Supporting equitable and anti-racist practices in early childhood programs: a framework for starting differently

Abstract

Research has found that as early as preschool, children from diverse backgrounds are more at risk than their peers to experience bias and racism from teachers and negative behavioral outcomes. Given these negative early childhood school experiences can create greater risk for children and more stress for their families, it is important that research is utilized to change such experiences and support more positive development outcomes for young children. The purpose of this article is to prevent an approach to organize and participate in school differently. Our approach involves developing equitable systems that supports early childhood centers to develop equitable systems by building upon the foundational principles of anti-racism, equity, and barrier prevention rather than seeking to intervene upon inequitable systems through professional development and attempting to remove barriers that have already caused harm as is with traditional approaches.