Embedded narrative values: CHILD READINESS: A PATH TO SUSTAINABLY MEANINGFUL CHANGE Horace F. Whittaker, Jr., Ed.D. Child readiness includes societies’ resources undergirding children’s initial academic success. White supremacy defines and validates inferior characterizations of blacks. Consequently, most black mothers demonstrate leadership in retaining their historical-cultural identity and racially socializing children to live meaningfully despite persistent oppression. The study led me to design a theory of double consciousness (below) to better grasp the ecological context and contestation of worldviews in which child readiness occurs. Teachers and schools reproduce deficit ideas of black and brown students and families. Qualitative Project Counter Narratives Critical Race Theory Gender Class The capacity of CRT as theory and method make it an immensely powerful tool Tenets of CRT racism is normal Interest Convergence Social construct Intersectionality Counter stories Embedded narrative values: GROUP COLLABORATION PERSONHOOD Oral Traditions Oppressed Culture Homes Schools Institutions Media Societal Mediators INDIVIDUALISM COMPETITION PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT Literate Social Oppressors “When servants are educated at all they are educated to serve, but never to share power. This is the basic dilemma in black education. Black people were not brought to this country to be given education, citizenship or democracy-they were brought here to serve, labor and obey”. John Henrik Clarke, 1973 Research Findings Participant’s: Readied their child Believed whites teach racism Internalized deficit ideologies Transmitted their indigenous and historical African traditions Future Study Ideas Examine the relationship of deficit ideologies, the design of curricula materials and child readiness. Study the role of professional development in influencing center-based care providers attitudes about families of color and children's identity formation. Disrupt supremist narratives that reproduce deficit ideologies and undermine child readiness: Inculcate counter narratives within homes, schools and communities Use culturally relevant pedagogies to address racialization Live counter narratively