Early Care and Education Professionals Talk About Talking About Race with Young Children

From the abstract: "This study analyzes open-ended survey responses from early care and education (ECE) professionals about their aspirations, concerns, challenges, and successes in fostering racial and cultural socialization among young children. Children as young as two can engage in conversations about bias, discrimination, and prejudice. Research supports introducing conversations about race in preschool when children’s social and cultural understandings are still forming and when societal expectations are first assigned to them. However, lack of preparation or materials, discomfort discussing race, and misconceptions about children’s cognitive abilities often lead early childhood educators to underestimate a child’s capacity to understand race-related topics. The study draws from 25 high-quality ECE programs in urban, suburban, and rural communities across the US. In an annual staff survey, 782 respondents (631 teaching staff; 60 family engagement staff; and 91 mentor teachers), were asked questions about racial and cultural socialization classroom practices, followed by an open-ended question: “If you would like to share additional thoughts about this topic, please do so here” (n=191). The respondents, who tend to demonstrate a shared understanding of what constitutes quality in other areas of pedagogy, report a broad array of values and approaches surrounding issues of race in ECE."