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Tolerance and Transformation: What's Our Training Goal?

by Margie Carter
May/June 2004
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Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/tolerance-and-transformation-whats-our-training-goal/5015722/

Attending conferences around the country over the last few years, I’ve noticed that the offering of anti-bias workshops has dwindled. Conference planners tell me that there is no longer much excitement about the topic and the few workshops offered on anti-bias topics are not well attended. I find myself both puzzled and disturbed about this, yet not surprised. As with the larger popular culture in which we work, the early childhood profession is subject to the whims of fads and trends, fundable issues, and shifting policies around outcome based education.

A poignant moment brought this home to me around five years ago when my colleague Deb Curtis and I were asked to present a three day training for a Head Start program in a small town in the Midwest. As we asked the participants about their goals for the training, most just shrugged their shoulders and were quiet. Finally, someone blurted out, “We’re just required to be here.
A few years ago the big deal was High/Scope. Then all the training was focused on anti-bias classrooms. Now we’re supposed to shift to emergent curriculum. We just go with the flow. Some new thing will come along next year and we’ll be ...

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