The Power of Play and Language on Early Childhood Racial Identity in Three U.S. Schools

Abstract

This article includes 3 transformative action research case studies conducted in 3 geographically diverse locations—the Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast United States—with children between the ages of 4 and 7. The case studies that are the focus of this article were selected from studies collected between 1997 and 2007. The outcomes of each clearly identify issues signifying a relation among race, play, and language in both student-to-student and teacher-to-student discourse. Discussion includes how critical incident logs and language events transform White teacher identities and support self-reflection. The relations that exist among theory, practice, and academic achievement in the field of racial identity development are discussed, as is the role that play-based curriculum models can have on identity consistency in early childhood classrooms.