Anti-bias Education in the Early Childhood Classroom-Author Talk
2017 is a year that is shaking a lot of us up. While many of us dread reading the morning’s headlines, worrying who will be targeted today, our children are watching and may be worrying too.
As families, teachers, faith communities, and local civic leaders, many of us are wondering what do we say to our children? What can we do?
Now more than ever, is the time to commit to anti-bias education with our children. We need the skills and framework as families, and the curriculum and practice as educators, to support our young people in feeling good about themselves, curious and positive about people who are different than them, and to notice, name, and act when they see differences treated unfairly.
Talking about skin color, gender, family composition, socio-economic class, ability, and culture in age appropriate contexts are key tools to help our children understand and celebrate who they are in the world, and the diversity of their communities.
Now is not the time to be silent, it is a time to engage and lay a foundation for how our next generations will envision the word - who belongs, who matters, who is deserving of respect, compassion, and basic rights. These are the goals of anti-bias education in a nutshell.
This year, author and educator Katie Kissinger will be traveling Oregon and beyond offering Anti-Bias Education workshops and introducing her new book newly published book, "Anti-bias Education in the Early Childhood Classroom: Hand in Hand; Step by Step."