community.
• Partner with families and communities to extend learning beyond the classroom, and center the lived experiences of children and their families.
• Build open-ended project-based learning units that address social issues while learning about historical moments.

Counternarratives for Deeper Conversation with Children

Ms. Sally, a white preschool teacher, leads a circle time discussion focused on skin color at the beginning of the year. She asks students to share what colors they see around the classroom. Children share their favorite colors. She asks children to look at their hands and describe the color of their skin. The teacher engages children in discussions about melanin and skin color and intentionally tells the children. “Brown is beautiful. All colors are beautiful.”

Using an anti-bias curriculum (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2020), these kind of statements are counternarratives to cultural messages about the superiority of whiteness. Ms. Sally engages the children in discussions about melanin and skin color and intentionally tells the children that brown is beautiful.

In early childhood classrooms, these discussions are often starting points to challenge overt and covert messages about differences. However, does this activity feel like it could go deeper? Imagine if this initial conversation deepens into a discussion about the social construction of race. Using the historical lens, Ms. Sally can reflect on why she must say “brown is beautiful”. As she examines her positionality as a white teacher teaching this anti-bias lesson, she might interrogate her own intentions and engage in more learning around the historical roots of race. She can revisit this conversation and explain to children that phrases like “brown is beautiful” have been reclaimed by folks of color to celebrate their skin colors in resistance to oppressive messages of white being the norm.

In addition, Ms. Sally may ask herself, what is the impact when she adds “all colors are beautiful”? This statement erases the earlier counternarrative and promotes color evasion rather than anti-racism. She can explain to children that while all colors are beautiful, she unintentionally reified whiteness and nullified the counternarrative of “brown is beautiful.” The teacher could explain that while skin color does not define us, in the past and now, people have created categories of importance based on ancestry and skin color. This conversation sets the tone for being able to have further and deeper dialogue that examines these groupings, the ideas, and the people who set racial inequality in motion. It also encourages children’s agency to address unfairness.

Challenge the Status Quo

Recognizing the connections to our histories does not happen overnight, but when educators start to question and see the injustices all around us, we are called to action. We are cultural and political beings inside and outside of our early childhood spaces. We are not neutral in the classroom; we must use our power as educators to center justice in our classrooms and beyond. When educators do their own work of examining biases, they can challenge status quo and move beyond performative or superficial demonstration of anti-bias curriculum to robust and courageous anti-racist and transformative education.

Curriculum is a weapon—will it be one that is used to uphold white supremacy or will it be used to dismantle inequitable power structures? In choosing the latter, educators can create a curriculum that offers counternarratives to dominant and often misleading stories that exist. For instance, when reading stories such as The Little Red Hen, educators can challenge children to retell stories through the perspectives of other characters, to think about who is missing from the story, why they are missing from the story and to address the themes of whiteness in the story such as individualism, and perfectionism (Okun, 2021). These are pivotal moments to insert historical facts to inform children of what is often missing from our social studies curriculum. Making and sharing bread around the world is another anti-bias lesson that often stays at the tourist level. Perhaps, in discussing the “Little Red Hen,” in connection with learning about bread, a discussion might focus on the agricultural industries in the United States which were founded upon the ecological knowledge of Native Americans and the expertise of African Americans. Discussions like these might lead to questions about race and the impact of racism in the past, and today. By addressing these questions and pairing the anti-bias goals of justice and action, educators can make space for children’s ideas for addressing unfairness, and how they envision justice.

As school leaders, early childhood professionals must engage in systemic thinking that challenges the traditions and “the way things are” through a historical lens.

What is often taken for granted can uphold white supremacy norms. For example, our school calendars routinely center Judeo-Christian holidays. Families who celebrate other religious or secular occasions do so often without institutional support or acknowledgment. When we look back at history, we can examine the ways that Christian ideology has shaped our country’s values and our observances. Thus the holiday observances have always been and continue to be inequitable. Furthermore, when schools do not view these decisions through a lens of history and injustice, they may take corrective measures such as changing Christmas break to Winter break; this change in nomenclature does not create meaningful transformation since the same dates during the year are being observed (Gorski & Swalwell, 2023). Recognizing these oppressive structures is the first step to recognizing our agency to wonder what can be changed, and take the actions to ensure that all children and families belong.

Culturally Responsive, Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist Pedagogy

Culturally responsive, anti-bias, anti-racist (CRABAR) pedagogies refer to honoring students’ lived experiences and creating learning opportunities and experiences that center students’ strengths and funds of knowledge (Paris & Alim, 2017; Ladson-Billings, 2021; Iruka, et al., 2023). This approach enhances students’ academic learning by building on what they already know and can involve families and communities in those learning experiences. In the previous vignette, Ms. Sally can extend learning by developing a unit about families’ identities and histories. Using rich project-based learning, she may focus on children’s exploration of their own extended families and their connection to where they live. Furthermore, in partnership with communities there may be events where the school may participate to both accent the classroom learning and to be part of the communities in which families and children live. CRABAR breaks down the walls of the classroom to frame learning within the context of relationships and daily experiences. Classrooms and teachers can be vital parts of the communities in which they are situated, and become a gathering space of purpose and vitality, as well as be active contributors to the larger neighborhood.

Schools have historically been traumatic and harmful spaces for children of color, and still continue to “push out” children of color into the prison pipeline (Love, 2023), primarily due to teacher biases. Early educators must substantively put in the effort to grapple with our own learned behaviors and reactions and begin the work of transforming our education system. In partnership with families, especially elders who share crucial stories that connect us and our children to place, early learning can move forward in revolutionary ways. Educational spaces have the power to be dream spaces where together, adults and children, envision and create the spaces and experiences we wish for ourselves and others.

Strategies For Engaging Ourselves as Teachers

To close the opportunity gaps in education, it is imperative that educators do their own work of examining biases and learning or unlearning the truth about history that is so often misrepresented and watered down.

• Engage in learning about history that you may not have learned. This takes some research and reading books that are not always bestsellers.
• Identify disruptors and learn from and/or lean on them (without burdening them to be your only guide/teacher).
• As educators, we are not neutral. Embrace your full humanity as cultural and political beings in the classroom, and your responsibility to create just learning spaces.
• Actively seek to partner with families and community members to learn and plan culturally responsive and sustaining curriculum.
• Think systematically and critically about improving teaching as well as advocating for just policies.

Conclusion

History teaches us about ourselves and informs us about the decisions and moments that led to our current issues. By embedding history into early childhood curriculum and engaging children in emergent conversations, educators can disrupt dominant narratives and encourage children to think critically through multiple perspectives. To accomplish deep and rich CRABAR conversations and curriculum, educators must grapple with their own limited or skewed understanding of history as well as examine their biases and assumptions. We can create early learning programs that foster equity, inclusion, and justice, and radically embrace a vision of transformative education. Using history as a lens to critically think about current events, early educators can partner with families and communities to create equitable change that is informed by historical knowledge and experiences. We can create early learning programs that foster equity, inclusion, and justice, and radically embrace a vision of transformative education. As teachers, we are history makers, challenging the past and creating possibilities for the future by what we do in the present. Teaching is a profession that requires us to be bold, brave, and unapologetic about the equitable future we envision. It begins with our leadership in early childhood classrooms.

References

Derman-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J.O. (2020). Anti-Bias Education for our Children and Ourselves. NAEYC.

Gorski, P. & Swalwell, K. (2023). Fix Injustice, Not Kids and Other Transformative Leadership. ASCD.

Iruka, I.U., Durden, T.R., Escayg, K. (2023). We are the Change we Seek: Advancing Racial Justice in Early Care and Education. Teachers College Press.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2021). Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Asking a Different Question. Teachers College Press.

Love, B. (2023). Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal. Teachers College Press.

Okun, T. (2021) White Supremacy Culture.
whitesupremacyculture.info

Paris, D. & Alim, H.S. (2017). Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World. Teachers College Press.

Perszyk, D.R., Lei, R.F., Bodenhausen, G.V., Richeson, J.A., & Waxman, S.R. (2019). Bias at the intersection of race and gender: Evidence from preschool-aged children. Developmental Science, 22(5), 1234-1250.
doi.org/10.1111/desc.12788

Sullivan, J., Wilton, L., & Apfelbaum, E.P. (2021). Adults delay conversations about race because they underestimate children’s processing of race. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 150(2), 395-400.