Dialogue 4: Community and Family Engagement Post-COVID

• In Event: Reimagining Diversity, Equity, and Justice in Early Childhood

Abstract

While we continue to grapple with the emotional, physical, and social impacts of COVID-19 on children and their families, we focus the conversation on what we learned from programs/spaces that are liberatory and expansive. We are in a climate where certain identities are deemed unimaginable. Book bans in schools, legislation prohibiting discussions of race, laws and policies erasing queer identities (to name a few) are only evidence of the longstanding ideologies viewing children as incapable of grappling with inequities and difference. In this conversation, we approach questions like 1) How do we create spaces of play, imagination, and liberation for children who are multiply marginalized? 2) What are the relational and communal networks that emerged from the pandemic? 3) How do we leverage these resources to design new kinds of learning experiences that are truly communal and familial?

The pandemic disrupted many of our individual and collective lives, forcing us to uncover new and different ways to relate to one another. Some of these relationships have long been established and thriving before COVID-19 upended our lives, reminding us that freedom and liberation has long been the work of many activists, community organizers, and educators across time. Hence, belonging, inclusivity, and equity are fostered in both school and out-of-school spaces where otherwise identities and practices are nurtured and celebrating into visibility and being. From Drag Story Hour to mentoring opportunities mobilizing the relationships between Black boys and men, adults act as mentors, teachers, and role models for children whose identities are often invisible and regulated. With an attention to designing radical spaces of care, this dialogue examines the responsibilities and commitments of adults in both school and in-school spaces.

Authors

• Harper B. Keenan, University of British Columbia

• Leah Durán, University of Arizona

• Rebecca Lopez, University of Arizona

• Fahyolah Antoine, New York City Department of Education

• Samantha Nadal, Bank Street School for Children