Give Race Its Place

Most educators claim that children do not see race, but research has demonstrated that children identify racial differences as young infants and develop racial preferences between the ages of three and five. Rather than being 'colour-blind,' children show evidence of race-segregated play, including discrimination by white children against Black children. Give Race its Place, is intended to fill the gap by facilitating much-needed knowledge exchange about anti-racist practices, particularly regarding anti-Black racism, for early childhood educators in Ontario. In July 2021, four 2 hour sessions will be held via Zoom during a two-week period. Sessions will be led by Dr. Kerry-Ann Escayg and Dr. Beverly-Jean Daniel. Upon completion of all four mandatory sessions, participants will be able to obtain a certification of completion.

Give Race its Place Online Certificate Course will take place over the course of four (4) days. These sessions will inculde breakout rooms and small group opprotunities to encourage discussion. Attendance to all sessions is mandatory.

The schedule is as follows:

July 5, 2021 6:00pm -8:00pm

July 6, 2021 6:00am -8:00pm

July 12, 2021 6:00am -8:00pm

July 13, 2021 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Facilitators:

Dr. Kerry-Ann Escayg:

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 elements of Critical Race Theory, Black Feminist Thought, and Anti-racist Education to offer new exegeses on children's racial identity development, including strategies to promote positive racial identity among Black children; a research-derived protocol to assess children's play; and an anti-racist approach to early childhood education in Canada and the United States. Her recent publications have highlighted and interrogated 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 colour, and Black children in particular. She has designed and provided numerous workshops on anti-racist pedagogy and curriculum to early years professionals both in-person and online.

Dr. Beverly-Jean Daniel

Dr. Beverly-Jean Daniel is an Assistant Professor at Ryerson University and holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, a masters in counselling, and a Bachelor of Arts - Honours in Psychology and Graduate Certificate in Woman and Gender Studies. Her research, publication and community work focuses on the education sector and the factors that promote academic, personal and career success in Black community members. She had been a strong proponent for addressing anti-Black racism and its impact on Black communities.

Session 1: Racism and anti-Black racism in Canada Participants will explore the historical and contemporary manifestations of racism and anti-Black racism in Canada and the Canadian school system. Using a variety of self-reflection exercises developed by the facilitator, along with scholarly literature, educators will examine the ways in which racism and anti-Black racism continue to affect the life chances and opportunities of racialized groups.

Session 2: Understanding Concepts of Diversity Canada's population has undergone a dramatic shift in demographics over the past 20 years. This workshop will support educators in developing a shared language to facilitate engagement with and understanding of discourses of difference. To this end, it will explore a range of theoretical perspectives related to issues of diversity and difference, such as critical race and anti-racism theory (Berman, 2020; Escayg, et al., 2017). These critical conversations will focus on how race and other elements of identity intersect.

Session 3:

Part 1: Race, Racism, and Young Children This workshop will build on the work in the previous sessions, and explore the conceptual and empirical body of literature on children and race. Participants will engage with and analyze critical work on race and anti-racism theory.

Part 2: Reconceptualizing Family Involvement The workshop will also focus on supporting communication between families and ECEs when addressing issues of race and racism in early childhood education environments.

Session 4: Anti-racist Pedagogy is a central component of the broader construct of anti-racism in early childhood education (Escayg, 2020a; Escayg Berman & Royer, 2017). In this session, the facilitators will present the defining features of anti-racism pedagogy. For example, using case studies of classroom practice and learning materials, participants will learn how to analyze and detect racial bias/stereotypes in children's picture books. Additionally, participants will learn to analyze children's play using observational tools, based on anti-racism, and critical race theory