We Are the Change We Seek

Iheoma U. Iruka is a research professor in public policy and the 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. Tonia R. Durden is a clinical professor and birth through five program coordinator in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education at Georgia State University. Kerry-Ann Escayg is an associate professor of teacher education at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Stephanie M. Curenton is a professor and director of the Center on the Ecology of Early Development program at Boston University.

Contents Acknowledgments ?vii Introduction ?1 How to Use This Book ?2 1. ?Racism's Past, Present, and Future ?3 What Is Racism? ?3 The Effects of Racism in the United States ?11 An Intersectionality Lens ?18 Now What? ?21 2. ?Connecting Culturally Responsive, Anti-Bias, and Anti-Racist (CRABAR) Practices ?23 Anti-Racism and Anti-Bias ?24 Terminology Matters: Defining Bias and Racism ?25 Racism in Early Childhood Education ?26 Introducing the CRABAR Framework ?27 Now What? ?38 3. ?Creating CRABAR Learning Environments ?41 Spaces for Belonging: Model Learning Environments ?42 The Classroom Environment: A Review ?43 Reflection on Afrocentric Classroom Environments ?44 Prepare to Develop Anti-Racist Classroom Environments ?45 Now What? ?58 4. ?Developing a CRABAR Assessment View ?61 Purposes of Assessment ?62 Using a CRABAR Lens for Assessment of Classroom Quality ?68 Emerging CRABAR Assessments ?75 Now What? ?79 How Assessments Should be Used ?81 5. ?Valuing the Early Childhood Workforce to Sustain CRABAR Practices ?83 The Vast Role and Limited Compensation for ECE Professionals ?84 Low and Inequitable Wages for ECE Professionals Explained by Legacy of Racism and Sexism ?85 Now What? ?97 6. ?Using the RICHER Approach to Elevate the CRABAR Practices ?99 Deference to Whiteness in ECE Settings ?101 The RICHER Framework ?103 Now What? ?116 Conclusion ?121 Resources ?123 References ?125 Index ?143 About the Authors ?155 Land Acknowledgement ?155 Body Acknowledgment ?157