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- All Subjects: Anti-racism
- Creators: Shivers, Eva M
- Creators: Swadener, Elizabeth
Description
Early Childhood Education (ECE) classroom quality has been gaining increased attention from researchers and policy makers, as the link between high quality early learning experiences and future success has become clear. The impact of ECE may be particularly important for low-income, ethnic minority youth, who may need additional support to reach the academic level of their higher-income, Caucasian peers. However, the definition of ECE quality does not currently include indicators of classroom practices and center-wide policies that intentionally address issues of culture, race, and ethnicity, topics that may be particularly relevant for the most academically at-risk children. Anti-bias education (ABE) provides a strong theoretical and practical framework for understanding how to incorporate such themes into classroom practice and policy, as well as how to teach students to actively counteract bias and discrimination. However, there is currently no mechanism for researchers to utilize this framework, because there is no measure that can reliably evaluate the level of quality of ABE practices. Therefore, the present study sought to incorporate anti-bias education principles into the conceptualization of classroom quality through measurement development. The measure was developed based on the integration of the original ABE theory with interviews and observations in five ECE programs, which were nominated for their intentional practices regarding issues of culture, race, and ethnicity in the classroom. The five centers ranged in the ethnic composition and average income of their population. The resulting measure contains five domains, with a number of items within each domain. Two of the domains (Toys & Materials, Visual/Aesthetic Environment) contain observational rubrics for assessment, whereas the other three (Organizational Climate, Activities, Interactions) include self-report scales in addition to the rubrics. Future research is needed to pilot the measure and establish validity and reliability across contexts and observation times.
ContributorsGaias, Larissa Michelle (Author) / Dumka, Larry (Thesis advisor) / Shivers, Eva M (Committee member) / Simpkins, Sandra (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This dissertation is guided by the following questions: How do People of Color define and experience White people as "authentic" allies? What does a White ally look like to People of Color? How do White allies view themselves as "authentic" White allies? What experiences lead White people to anti-racism and anti-racist praxis? How do White people translate what they know about racism into an active and courageous anti-racist praxis in their own lives? What kinds of educational experiences in the social work classroom might foster or hinder students from learning how to translate anti-racist knowledge into anti-racist praxis? Using narrative methods, I explore some of the answers to these questions. Findings from this study offer ways to design deeper and more meaningful social work/social justice pedagogy that will better prepare social workers to be active, anti-racist practitioners and allies in all aspects of their work.
ContributorsHornung, Rebecca (Author) / Sandlin, Jennifer (Thesis advisor) / Lietz, Cynthia (Committee member) / Swadener, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012