Home > Newsletters > Let’s Give Our Young Ones Perspective on Race
Published by CounciLINK on February 28, 2019
We all need to talk about social justice — and it’s never too early to start. Even preschoolers aren’t too young to notice race and give it thought. Adults often worry that talking about race will plant bias in children, but actually the opposite is true.
Educators can help the youngest children form better attitudes towards race and the firm belief that all lives matter — but we have to talk about it with them first.
And early childhood educators did talk about it to children this month during the yearly Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. The campaign took place in schools nationwide, where educators promoted a set of demands based on the Black Lives Matter Guiding Principles, an affirmation of black folks’ contribution to society and their resilience in the face of oppression. The goal was to get children of all ages to grapple with issues of bias that persist in our communities and lives.
In Washington, DC, 350 educators and schools undertook this mission with guidance from Teaching for Change, a national nonprofit whose goal is “building social justice starting in the classroom.” Teaching for Change helped educators compile lessons, make book lists and find resources to improve the school experience for students from preschool to high school, especially those of color.
Educators also got information and inspiration from the District of Columbia Association for the Education of Young Children (DCAEYC).
“We sent all the week’s materials to our members so they could absorb and implement them,” said Robert Gundling, president of DCAEYC who’s also Professional Development Specialist (PDS).
The educators were keen to put the lesson plans in action since “DCAEYC is a very inclusive organization,” Gundling said. “Many of our members are very sensitive to the importance of equity in education for children, especially children of color. Black children need more opportunities to learn about their culture. They need to know they can do everything they want to do and be everything they want to be.”
For that to happen, Gundling pointed out, we need to provide more access to early childhood education in under-resourced neighborhoods.
“Early childhood education is the key to closing the achievement gap,” he said. And one of the ways educators can help children reach their potential is by gaining the knowledge and know-how that come from earning a CDA.
The credential also gives educators the skills they need to reach the young in talking about bias and discrimination.
“Black Lives Matter,” he said, “connects with so many functional areas of the CDA: designing an environment to promote development and learning, helping all children flourish, selecting developmentally appropriate materials for children, reflecting and educating with intentionality and reflection.”
CDA training helps educators pass on values like empathy, equality and peace, according to Jackie Whiting, a CDA holder for three decades and a teacher at the School for Friends in Washington, DC. There’s a close fit between these Quaker values and the goals of Black Lives Matters at School Week of Action, as Whiting explained.
“We accept children of every race and try to build a loving, caring community among them,” she said.
During the week of action, she brought the message to toddlers by having them play with baby dolls of different colors and reading to them from books like Happy, Pharrell Williams’ celebration of children across different cultures. Whiting also had the children crack open brown and white eggs to help them see that “everybody is the same inside.”
Books and role play like this also feature in Makai Kellogg’s class for 3-year-olds at the School for Friends. For example, her class read Miss Tizzy, a book about an older, black woman who engages in fun activities with neighborhood children. When Miss Tizzy gets sick, the children try to cheer her up by baking cookies, making puppets, having a dress-up tea party. And Kellogg’s preschoolers also enjoyed the same activities as the children in the book.
Fun activities like these helped get the children engaged in Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. But Kellogg knows that facing bias is no fun and she’s dead serious about fighting it as the school’s equity and diversity coordinator.
“As a Quaker school,” she said, “we have a strong anti-bias curriculum, so we’re constantly stepping in to interrupt bias.”
And she knows it’s never too early to start.
“Infants as young as 6 months are already noticing differences between people of different skin colors and refusing to play with dolls who don’t look like them. So we step in before bias sets in. Then our goal is for the children to call out playmates when they show bias, too,” Kellogg said.
It’s a challenge, Kellogg admitted, because “children see bias all around them.” So it isn’t enough to just broadcast the message during one special week in winter.
“This is work that should be done all year long,” Kellogg said. She knows we need to give our children something to talk about: how black lives matter every day.
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Elisa Shepherd is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances at the Council, where she leads initiatives to advance the Council’s mission and strategic plan through designing, managing, and executing a comprehensive stakeholder relationship strategy.
With over 25 years of experience in early childhood education (ECE), Elisa has dedicated her career to developing impactful programs, professional development opportunities, and public policies that support working families, young children, and ECE staff. Before joining the Council, Elisa held numerous roles within the childcare industry. Most recently, she served as Associate Vice President at The Learning Experience and as Senior Manager at KinderCare Education, where she influenced government affairs and public policies across 40 states.
Elisa’s commitment to leadership is reflected in her external roles on the Early Care and Education Consortium Board of Directors, the Florida Chamber Foundation Board of Trustees, and as the DEI Caucus Leader for KinderCare Education. She has been recognized as an Emerging Leader in Early Childhood by Childcare Exchange’s Leadership Initiative.
Elisa earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a focus on child development from Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA.
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Andrew Davis serves as Chief Operating Officer at the Council. In this role, Andrew oversees the Programs Division, which includes the following operational functions: credentialing, growth and business development, marketing and communications, public policy and advocacy, research, innovation, and customer relations.
Andrew has over 20 years of experience in the early care and education field. Most recently, Andrew served as Senior Vice President of Partnership and Engagement with Acelero Learning and Shine Early Learning, where he led the expansion of state and community-based partnerships to produce more equitable systems of service delivery, improved programmatic quality, and greater outcomes for communities, children and families. Prior to that, he served as Director of Early Learning at Follett School Solutions.
Andrew earned his MBA from the University of Baltimore and Towson University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland – University College.
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Jan Bigelow serves as Chief Financial Officer at the Council and has been with the organization since February of 2022.
Jan has more than 30 years in accounting and finance experience, including public accounting, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. She has held management-level positions with BDO Seidman, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Pew Center for Global Climate Change, Communities In Schools, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and American Humane. Since 2003, Jan has worked exclusively in the non-profit sector where she has been a passionate advocate in improving business operations in order to further the mission of her employers.
Jan holds a CPA from the State of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College. She resides in Alexandria VA with her husband and dog.
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Janie Payne is the Vice President of People and Culture for the Council for Professional Recognition. Janie is responsible for envisioning, developing, and executing initiatives that strategically manage talent and culture to align people strategies with the overarching business vision of the Council. Janie is responsible for driving organizational excellence through strategic talent practices, orchestrating workforce planning, talent acquisition, performance management as well as a myriad of other Human Resources Programs. She is accountable for driving effectiveness by shaping organizational structure for optimal efficiency. Janie oversees strategies that foster a healthy culture to include embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of the organization.
In Janie’s prior role, she was the Vice President of Administration at Equal Justice Works, where she was responsible for leading human resources, financial operations, facilities management, and information technology. She was also accountable for developing and implementing Equal Justice Works Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy focused on attracting diverse, mission-oriented talent and creating an inclusive and equitable workplace environment. With more than fifteen years of private, federal, and not-for-profit experience, Janie is known for her intuitive skill in administration management, human resources management, designing and leading complex system change, diversity and inclusion, and social justice reform efforts.
Before joining Equal Justice Works, Janie was the Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer for Global Communities, where she was responsible for the design, implementation, and management of integrated HR and diversity strategies. Her work impacted employees in over twenty-two countries. She was responsible for the effective management of different cultural, legal, regulatory, and economic systems for both domestic and international employees. Prior to Global Communities, Janie enjoyed a ten-year career with the federal government. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, she held key strategic human resources positions with multiple cabinet-level agencies and served as an advisor and senior coach to leaders across the federal sector. In these roles, she received recognition from management, industry publications, peers, and staff for driving the creation and execution of programs that created an engaged and productive workforce.
Janie began her career with Verizon Communications (formerly Bell Atlantic), where she held numerous roles of increasing responsibility, where she directed a diversity program that resulted in significant improvement in diversity profile measures. Janie was also a faculty member for the company’s Black Managers Workshop, a training program designed to provide managers of color with the skills needed to overcome barriers to their success that were encountered because of race. She initiated a company-wide effort to establish team-based systems and structures to impact corporate bottom line results which was recognized by the Department of Labor. Janie was one of the first African American women to be featured on the cover of Human Resources Executive magazine.
Janie received her M.A. in Organization Development from American University. She holds numerous professional development certificates in Human Capital Management and Change Management, including a Diversity and Inclusion in Human Resources certificate from Cornell University. She completed the year-long Maryland Equity and Inclusion Leadership Program sponsored by The Schaefer Center for Public Policy and The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. She is a trained mediator and Certified Professional Coach. She is a graduate of Leadership America, former board chair of the NTL Institute and currently co-steward of the organization’s social justice community of practice, and a member of The Society for Human Resource Management. Additionally, Janie is the Board Chairperson for the Special Education Citizens Advisory Council for Prince Georges County where she is active in developing partnerships that facilitate discussion between parents, families, educators, community leaders, and the PG County school administration to enhance services for students with disabilities which is her passion. She and her husband Randolph reside in Fort Washington Maryland.
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