Disrupting Deficit Notions of Universal Early Childhood Quality: A Counter-Narrative for Reconceptualizing Quality Early Care and Education for Equity

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Global Implications and Lived Experiences of Neoliberal and Neocolonial-Based Euro-Western Early Childhood Policies and Practice (Table 1)

Abstract

Definitions of high-quality early care and education (ECE) are often undergirded by developmental theories (Burchinal et al., 2015; Burchinal, 2020) that are often based on White monolingual and monocultural values and experiences (Souto-Manning & Rabadi-Raol, 2018) that influence ECE quality measurements and rating systems (e.g.., Environmental Rating Scales, Classroom Assessment Scoring Systems; Quality Rating Improvement Systems ) Unfortunately, this is problematic because this reinforces “deep-seated, uninterrogated assumptions, values, and beliefs about cultural normativity” ( Dominguez, 2017, p.227) that position minoritized children in early childhood as inferior, deficit, and culturally different (Gadson & Dixon-Roman, 2017; Genishi & Goodwin, 2008; Goodwin, 2008; Souto-Manning & Rabadi-Raol, 2018). Scholars and advocates have questioned the validity and cultural responsiveness of these early care and education quality measurements and systems (e.g., Curenton et al., 2020). These assumptions may inform educational and governmental administrators’ perceptions of ECE in urban contexts by obscuring the culturally, linguistically, and inclusive approaches of educators who strive to do things differently with minoritized children. In addition, it reinforces the essentialization of minoritized families and communities, specifically when teachers use these assumptions to make judgments about the children and families' abilities ( Brown & Brown, 2012). To reconceptualize quality in ECE that centers on equity, we must learn from early childhood educators teaching in urban early learning centers that leverage Black, Indigenous, and people of color family and community cultural wealth ( Yosso, 2005) in their classroom practices. Therefore, this study examines a counter-narrative of one White female early childhood educator’s teaching experiences at an urban characteristic (Milner, 2012) publicly state-funded preschool. Using a counter-narrative approach (Milner & Howard, 2013; Ladson-Billings, 1998; Solorzano & Yosso, 2001), this research shows how this teacher challenged monocultural, monolingual practices and deficit discourses in order to center minoritized children’s knowledge and experiences in her teaching practices. This critical narrative approach contextualizes this single teacher narrative within the broader context of ECE high-quality practices. The central guiding questions included: 1) How do this teacher’s practices “counter” the dominant approaches to early childhood education pedagogy? and (2) How do this teacher’s identity and experiences challenge deficit assumptions of minoritized children and families in the urban preschool center?

Data collection included a three-interview protocol designed to provide a life history of the teacher, present experiences, and meaning-making of the teaching experience in combination with the teacher’s lesson plans and pictures of children’s artifacts that reflect the teacher centering the children’s perspectives, knowledge, and experiences within the classroom. Interview transcripts were analyzed using two-phase inductive analysis. Findings indicate that the teacher: 1) resisted deficit discourses ;(2) valued knowledge from minoritized children and families; (3) chose culturally relevant practices to promote equity. Implications from the study include expanding the knowledge base that includes White teachers equitably teaching all students successfully. Ladson-Billings (1994) maintained that teachers from any racial background could be successful teachers of minoritized students and, like others, concluded that more studies are needed to build the knowledge base of diverse teachers equitably teaching all students successfully.

Author

• Charles E. Flowers, California State University - Fullerton