Dismantling dehumanizing educator talk about children and families: the moral imperative for early childhood teacher educators

Abstract

This reflection on practice explores dehumanizing educator talk as an explicit topic within multicultural/diversity/anti-bias and anti-racist teacher education. Dehumanizing educator talk is defined as formal or informal conversation during which targeted individuals or groups are openly demeaned with offensive generalizations in the absence of discernable educational goals leading to improved outcomes. The significance of deficit-based dehumanizing educator talk is supported with linguistic theory, critical race theory, cultural capital theory, and the theory of funds of knowledge. A counter-educator talk of ethics, care, and resistance to bias is proposed with examples. Recommended topics for early childhood teacher educator reflection include potential resistance of White future teachers to acknowledgement of racism as well as the presence of deficit-based and dehumanizing ideas in early childhood-focused educational scholarship. Recommended actions include emphasis on critical literacy, critical racial literacy, proactive course syllabi, and focused classroom strategies. Early childhood teacher educators are encouraged to model new narratives of hope and possibility and to be advocates and activists who challenge and counter dehumanizing talk about children and families.

Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges thoughtful reviews of an earlier version of this manuscript by Marvin Fein and Maryann Fennimore Kranis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.