White Supremacy, Technology, and Early Childhood Education

• In Event: Unearthing and Disrupting White Supremacy in STEM Education

Abstract

This project centers on the lives of young black low-income children who lack equal access to technology in their learning spheres. They are in a high poverty segregated school that lack the necessary technology that other schools (that are low poverty and white) in this same district are provided with on a regular basis. This perpetuates the ideology of white supremacy within this particular district as there is a profound discrepancy in how they value the educational lives of white children over black children in their community. White is a discourse of privilege (Leonardo, 2009). White Supremacy is the reigning ideology of the United States and is part of the normative discourse within the American Education System.
Lina, an African American child in first grade at Grayson is behind in reading. Her teacher wants her to work on her reading and spelling through computer programs, such as Lexia. Mom and dad do not have any technology in the house and Lina only gets to use the iPad once a week at school. Lina is scoring below grade level on the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) each time she takes it. Other children who are struggling at the predominantly white school nearby are making progress because they get to practice reading on their personal iPads during reading workshop every day. Lina is also in a room with no smartboard or auto-document camera, so the teacher cannot utilize the Internet or reading programs in her reading lessons. She is introverted and feels unsure of her academic abilities and needs to practice her reading skills at her own pace.
Utilizing participatory observations of 5 low-income Black children in K/1 classrooms, I found significant inequalities in learning through technology as compared to the other four schools in the district. This study on technology segregation of low-income black children was theoretically framed within Critical Race Theory (Leonardo, 2009; Tatum, 2017). It builds on the assumption that American schools (and thus early childhood programs) are systematically reproducing a dominant oppressive paradigm. This theory is designed to deconstruct taken-for-granted practices within mainstream institutions, and as such present transformative alternatives that are emancipatory to marginalized populations. Challenging and disrupting white supremacy within early childhood programs is the key to a more equitable future for students of color. Early childhood educators must identify this taken for granted discourse and actively work toward equity and change. This is especially significant in this current political climate where politicians have expressed that there are ‘two sides’ on the issue of white supremacy.
References:

DiAngelo, R. (2017). “No, I won’t stop saying white supremacy: White People like me should use the term because it shifts the race problem to us, where it belongs” (June. 30th).

Leonardo, Z. (2009). Race, Whiteness and education. New York: Routledge.

Tatum, B. (2017). Why are all the black kids sitting together in the Cafeteria? And other conversations about race (revised edition). New York: Basic books.

Author

• Miriam B. Tager, Westfield State University