Northern Appalachian Head Start Teachers' Understanding of Cultural Diversity

• In Event: Power to the Field!: Equity and Transformation in Early Childhood Workforce and Education
  In Paper Session: Power to the Field! Equity and Transformation in Early Childhood Workforce and Education

Abstract

Scholars in the field of early childhood education (ECE) argue preschools are key sites to address race and incorporate critical multicultural approaches to combat racism. However, how white rural educators in white working-class communities approach understandings of race, difference, and justice remains understudied. Applying critical ecological and critical whiteness frameworks to ethnographic data, we demonstrate how local political and sociogeographical components, including the rise in prisons in rural spaces, influence how teachers in one rustbelt community in Northern Appalachia approach critical multiculturalism in preschools. In analyzing overlapping influences of racism within and across each ecological level, we move beyond unidimensional approaches. This comprehensive approach provides evidence for considering institutional, and contextual factors in HS policy implementation research.

Authors

• Sungryung Lyu, The Pennsylvania State University

• Allison Sterling Henward, The Pennsylvania State University