Cultivating Equity-Transforming the Early Childhood Classroom through an Equity Informed Lens Deb Norris May 17, 2021

From a young age, children are curious, ask questions, and try to make sense of the world. Even our smallest children are picking up on societal norms and developing prejudice and biases. It is critical that early childhood educators are equipped with the tools and knowledge to teach children about love, respect, and acceptance, rather than reinforce hate and prejudice. These workshops will analyze how having an anti-bias approach in early childhood curriculum, classrooms, libraries, and conversations can greatly impact our youth and society. During these workshops, early childhood educators will engage in discussions around culturally relevant pedagogy and anti-bias practices to cultivate an equity informed practice. Educators will be challenged to think about their implicit biases and how that impacts the learning and development of young children. Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will explore the meaning of Whiteness and how it impacts us: exploring topics of race, class, ability, oppression, power/privilege, and other content specific terms and perspectives. 2. Participants will analyze children’s racial identity from a developmental perspective. 3. Participants will examine culturally relevant pedagogy and anti-bias practices as a framework for creating equitable early childhood learning environments. 4. Participants will analyze goals of anti-bias curriculum and create appropriate learning opportunities for young children. These workshops will be interactive and engaging. We will create a set of workshop expectations that honor the core principles of adult learning: respect, immediacy, relevance, safety, inclusion, and engagement. Participants will engage in meaningful conversations with their colleagues and share perspectives in a safe and brave learning space.