It's a Space They Can Work Through It: African American Head Start Teachers' Approach to Jail Play

• In Event: 43.044 - Considering Guns, Jail, Arrest, Cops, and Robbers Play in Early Childhood and Care Centers

Abstract

Objective. Between 1970 and 2009, the United States’ prison population grew by more than 700%. Disproportionately the population is comprised of African American males (ACLU, 2014)
In a time of increasingly visible racism and violence against black men and women on television and social media, and the disproportionate numbers of black men incarcerated in the U.S., how do preschool teachers who teach working class black children help them make sense of these injustices? In this paper, we share our analysis of data from video-cued focus groups in which Head Start teachers viewed a scene of African American boys “arresting” and incarcerating their teachers in “jail” during a dramatic play scenario. We examine how the sociocultural location of teachers, specifically race and class facilitates interpretation and responsiveness to this pedagogically, therapeutically, and politically.
Theoretical Framework. Teachers’ focus group responses were analyzed through racial socialization theory, an interconnected approach in which caregivers of African American children engage in protective activities in part to combat the discrimination they believe their children will encounter (McAdoo, 2002). These activities promote ideologies and values (racial equality, freedom), long-term goals (physically and emotionally healthy and resilient adults), and short-term goals (child’s understanding of the significance of being Black in U.S.) (Suizzo, Robinson & Pahlke, 2008).
Method and Data Source. This is drawn from a larger study investigating Head Start teacher’s cultural approaches to Head Start curriculum in four racially and culturally homogenous contexts (Author, 2018). We used a version of video-cued multivocal ethnographic method (Tobin et al, 2009). Interviews with 52 Head Start teachers were conducted, recorded, transcribed, and later analyzed using a constant comparison method (Glaser & Strauss, 2017).
Results indicate that focus groups of African-American teachers interpreted children’s games involving jail and police in a significantly different manner than White, Latinx, and Samoan teachers. Analysis revealed African-American teachers recognized the political significance of jail play yet disagreed on its role in the classroom. Disaggregation of data indicated that Middle class African-American teachers, while recognizing the political significance of jail play were less likely to support jail play were as teachers who had grown up in similar communities (race and class) were more likely to endorse the use of jail play as a therapeutic approach to play (Landreth, 2012) and a space in which racial socialization could be employed in helping these children to confront their lived realities in an increasingly racist society.
Significance African American teachers who come from the same racial, cultural, and class background as the children in their class are uniquely positioned to recognize and support working class African American children, who due to structural racism are statistically more likely to have family members experience incarceration. This study has significant implications for Head Start policy. With increased education requirements for Head Start teachers, the work force is becoming less culturally diverse. Yet findings suggest that Head Start teachers with similar cultural and class backgrounds are needed to help children confront racism in their lives, in ways unavailable to Head Start teachers from other cultural backgrounds.

Author

• Allison Sterling Henward, The Pennsylvania State University