EARLY CHILDHOOD
EQUITY INITIATIVE

Articles

Activities that Promote Racial and Cultural Awareness (PDF) by Barbara Biles, University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service (1994).
This brief article discusses the development of awareness of self and others in children, particularly the development of positive feelings about one's own ethnic and cultural identity as well as acceptance of others'. The author suggests a few activities that adults can do with children to encourage a positive attitude toward differences in race and culture.

Celebrate Diversity! by Marilyn Lopes, University of Massachusetts Cooperative.
This brief article provides information on celebrating diversity in a child care environment so that learning opportunities about individual differences are made part of a child's everyday experience, not just treated as isolated lessons.

Celebrating Holidays in Early Childhood Programs by the NAEYC.
This publication offers suggestions of best practices for celebrating holidays in early childhood settings

Five ways to analyze classrooms for an anti-bias approach by Peggy Riehl, M.Ed., from School-age connections, 2(6), pp.1-3. Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service.
This article provides information on how to evaluate a child care program for bias based on individual differences. It also offers suggestions for eliminating bias.

Food for Thought: Fall Celebrations by Wendy C. Horikoshi, M.S. for the National Network for Child Care's Connections Newsletter.
In this article the author discusses some of the cultural biases that are often "habit" in society and child care programs. She encourages child care providers to rethink how they present these ideas, especially during holiday celebrations.

Helping Children Develop a Sense of Identity (PDF) by California Tomorrow
Children notice group racial differences at a very young age, categorizing and articulating these differences by age 3. The authors of this article argue that these observations are directly tied to children’s personal identity development. They go on to explain how and when children develop their racial identity, highlighting how this process looks different for children of color, biracial children, and white children.

How "Special" is Special Education? (PDF) by Jan Bunce and Terri Mitchell, High/Scope Educational Research Foundation.
This article discusses the importance of focusing on a child's strengths and teaching children through active learning. Examples are given on how to use the High/Scope daily routine and active learning philosophy as tools for meeting the needs of all children in the classroom.

Implementing an Anti-Bias Curriculum in Early Childhood Classrooms by Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Bisson. ERIC Digest.

Issues of language and culture impacting the early care of young Latino childrenby Sylvia Sanchez, Unified Transformative Early Education Model Program George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.
This analysis discusses the difficulties faced by Latino families in finding quality childcare with Spanish as a language. It also discusses Latino children and the language and culture issues they are faced with in early care.

Preparing children for a multicultural world by Melia Franklin from the September-October 1999 Children's Advocate newsmagazine, published by Action Alliance for Children.

Teaching Diversity: A Place to Begin (PDF) by Dora Pulido-Tobiassen and Janet Gonzalez-Mena
This short article addresses the importance of preparing children to live in a diverse world. It includes suggestions to help you teach children how to value diversity as well as resist prejudice and discrimination.

Teaching Young Children to Resist Bias: What Parents Can Do (PDF) by Louise Derman-Sparks, Maria Gutierrez, Carol Brunson Phillips, NAEYC
This article is not just for parents; the information is useful for teachers as well. It addresses biases and the ways in which they influence children’s development. The article includes suggestions for parents and teachers, responses to commonly asked questions regarding biases, and common questions that children might ask coupled with suggestions for how to respond.

What if all the Children in my Class are White? (PDF) by Louise Derman-Sparks and Patricia G. Ramsey
As the authors state, “It is not enough for white people to ‘accept’ and ‘respect’ people of color. Rather, white people need to undergo a profound shift, from viewing the world through a lens of dominance to a commitment to equitably shared power and resources (p.1).” They go on to discuss the history of “whiteness” and how this social construct has affected our society. The authors conclude with an examination of white children’s identity development. Additional resources (books and websites) about racism are included.