Advancing Equity and Embracing Diversity in Early Childhood Education: Elevating Voices and Actions

A group of diverse educators reviewing information on a laptop

Iliana Alanís, Iheoma U. Iruka, Susan Friedman

About the Book

Together, the voices of early childhood educators, scholars, and professionals can sound the call to advance the profession toward more equitable educational experiences, systems, and practices for all children. This book showcases many of these voices from across the field of early childhood education and invites you to think about and discuss ways you can add your own voice to that call.

Expanding on recommendations from NAEYC’s “Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education” position statement, the contributors to this invaluable resource navigate difficult and complex topics and offer guidance on how to apply more equitable pedagogical practices. Grounded in theoretical frameworks and current research, the chapters look at both the history of inequity in the profession and what the future of education can mean for all children.

Inside, you’ll read the voices of

Teresa Acevedo ● Jennifer Keys Adair ● Rosemarie Allen ● Garnett S. Booker III ● Barbara T. Bowman ● Dina C. Castro ● Jie-Qi Chen ● Stephanie M. Curenton ● Felicia L. DeHaney ● Louise Derman-Sparks ● Lillian Durán ● Tonia R. Durden ● Isauro M. Escamilla ● Belinda Bustos Flores ● Janelle Beth Flores ● Ximena Franco ● Mimi Gray ● Socorro Herrera ● Zeynep Isik-Ercan ● Debbie LeeKeenan ● Junlei Li ● Daniel R. Meier ● Jen Neitzel ● John Nimmo ● Iliana Reyes ● Shubhi Sachdeva ● Hilary Seitz ● Dorothy L. Shapland ● Carla Thompson Payton ● Alandra Washington ● Dana Winters ● Brian L. Wright . . . and many more!

Acknowledgments
Contributor List
NAEYC’s “Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education” Position Statement
Introduction
Iliana Alanís, Iheoma U. Iruka, and Susan Friedman
Part 1: Reflections on Equity
Section 1: Reflections on Ourselves
- Chapter 1: Looking Inward: Reflections from Early Education Professionals on Their Journey to Reduce Bias and Racism
  Iheoma U. Iruka, with Anthony Broughton, Michael Gonzalez, Jillian Herink, Steven Hicks, Tamara Johnson, Jen Neitzel, Karen Nemeth, Nicol Russell, and Shannon Wanless
Section 2: Reflections on Our Profession
- Chapter 2: Why History? Educating the Early Childhood Workforce for Equity
  Barbara T. Bowman
- Chapter 3: Quality Includes Removing Bias from Early Childhood Education Environments
  Felicia L. DeHaney, Carla Thompson Payton, and Alandra Washington
- Chapter 4: Being an Equity Leader
  John Nimmo, Debbie LeeKeenan, and Louise Derman‑Sparks
- Chapter 5: Recognizing Shortcomings of a Traditional Professional Knowledge Base
  Tonia R. Durden and Stephanie M. Curenton
Part 2: Responsive Pedagogical Practices
- Chapter 6: Creating Caring Communities in Early Childhood Contexts
  Garnett S. Booker III
- Chapter 7: Focusing on What Really Counts: How Noticing and Appreciating Simple, Ordinary Moments in Early Childhood Care and Education Can Enrich Human Relationships and Promote Professional Equity
  Junlei Li and Dana Winters
- Chapter 8: Developing the Three Cs of Reciprocity
  Zeynep Isik‑Ercan
- Chapter 9: What About the Children? Teachers Cultivating and Nurturing the Voice and Agency of Young Children
  Brian L. Wright
- Chapter 10: Equity, Diversity, and Child Development: Implications for Practice
  Iliana Reyes, Mimi Gray, and Teresa Acevedo
- Chapter 11: Equitable Learning Opportunities for Young Bilingual Children: Strategies to Promote Oral Language Development
  Dina C. Castro and Ximena Franco
- Chapter 12: Creating High‑Quality STEM Experiences for All Young Learners: What Do Teachers of Young Children Need to Know?
  Jie‑Qi Chen
- Chapter 13: Developing Meaningful and Relevant Writing with K–3 Dual Language Learner Students
  Daniel R. Meier
- Chapter 14: Providing Responsive Supports to Dual Language Learners with Disabilities
  Lillian Durán
- Chapter 15: Making Thinking, Learning, and Development Visible and Inclusive Through Authentic Assessment
  Hilary Seitz
- Chapter 16: Learning Stories: Observation, Reflection, and Narrative in Early Childhood Education
  Isauro M. Escamilla
Part 3: Moving Forward as a Profession
- Chapter 17: The Work: Promoting Equity and Justice in Early Childhood
  Jen Neitzel
- Chapter 18: Agency and Power in Young Children’s Lives: Five Ways to Advocate for Social Justice as an Early Childhood Educator
  Jennifer Keys Adair and Shubhi Sachdeva
- Chapter 19: Creating Anti‑Racist Early Childhood Spaces
  Rosemarie Allen, Dorothy L. Shapland, Jen Neitzel, and Iheoma U. Iruka
- Chapter 20: Early Childhood Teacher Educators’ Critical Role: Preparing Culturally Efficacious Early Childhood Teachers
  Belinda Bustos Flores, Socorro Herrera, and Janelle Beth Flores
Appendix: A Note on Terminology Used in this Book
About the Editors
Index

Book Details

Product Code: 1155
ISBN: 978-1-938113-78-9
Publish Date: 2021

Citation (in Chicago 17th ed. style):

Alanís, I., & I.U. Iruka, eds. With S. Friedman. 2021. Advancing Equity and Embracing Diversity in Early Childhood Education: Elevating Voices and Actions. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Related Resources

Articles

“Promoting Equity through Teacher Research” - Discover the role teacher research plays in forging the path to equity-based educational reforms in Megina Baker’s article. (Voices of Practicioners, Fall 2019)

Blog

"Advancing Equity: The Story of a Position Statement" - Learn more about how NAEYC’s “Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education” position statement came about in this blog post by Elisa Huss-Hage.

Increasing Qualifications, Centering Equity Experiences and Advice from Early Childhood Educators of Color - Read this report from NAEYC and The Education Trust elevating the expertise and experiences of early childhood educators of color in the conversation about raising the bar on the qualifications for working in the early childhood field.

Audience: Administrator (director or principal), Student (higher education), Teacher

Age: Early Primary, Infant/Toddler, Kindergarten, Preschool

Topics: Other Topics, Equity, Cultural Competence, Diversity

Iliana Alanís

Iliana Alanís, PhD, is a professor of early childhood/elementary education at the University of Texas-San Antonio. A native of the Rio Grande Valley, she has been working with and learning from dual language teachers for over 20 years.

Iheoma U. Iruka

Iheoma U. Iruka, PhD, is research professor in public policy and founding director of the equity research action coalition at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Iruka is engaged in projects and initiatives focused on how evidence‑informed policies, systems, and practices in early education can support the optimal development and experiences of children who are from households with low income, ethnic minorities, and immigrants. She is focused on ensuring healthy development and excellence for young diverse learners, especially Black children, through classroom and family tools, the examination of nontraditional pedagogical approaches, public policies, and publications geared toward early education practitioners and policymakers. She is an author of several books, including Don’t Look Away: Embracing Anti‑Bias Classrooms (Gryphon House, 2020). Dr. Iruka serves or has served on numerous national boards and committees, including the Brady Education Foundation, the American Psychological Association’s Board of Educational Affairs Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Disparities, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committees on Supporting Parents of Young Children and Applying Neurobiological and Socio‑Behavioral Sciences from Prenatal through Early Childhood Development: A Health Equity Approach.

Susan Friedman

Susan Friedman is senior director of publishing and content development at NAEYC. In this role, she leads the content development work of NAEYC’s books and periodicals teams. Ms. Friedman is coeditor of Each and Every Child: Teaching Preschool with an Equity Lens. She has extensive prior experience creating content on play, developmentally appropriate uses of media, and other topics for educators and families. She has presented at numerous educational conferences, including NAEYC’s Professional Learning Institute and Annual Conference, the South by Southwest Education (SXSW EDU) Conference & Festival, and the School Superintendents Association’s Early Learning Cohort. She began her career as a preschool teacher at City and Country School in New York City. She holds degrees from Vassar College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Reviews

In a time when issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access are at the forefront in education, this volume offers timely and critical recommendations for policy and practice. The coeditors bring together a stellar group of experts in the field that delineate how we can enact equitable and inclusive early childhood education founded on NAEYC’s “Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education” position statement and its recommendations. A must-read for all early childhood educators.

—Sonia W. Soltero, Professor and Chair, Department of Leadership, Language, and Curriculum, DePaul University

NAEYC’s position statement on advancing equity is not just words on paper, it is the heart and soul of who we are as people who care for all children. In this book, editors Iliana Alanís, Iheoma Iruka, and Susan Friedman have gathered stories and insights from dozens of early childhood education professionals, leading us forward into a beloved community framed in social justice.

—Josh Thompson, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education, Texas A&M University-Commerce

This book confronts us with the inequities present in early childhood education. It compels us not to remain silent, compliant, or complicit, but rather to take anti-racist actions at every level—classroom, program, teacher preparation, and policy.

—Cristina Gillanders, Associate Professor, University of Colorado Denver

This text is comprehensive in its approach to addressing equity and diversity in our field. The diverse group of contributors offers research-based expertise centering a variety of social identities. Regardless of role, this book provides useful information for improving practice.

—Toni Sturdivant, Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Texas A&M University-Commerce

NAEYC

Advancing Equity and Embracing Diversity in Early Childhood Education: Elevating Voices and Actions