1. Creating an Anti-Bias Learning Community
Chapter 4

2. Positive Interactions with Children
Just listen
Figure out what the child wants to know
Listen for feelings behind the words
Answer simply (use developmentally appropriate language)
Always respond
Follow up (activities)

3. Responding to Pre-prejudice and discriminatory Behavior
Pre-prejudice – repeating words and ideas that have been heard from others without knowing what they fully means
These incidents are teachable moments
Talk with children about fairness and unfairness using developmentally appropriate language

4. Handling Incidents of Pre-Prejudice
Stay calm
State what you observed
Set limits
Explore feelings
Go Beyond no
Take action that respects children’s developmental understanding and their culture interaction style
Respect children’s learning process
Talk with other staff

5. Conference with the Family
When a pattern of incidents appears, plan a conference with the family:
Schedule the conference
Always Begin by letting them know how much you like the child
Share your observations and concerns
Ask the family to share their observations
Discuss the method your are using to work on the issue
Together develop strategies for intervention at home

6. Responding to Negative Self-Identity
Check your perception – talk with other staff to find out their observations
Speak with the family – describe your observations
Set up family-teacher conference
Make a plan what you can do at school and the family can do at home to build the child’s self- awareness and self-esteem
Discussion questions (group work p. 37)

7. Creating a Secure and Supportive Environment for All Families
Build positive relationships with and among families
Have a school/family handbook – make sure to have a statement on the inclusive approach to all families
Do an intake interview – ask to describe their families
Create an equitable enrollment form – replace the usual labels “mother and father” with more open-ended once “parent/parents, co-parents, guardians, or family”

8. Creating a Secure and Supportive Environment for All Families (cont.)
Sent a welcome letter communicating a philosophy of inclusion and respect for diversity
Provide a resource library
Make the classroom accessible for people with disability
Arrange the physical environment thoughtfully – designate a space for the families, have refreshments available daily

9. Creating a Secure and Supportive Environment for All Families (cont.)
Build common ground:
At pickup/drop-off exchange information
Communicate by phone/
Communicate through daily logs
Communicate through family-teacher conferences
Communicate in their home language

10. Collaborating with Families
Learn about each family’s desires for their child’s identity development (racial, ethnic/cultural, gender, religious)
Approach differences in perspective as opportunities to build partnerships – listen careful to families concerns and find a productive solution

11. Connecting Families with Each Other and With the Program
Support families in talking together – family potlucks, targeted discussions on specific topics, group activism (speak to the state legislators about program cuts)
Keep families in the center of your curriculum – create spaces in the classroom for family photos, inform families about your anti-bias activities, invite families to participate in the classroom

12. The Visual and Material Environment
Arrange your physical environment with rich, anti- bias materials that honor diversity:
All the children, families, and staff in your program in their daily lives
Other children and families similar to those in your program in their daily lives
Children and adults from the various racial and ethnic identity groups in your community
People with disabilities
Diverse family structures
Families from various economic groups performing all types of work

13. Curriculum Planning, Including Persona Dolls
Curricular planning approaches:
Webbing
Emergent curriculum
Unit or theme
Skill-based
Tourist curriculum
Stereotyping

14. Storytelling and Problem Solving with Persona Dolls
Build a collection of persona dolls that reflect the specific children and families in your classroom and others introducing new kinds of diversity
Develop persona dolls stories (common experiences among the children, issues, current events, stories from social justice
Group work – create the persona doll story.