(Not) Discussing Race, via Books, in Mainly White Preschools

ABSTRACT

This mixed-methods study investigated how two White preschool teachers, who were familiar with anti-bias pedagogy but had low training on anti-racist teaching strategies, discussed race and racism, using books, in two predominantly White classrooms. Teachers were observed in two classrooms, during book discussions with children, and teachers’ racial attitudes were assessed via two survey measures. The book discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed. Teachers discussed skin, hair, and eye color, and avoided naming “race” or “racism.” Teachers placed racial discrimination on the same footing as other physical differences, decreasing the significance of racism and racial discrimination. There was silence surrounding race, both from the White teachers and primarily White children. The teachers focused on encouraging children to accept all differences and minimized the salience of race, racism, and racial discrimination. Despite reporting race-conscious attitudes on the survey measures, the teachers struggled to discuss race and racism with young children in the actual classrooms. Implications are discussed for teacher professional development.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-bias
• anti-racist
• colorblindness
• diversity
• early childhood
• race
• teacher beliefs
• Whiteness

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Drs. Beth Blue Swadener, Carol Martin, Eva Marie Shivers, and Kathryn Nakagawa in assisting with conceptualizing this work during the dissertation process. The author also thanks the teachers and children for taking part in this study. The author thanks graduate students Sara Ross, Edgar Palomino, Makayla Gill, and Jasmine Griffin for assisting with portions of this project. Preliminary findings from this study were presented at Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education annual meetings, October 2017 and November 2019, Toronto, CA and Las Cruces, NM; at the Texas National Association for Multicultural Education conference, April 2019, Nacogdoches, TX; at American Educational Research Association annual meetings, April 2016 and May 2017, Washington DC and San Antonio, TX; and at the Society for Research in Child Development biennial meeting, April 2017, Austin, TX.

Ethics approval

This study has been approved by Arizona State University’s Institutional Review Board (#00002958) and by Stephen F. Austin State University’s Institutional Review Board (AY 2018–1055).

Consent to participate

Teachers and parents (on behalf of their children) gave written informed consent for participation in the study. Participants were treated according to APA ethical standards.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data, methods used in the analysis, and materials used to conduct the research are available to any researcher wishing to replicate the study via contacting the author (https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu). Findings have not been previously published in part or in whole.

Notes

1. “Colorblindness” reflects a widely used term in the literature. The author acknowledges that this term reflects ableist language that perpetuates negative stereotypes about people with disabilities and uses alternative terms (e.g., race-evasiveness) when possible.

Additional information

Funding

This study was part of the author’s dissertation work that was partially funded by the Arizona State University (ASU) Graduate and Professional Student Association, ASU Graduate Education, and ASU’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research. A portion of the work on the manuscript was also supported by a grant from the Stephen F. Austin State University Research Enhancement Program.