Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Children’s books play a role in socializing children to cultural norms of which gender is component of that socialization. Critical examination of children’s books and careful selection of gender neutral stereotyped children literature can effectively expose young children to diversity in gender roles. (Hill, Roberts, 2003).
The following books are examples of children’s books that break…
241 Results
Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Although children are not born with prejudice, by early childhood they have already acquired stereotypes or negative attitudes toward those that they perceive as “others.” An article in The Buffalo News reports that about 85 percent of the brain develops between ages 3 and 5, and that impressions and ideas formed between ages 2 and 4 are lasting (Lessons in Respect, 2003). Researchers tracking the…
Rosalind's Classroom Conversations, May 2015 For Educators By Rosalind Wiseman
How do we get young people to take ownership of what they do that contributes to someone else’s humiliation, social exclusion or dehumanization? How do we create a learning environment that allows for self-reflection and honest discussion? And, even more difficult, how do we do that in school environments that don’t support respectful relationships between teachers and students or have superficial…
Early Childhood Question Corner
Common themes appear in holidays and celebrations across many cultures. By connecting themes, as suggested in the Question Corner installment "How can I plan inclusive holiday celebrations?" you can show children that holidays and celebrations are an expression of cultural and religious pride, and help them understand the commonality of certain human feelings, celebrations and their meaning. For example, by trying the following activity, Looking…
For Educators Educational environments that reflect the rich diversity of the community, nation and world assist in opening students' minds and actively engaging them in their learning. Research has shown that prejudice is countered when educational environments foster critical thinking, empathy development and positive self-esteem in students. Review a self-assessment checklist for some criteria for creating positive, anti-bias environments where respect for diversity is taught, modeled, and…
For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Hate is learned and can be "unlearned"
No child is born a bigot. Hate is learned, and there is no doubt it can be unlearned. Leading experts on child development argue that the problem begins as early as preschool, where children have already learned stereotypes or acquired negative attitudes toward "others:" The process of countering those negatives with positives begins at an early age.
Louise Derman-Sparks, an educator and…
Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers In Teacher they called me a ____!, Dr. Debra A. Byrnes defines prejudice as preconceived ideas about people “perceived as being different, due to race, religion, culture, gender, disabilities, appearance, language, sexual orientation, or social status” (1995, 3). She explains that a large body of research (Brown,1972; Byrnes & Kiger, 1992; Milner, 1975; Williams & Orland, 1976)…
Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Children’s outdoor play offers many opportunities to teach and reinforce anti-bias behavior. To get you started, incorporate some of the below tips excerpted from Bias-Free Foundations: Early Childhood Activities for Educators (2005, 28):
Take advantage of these opportunities by helping children to learn skills such as taking turns, sharing toys, and inviting new children to play. For…
Rosalind's Classroom Conversations, April 2015 For Educators By Rosalind Wiseman
The realization came upon me gradually, that is until it hit me over the head. In casual conversations, I noticed that more and more, girls were telling me they liked playing First Person Shooter (FPS) games. These are games a lot of parents and educators hate—the ones where the player holds a gun and runs around “killing” people. Then last fall I was presenting to 700 7th grade girls and…
Rosalind's Classroom Conversations, March 2015 For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers By Rosalind Wiseman
We have a responsibility to our students to acknowledge a glaring double standard that’s happening way more than we want to admit: Adults abuse technology and get away with it.
Think about it. We regularly lecture our students and children about how they should behave online, make them sign technology contracts that give us the right to discipline them…
Rosalind’s Classroom Conversations, January 2015 For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers By Rosalind Wiseman
I hate how people keep getting into my business and judging me before they talk to me and find out the real story. “Michael”, age 16
It doesn’t matter what people say. Sure, someone’s reputation gets trashed for a few weeks but then the gossip moves on to someone else. “Ana”, age14
These two quotes reflect what most…
Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers The early childhood program environment should look and feel welcoming for all children and should reflect the diverse world in which we live. In addition to being bright, colorful, safe and clean, it should include children’s artwork and show the diversity of the world through the program’s abundant supply of age-appropriate toys, dolls, books, magazines , pictures and musical instruments…
No Name-Calling Week (NNCW), sponsored by GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), is a week organized by K-12 educators and students to call attention to and end name-calling and bullying in schools.
No Name-Calling Week takes place January 15-19, 2024. Below are educational resources to help you create a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students, teach students to understand and counter bias and bullying and inspire young people to do…
For the past several years, there have been incidents of police officers involved in the deaths of Black and Latin American people. In many of these cases, police officers were not indicted and not convicted when brought to trial. These cases have brought about a wide range of emotions, conversations, policy proposals, protests and actions. Because this is an important conversation that teachers, parents and family members want to have with young people, below are relevant…
Rosalind's Classroom Conversations, November/December 2014 For Educators By Rosalind Wiseman
What do you do if you if think you hear one of your students make a racist, homophobic or sexist remark? Or more difficult, what if you hear it or think you hear it, but you’re not absolutely sure who said it?
This is one of those common yet incredibly difficult moments in a classroom that matter: Handle it wrong and your authority in the class is compromised; handle it right and you…
For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Winter is a festive time of year because so many holidays are celebrated by people from different religions, cultures and races. We spend time with family and friends, connect with our faith or culture, give and receive gifts and enjoy special foods and treats. However, this time of year—especially in schools and whether it's in-person, online or hybrid—can be a time where some children can feel uncomfortable, excluded, insulted…
As a way to recognize diversity in their school or community, many schools host special events for their students, families and educators, whether these events are in honor of Black History Month, Women’s History Month or other significant holidays and local and national events.
While it is important to highlight different groups and issues that have otherwise been excluded, minimized, or marginalized, when poorly planned and implemented, such events can leave students with…
1. Be aware of words, images and situations that suggest that all or most members of a group are the same.
Stereotypes often lead to assumptions that are unsupportable and offensive. [Example: The writer who describes Mexican children as “well-dressed” may be unconsciously portraying this as an exception to a mental image of a “poor” or “unkempt” Mexican.]
2. Avoid qualifiers that reinforce stereotypes.
A qualifier is added information that…
For Educators Updated July 2019
In July 2019, Berkeley, California’s City Council announced their plan to remove all gendered language from their city code. Gender-specific pronouns like “he” and “she” will be replaced with “they” and “them.” Words like fireman will now be firefighter and “manpower” will be changed to “human effort.” Berkeley City Council member Rigel Robinson, who sponsored the bill, said …
When autumn blows in, Halloween fun is close behind. And yet sometimes, it is the opposite of fun.
Parents sometimes cringe in anticipation of what their child’s costume will be. Teachers may worry about stereotyped costumes and playground taunts. College campuses gear up for the parties and resulting bias, conflict and controversy.
Halloween should be festive and exciting. When approached thoughtfully, the holiday can bring not just candy and costumes, but creativity, learning…