"This Is Almost Like Ruby Bridges": Young Children's Strategies for Learning About Race and Difference

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Child-Centered Methods

Abstract

Early childhood teachers often over-simplify lessons for about race that fail to consider students’ complicated racialized histories. In a study of children’s sense-making around race in two classrooms, children demonstrated nuanced, and socio-historically influenced strategies which they used to learn about race, racism, and difference across the school day. Children used embodied strategies to try out racialized theories, employed racial vocabulary as a tool for racial inquiry, and cultivated and drew from a shared repertoire of racial narratives. Findings suggest anti-racist pedagogy should support students’ racial inquiry by acknowledging what they already do, rather than only planning what they should do.

Author

• Anna Falkner, University of Memphis