Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/the-impact-of-race-and-white-fragility-on-our-lives-as-educators/5024942/
In September of 2018, the National Association for the Education of Young Children released the first public draft of a document entitled “Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators.” The document calls upon everyone in the field to confront their personal biases in the interest of supporting all children and families. Self-awareness is essential for behavioral and institutional change.
Data from the Build Initiative states that 45 percent of young children in the United States are children of color (birth through age 4). The diversity of young children continues to grow and our current education systems continue to perpetuate an unequal distribution of privileges, resources and power. These differences between white families and families of color widen the opportunity gap and further disparity at an increasingly alarming rate.
As experienced leaders, we believe it is imperative that we respond to this call to action and confront our personal biases—by explicitly calling attention to the topic of whiteness. In this article, we address three fundamental questions that have influenced our personal and professional development:
How can white (caucasian) early childhood educators build self-awareness of what it means to be white in a racially diverse society?
How can we ...