Don’t Look Away: How to Embrace Anti-Bias Classrooms Now

Presented by Dr. Stephanie Curenton, Associate Professor, Boston University; Dr. Tonia Durden, Clinical Associate Professor, B-5 Program Coordinator, Georgia State University; Dr. Kerry-Ann Escayg, Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska at Omaha; and Dr. Iheoma U. Iruka, Research Professor and Founding Director of Equity Research Action Coalition at FPG, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Moderated by Raven Griffin, Marketing Manager, Kaplan Early Learning Company

Sponsored by Kaplan Early Learning Company

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Following their widely successful edWebinar, Embracing Anti-Bias Classrooms: A Response to Racism in America, the authors of Don’t Look Away: Embracing Anti-Bias Classrooms participate in a roundtable discussion on how to embrace anti-bias classrooms and anti-racist teaching by creating affirming and culturally grounded environments that protect children from psychological trauma and heal them from the inside out.

This edWebinar continues to call upon all early education professionals to lean in as “sheroes” and “heroes” in the lives of children and as potential change agents in children’s and families’ lives. This is critically important as we continue to deal with two pandemics—COVID-19 and racism. Viewers will learn the following:

• What an anti-bias classroom is
• How anti-bias classrooms foster culturally relevant teaching
• Why it is important to have anti-bias, culturally relevant classroom environments
• How implicit bias, microaggression and white privilege undermine the excellence and learning of minoritized Black and Brown children and those who teach them
• How institutional racism impacts early childhood care, learning, and environments
• How to utilize tools, strategies, and partners in ensuring that we deliver on the promise of education, especially for those who helped to build it
• The authors’ latest projects and reports that are calling for anti-racist policies to support Black families and other families of color, and those who teach them

This recorded edWebinar will be of interest to teachers, school and district leaders, coaches and trainers, and child care providers of the PreK through elementary levels.

About the Presenters

Dr. Stephanie M. Curenton is a tenured associate professor in the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. She studies the social, cognitive, and language development of low-income and minority children within various ecological contexts, such as parent-child interactions, early childhood education programs, early childhood workforce programs, and related state and federal policies.

Dr. Tonia Durden is a clinical associate professor and birth-five program coordinator at Georgia State University within the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education. Dr. Durden’s primary scholarship and research trajectory focus on exploring how to develop and support African American children’s socio-cultural and identity development and strategies for developing culturally responsive pedagogues. As a teacher educator and researcher, the focus of her work includes also preparing pre-service and in-service teachers to become culturally competent master teachers. The translational science and qualitative expertise she has are a valuable asset to studies as researchers explore how African-centered schooling can transform how we educate Black children and also improve learning outcomes.

Dr. Kerry-Ann Escayg is an assistant professor of early childhood education at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Dr. Escayg’s research focuses on anti-racism in early childhood education as well as children and race. As a social theorist, Dr. Escayg has utilized central tenets of critical race theory, Black feminist thought, and anti-racist education to offer incisive exegeses on children’s racial attitudes, including strategies to promote positive racial identity among Black children; a research-derived protocol to assess how children express their racialized beliefs through play; and an anti-racist approach to U.S. early childhood education. Her recent publications on anti-racism highlight and interrogate the ways in which whiteness, as a system of racial privilege, functions in early childhood contexts. Central to Dr. Escayg’s work is a commitment to racial equity in the early years and the holistic well-being of children of color, and Black children in particular.

Dr. Iheoma U. Iruka, is a research professor in the Department of Public Policy, a fellow at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG), and the founding director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at FPG 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 from low-wealth and marginalized households and communities. Her work is at the intersection of research, policy, and program alignment for the health, well-being, and excellence of racially minoritized learning, especially Black children.

About the Moderator

Raven Griffin is a Classroom Management for Early Learning edWebinar and community host. Raven is the marketing manager for Kaplan Early Learning Company with a passion for early education and advocacy.

Closed captioning will be added to the recording within 2 weeks of the live presentation.

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