A Historical Interrogation of Inequalities in Early Childhood Programs in the United States

Session Type: Working Group Roundtable

Abstract

This historical interrogation of inequalities in early childhood programs focuses specifically on the experiences of Latino American, African American and Asian American children and families. Until the bilingual and multicultural movement in the United States, Hispanic children’s language and culture were silenced and ignored in the classroom and in the curriculum (Nieto 2005). Further, the oppressive history of Asian Americans who have settled in the United States for more than a century and a half (Tamura, 2001) will be discussed to include the discrimination by exclusion laws, specifically in education. Finally, this roundtable intends to present a historical perspective of the major avenues African-Americans used to advocate for quality early childhood education from enslavement to Head Start programs.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Early Education and Child Development

Chair

• Betty J. Liebovich, Goldsmiths University of London

Papers

• History of Hispanic Children in Early Childhood Education - Ana I. Berdecia, Kean University; Betty J. Liebovich, Goldsmiths University of London

• History of Asian American Early Childhood Education in the United States and Future Directions - Miranda Lin, Illinois State University; Blythe F. Hinitz, The College of New Jersey

• Strategies for the Advancement of Quality and Purposeful Education of African-American Learners and Their Applicability to 20th-Century Advocacy - Donna Wright, Medger Evers College; Judith McConnell Mikkelson, Oxford International Round Table