About this session

Saturday, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Confronting Bias and Decentering Dominant Narratives in Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Courses

The historical foundations of early childhood education (ECE) are rooted in Eurocentric viewpoints that privilege a narrow, idealized image of young children—typically White, middle-class, monolingual, neurotypical, and cisgender. This dominant framework marginalizes the experiences of children and families from historically oppressed communities, reinforcing cycles of inequity (e.g., Escayg, 2019; Souto-Manning & Rabadi-Raol, 2018; Perez & Saavedra, 2017). These systemic issues are embedded in ECE curriculum design, teacher preparation, and professional development, perpetuating exclusionary practices.

To effect real change within the ECE system, it is imperative to recognize that equitable practices cannot exist without directly addressing the injustices experienced by historically marginalized children (Souto‐Manning & Rabadi-Raol, 2018). ECE faculty have a responsibility to prepare educators who can tackle these deep-rooted issues. As pre-service teachers form their understanding of themselves and the world, faculty must confront the historical and contextual challenges in the field. This requires dismantling biased perspectives in traditional ECE practices and creating curricula that champion equity, inclusion, and social justice, transforming ECE into a culturally responsive field that meets the needs of all children and families.

This conversational roundtable highlights the journey of a group of ECE teacher educators who critically examined the construction of early childhood teacher preparation course syllabi, content, and pedagogy. Motivated by the recognition that ECE courses often perpetuate privileged identities, perspectives, and practices, our work aligns with the principles of critical pedagogy’s culture circles (Souto-Manning, 2010). These circles offer spaces for deep self-reflection, humility, and critical engagement with the oppressive systems embedded in our field, research, and academic institutions.

Initially, our aim was to create a checklist as a practical resource for faculty seeking to cultivate more inclusive practices in ECE. However, after several months of intensive reading and profound, reflective discussions, we recognized the limitations of a linear checklist. Instead, a non-linear, formative spiral emerged as the model best representing our emerging, continuous thought process. While we are sharing our process and model as they exist at a specific moment in time, they continue to evolve and are never truly “finished.” Our model encapsulates a dynamic process in which scholars engage in continuous learning and reflection over time to shape their perspectives, identities, and practices. Our model encompasses four core elements:
1. Identity and Self-Reflection: This central point involves scrutinizing one’s positionality and social location. We engage in critical introspection about how these factors influence our pedagogy.
2. Course Syllabi: Here, analyze power dynamics in our course syllabi, considering who and what is centered and why, and identifying opportunities for democratic processes and empowerment. We consider aspects of a syllabus (e.g., structure, tone, policies) that can contribute to dynamics that maintain oppressive, biased systems and how we can ensure opportunities for dialogue and democracy.
3. Course Design: This element focuses on how the course is taught, centering the intentionality of each faculty member in designing a course that seeks to interrupt inequality and injustice for their students. We concentrate on creating equitable learning spaces for our students, considering hidden curriculum, the knowledge and skills that matter for student success but aren't explicitly taught, and power dynamics that are inherently embedded in higher education (Calarco, 2020).
4. Course Content: This aspect focuses on what is taught, emphasizing the elevation and centralization of epistemologies, methodologies, critical scholarship, and voices not commonly centered in course materials. We ask ourselves who and what is (un)valued, (in)visible, and (un)heard in our courses.

In this roundtable, we invite participants into our journey, sharing ongoing efforts to confront bias and break down barriers in our ECE courses, our scholarship, and our lives. Throughout this conversation, we emphasize the importance of continuous learning and personal growth. It is essential to acknowledge that this conversation is just the beginning of a reflection journey and that we cannot provide everything needed in this discussion. Our intention is to initiate a reflective journey that encourages ongoing learning and engagement with these critical topics.
Primary questions to be discussed are outlined below. While the goal is to have all faculty engage in a collaborative discussion, the name of the primary panelist who will address each question is included in parentheses after the question.

1. How did your group come together, actualize commitment, and build community? (Lisa)
2. What is the ideal process to follow? (Melissa B.)
3. What are the components of the non-linear spiral model and what do they look like in practice? (Ruby)
-Why is situating and self-reflecting on ourselves and our histories at the center? (Melissa B.)
-How can analyzing our course syllabi help us to examine power dynamics and hidden curriculum? (Ruby)
-Why is it important to embrace multiple pedagogical approaches? (Lisa)
-How can we elevate marginalized voices in our course content? (Melissa B.)
4. How and why is this process iterative? (Ruby)
5. What kinds of challenges and successes has your group encountered on this journey? (Lisa)
6. What steps have you taken in your own lives as faculty members while engaging in this work? What does accountability look like in our teaching, research, and practice? (Melissa B.)
7. How does one begin this work? What are some signposts along the journey? (Lisa)
8. How do you know when you are finished? (Melissa B.)
9. What kinds of supports are needed to do this work? (Ruby)

Participants are encouraged to engage in the discussion, sharing ideas and questions as we navigate this journey together. Our session will conclude as it began -- anchored in the belief that early childhood professionals play a vital role in advancing the field, striving to improve education for all children and families and moving closer to a more equitable and just society. Attendees will leave with insights on integrating equity-centered, reflective practices into their course design, content, and pedagogy. By sharing our challenges and successes, we hope to inspire others to embrace vulnerability and embark on the ongoing process of re-imagining their syllabi and teaching approaches.

This conversational roundtable focuses on the collaboration among early childhood professors who responded to a call within an early care and education (ECE) research group to rethink and “decolonize” the construction of ECE syllabi. Motivation for this work grew out of the horrific murder of George Floyd and subsequent violence, challenging citizens to reckon with systemic inequities in the U.S. Our group acknowledged that syllabi often reflect privileged Eurocentric perspectives and practices. As we discussed and reflected further, we recognized that while our efforts to diversify syllabi acknowledged decolonization, they were not the same as decolonizing (Tuck & Yang, 2012). We refocused our collaboration on decentering Eurocentric epistemologies and methodologies that have long dominated our courses and the field of ECE.

Initially envisioning a checklist to address inequities, we soon recognized that as insufficient. Instead, we committed to examining conversations over time and eventually articulated a non-linear, formative spiral model that emphasizes continual learning and reflection, moving beyond static tasks. This model integrates identity and self-reflection, democratic course design, inclusive pedagogy, and the centering of marginalized voices, challenging the status quo in ECE curriculum development.

Grounded in critical pedagogy (Souto-Manning, 2010), we engaged in ongoing reflection, monthly discussions, and professional development to confront biases and reimagine our ECE courses. In this roundtable, we will articulate our process, highlighting challenges and successes while creating dynamic, equitable syllabi. Participants will be invited to explore how critical reflection and humility can guide educators in dismantling oppressive systems within teaching and scholarship. This conversational roundtable focuses on the collaboration among early childhood professors who responded to a call within an early care and education (ECE) research group to rethink and “decolonize” the construction of ECE syllabi. Motivation for this work grew out of the horrific murder of George Floyd and subsequent violence, challenging citizens to reckon with systemic inequities in the U.S. Our group acknowledged that syllabi often reflect privileged Eurocentric perspectives and practices. As we discussed and reflected further, we recognized that while our efforts to diversify syllabi acknowledged decolonization, they were not the same as decolonizing (Tuck & Yang, 2012). We refocused our collaboration on decentering Eurocentric epistemologies and methodologies that have long dominated our courses and the field of ECE.

Initially envisioning a checklist to address inequities, we soon recognized that as insufficient. Instead, we committed to examining conversations over time and eventually articulated a non-linear, formative spiral model that emphasizes continual learning and reflection, moving beyond static tasks. This model integrates identity and self-reflection, democratic course design, inclusive pedagogy, and the centering of marginalized voices, challenging the status quo in ECE curriculum development.

Grounded in critical pedagogy (Souto-Manning, 2010), we engaged in ongoing reflection, monthly discussions, and professional development to confront biases and reimagine our ECE courses. In this roundtable, we will articulate our process, highlighting challenges and successes while creating dynamic, equitable syllabi. Participants will be invited to explore how critical reflection and humility can guide educators in dismantling oppressive systems within teaching and scholarship.

Session moderator
Melissa Clucas Walter, Ph.D., Northern Illinois University, United States

Panelists
Dr. Lisa Beth Fiore, Ph.D., Tufts University , United States
Dr. Melissa M. Burnham, Ph.D., University of Nevada Reno , United States
Ruby Batz, Ph.D., University of Nevada Reno , United States

⇦ Back to schedule