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Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, Second Edition

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Home / Resources / Books / Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, Second Edition
Louise Derman-Sparks Julie Olsen Edwards Catherine M. Goins

About the Book

More than ever, young children need educators who can help them navigate and thrive in a world of great diversity, educators who can give them and their families the tools to make the world a more fair place for themselves and for each other.
 
You can be that educator in children’s lives. This classic resource, now expanded and updated, is your guide to building a strong anti-bias program, including learning to know yourself.
 
Whether you’re new to anti-bias work or seasoned in it, you’ll find inspiration and support here as you walk this journey and meet and work with other travelers.
 
***
 
A must-have resource for every early childhood educator and administrator. Buy your copy today or ask us about a bulk purchase for your team. This popular and trusted NAEYC resource is revised and researched with practical guidance and stories about nurturing all children’s social identities and supporting children to stand up for themselves and others.
 
2021 Silver EXCEL Award Winner      Academics' Choice Awards Smart Book Winner

Table of Contents

  • Foreword: Welcome to the Journey
  • Introduction: A Few Words About This Book
    • What Is in This Book
    • The Language of Equity and Diversity
    • It Takes a Village
    • Dedication
  • Chapter 1: Anti‑Bias Education and Why It Matters
    • What Is Anti‑Bias Education?
    • Why Do We Need Anti‑Bias Education?
    • Isms, Bias, and You
    • Dominant Culture and Cultural Diversity
    • The Four Core Goals of Anti‑Bias Education
    • The Four Anti‑Bias Education Goals Are for Adults Too
    • You Have Already Begun
    • Special Focus. Young Children and Their Families in Crisis: Immigrants and Refugees
  • Chapter 2: Constructing and Understanding Social Identities and Attitudes: The Lifelong Journey
    • Personal and Social Identity
    • You Bring to Teaching Who You Are
    • Culture, Ethnicity, and Nationality: What Are the Differences?
  • Chapter 3: Building an Anti‑Bias Education Program: Curriculum Principles and the Learning Environment
    • Guidelines for Your Curriculum
    • Holidays in a Diverse World: Applying Anti‑Bias Thinking to Curriculum
    • Guidelines for Materials
    • Children’s Books and Persona Dolls
  • Chapter 4: Building an Anti‑Bias Education Program: Clarifying and Brave Conversations with Children
    • The Hurtful Power of Silence
    • Holding Conversations with Children About Anti‑Bias Issues
    • Brave Conversations When Bias Undermines Children’s Development
    • Brave Conversations When Community and World Issues Affect Children
  • Chapter 5: Building an Anti‑Bias Education Program: Relationships with Families and Among Teachers and Staff
    • Building Anti‑Bias Relationships with Families
    • When Some Families or Staff Disagree with Anti‑Bias Activities
    • Building Collaborative, Anti‑Bias Relationships with Colleagues
  • Chapter 6: Fostering Children’s Cultural Identities: Valuing All Cultures
    • Anti‑Bias Education in Action: Every Child’s Family Culture Matters
    • The Big Picture: Culture Is Who We Are
    • Young Children Begin to Construct Their Cultural Identity
    • Curriculum Guidelines for Nurturing Children’s Cultural Identities
  • Chapter 7: Learning About Cultural Diversity and Fairness: Exploring Differences and Similarities
    • Anti‑Bias Education in Action: Everyone Gets Scrubbed!
    • The Big Picture: We Are All Cultural Beings
    • Strategies and Activities About Cultural Diversity and Fairness
    • Including Holiday Activities as Cultural Events
    • Special Focus. Religious Literacy and Cultural Diversity
  • Chapter 8: Learning About Racialized Identities and Fairness
    • Anti‑Bias Education in Action: Preparing to Address Racialized Identity
    • The Big Picture: Racism, Race, and Racialized Identity
    • Development of Children’s Ideas and Attitudes About Racialized Identities
    • Strategies and Activities About Racialized Identities and Fairness
  • Chapter 9: Learning About Gender Diversity and Fairness
    • Anti‑Bias Education in Action: Gender Role Expectations Start Young
    • The Big Picture: From a Binary to a Multifaceted Understanding of Gender
    • Development of Children’s Ideas and Attitudes About Gender
    • Strategies and Activities About Gender and Fairness
  • Chapter 10: Learning About Economic Class and Fairness
    • Anti‑Bias Education in Action: Food Is for Eating!
    • The Big Picture: Economic Class Is Real
    • Young Children Construct Ideas and Attitudes About Economic Class
    • Strategies and Activities About Economic Class and Fairness
    • Classism in the Early Childhood Profession
  • Chapter 11: Learning About Different Abilities and Fairness
    • Anti‑Bias Education in Action: When the Teacher Behaves Differently with Different Children
    • The Big Picture: Attitudes and Options for Children with Disabilities, Historically and Today
    • Young Children Construct Ideas and Attitudes About Different Abilities and Disabilities
    • Guidelines for an Inclusive Anti‑Bias Program
    • Strategies and Activities About Disabilities and Fairness
  • Chapter 12: Learning About Who Makes Up a Family and Fairness
    • Anti‑Bias Education in Action: Who Takes Care of You at Home?
    • The Big Picture: Family Inclusiveness
    • The Many Kinds of Families in Early Childhood Programs
    • Children’s Understandings of Family Structures
    • Strategies and Activities About Family Structure and Fairness
  • Carry It On: A Letter to Our Readers
  • Checklist for Assessing the Visual Material Environment
  • Glossary
  • References
  • About the Authors
  • Index (available online only)

Book Details

Product Code: 1143
ISBN: 978-1-938113-57-4
Publish Date: 2020
Citation (in Chicago 17th ed. style): 
Derman-Sparks, L., & J.O. Edwards. With C.M. Goins. 2020. Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Related Resources

Blog

Anti-Bias Education and Holidays: Making Thoughtful Decisions - In this blog, Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edward lay out some principles about how early childhood programs and teachers can think about holidays in their classrooms. 

Online Articles

"Building Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs: The Role of the Leader" - Read this article to discover practical strategies for the leader’s role in working strategically with staff, families, and the community to implement an anti-bias approach in early childhood programs. (Young Children, May 2015) 

"Finding a Place for the Religious and Spiritual Lives of Young Children and Their Families: An Anti-Bias Approach" - The authors of this article offer methods teachers can use for helping children develop religious literacy as part of their anti-bias education. (Young Children, November 2019)

"Moving Beyond Anti-Bias Activities: Supporting the Development of Anti-Bias Practices" - Consider the ways in which anti-bias education can support proactive, responsive curriculum development and interactions with children. (Young Children, March 2016) 

Looking to dig deeper into this topic?  Visit the anti-bias topic page for other useful content.

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Audience: Administrator (director or principal), Teacher
Age: Preschool
Topics: Other Topics, Equity, Anti Bias, Cultural Competence, Diversity, Dual Language Learners, Gender, Race and Ethnicity, Social and Economic Status
Louise Derman-Sparks

Louise Derman-Sparks, MA, has worked with children and adults in early childhood education for more than 50 years and is a faculty emerita of Pacific Oaks College. She is coauthor of several books, including Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs: A Guide for Change, Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, and Teaching/Learning Anti-Racism: A Developmental Approach.

Louise Derman-Sparks
Julie Olsen Edwards

Julie Olsen Edwards, coauthor of Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, was on the faculty of Cabrillo College’s early childhood education department for 45 years. A lifetime activist for children and families, she continues to write, teach, and consult on issues of equity, diversity, and anti-bias.

Julie Olsen Edwards
Catherine M. Goins

Catherine M. Goins is assistant superintendent of Early Childhood Education for the Placer County Office of Education and adjunct faculty member at Sierra Joint Community College. She has more than 30 years of experience administering private, nonprofit, and publicly funded early education programs and speaking, coaching, and training on diversity, anti-bias education, and equity issues. Catherine currently consults as a senior policy advisor for the First 5 California Children and Families Commission.

Catherine M. Goins

Reviews

I welcome this new edition of Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves because we are still learning exactly how to support all children and families. This book is a master class on our professional responsibilities to lead issues of identity, diversity, justice, and activism. 

—Valora Washington, CEO, Council for Professional Recognition

Every early childhood educator needs to read this book. And we probably need to re-read it every year. Let’s talk about it with our colleagues. Let’s put it into practice. It is our professional responsibility to internalize the content and bring it to life every single day.  

—Megan Pamela Ruth Madison, Trainer, Center for Racial Justice in Education & New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute

This book urges us to examine how we’re creating equitable and anti-bias educational experiences for young children. From cover to cover, it features voices from the field, real classroom scenarios, and resources that propel us towards action!

—Tonia Durden, Clinical Associate Professor, Georgia State University

As a teacher who has used the anti-bias goals and principles to guide my thinking for decades, I was thrilled to learn that the authors would be revising the book. Not only is this new book a resource for educators who are just beginning their journey into this lifelong work, it offers new insights and challenges for those of us who have been doing anti-bias work for years and need to be current in our thinking and actions.

The authors’ deep and genuine humility is evident as they provide a framework for seeing and taking a stand against bias in ourselves and the children in our care. The permission to make mistakes and suggestions for how to make reparations is inspiring.

On a more personal note, I am struck by the well-thought-out chapter on gender. Throughout the book and particularly in this chapter, the authors have updated not only the text but also their thinking. By doing so, they offer all of us an example of the flexible, open mindset needed to effectively do anti-bias work.

—Brian Silveira, Lead Teacher, Pacific Primary School

The pioneers of anti-bias education are back at it with this new edition, exemplifying the ongoing nature of the work through their evolving understanding and nuanced decoding of how social identities form in early childhood. Their work leads the way to a brighter, more just, and joyful future or all children—if we are smart enough to listen and enact the wisdom in this book.

Louise and Julie thoughtfully and lovingly guide us to look through the lens in which everything in early childhood education should be viewed, push us to examine ourselves, encourage us to stop and reflect, and empower us to support children to have a positive sense of self while navigating an inequitable world. Never has this work been more important.

—Anna Forgerson Hindley, Director of Early Childhood Education, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Our future depends not on heroic leaders but on a generation of young people with the skills and commitment to recognize and challenge injustices. Anti-Bias Education teaches us how to get there with practical examples, research, analysis, and structured opportunities for teachers and caregivers to stop and think.

—Deborah Menkart, Executive Director, Teaching for Change

At the beginning of this second edition, the authors ask us directly: Why does anti-bias education matter? Because, more than ever, this work responds to the needs of our times by challenging our thinking and practices. The authors reaffirms that anti-bias work is not a passing trend, for it continues to evolve, inspire, and expand our work with children and families as well as with each other. The force of anti-bias education is a light of hope for a vision of fairness and human equity.

—Luis A. Hernandez, Early Childhood Education Specialist, TTAS/Western Kentucky University

Educators of young children have the opportunity to create a world where each child is valued as a unique human being. This book provides specific ways to achieve this goal, which is essential to our survival in challenging times.

—Ruby Takanishi, Senior Research Fellow, New America

Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves does a superb job highlighting the contextual shift in education by consciously acknowledging and respecting every facet of identity. As you delve deeper into the book, you are challenged to become unsilenced by the same concepts that have been silent throughout the history of education. The significance of the book lies in its ability to seep relevant information beyond the walls of a classroom. 

—Garnett Booker, Pre-K Teacher, Eagle Academy Public Charter School

The practice of focusing on inclusive and equitable anti-biased learning opportunities helps move the field of early childhood education forward. This book lays a foundation for why anti-bias education matters for all children and their families. Throughout, it centers on children’s learning, providing examples that help all of us see the child in visionary equitable early learning environments that can be built by us, together!

—Tarajean Yazzie-Mintz, First Light Education Project, LLC

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