We Are the Change We Seek

This timely book will help early care and education teachers, leaders, administrators, coaches, and staff deliver on the promise of high-quality education for all children. The authors provide inspiration, practical tools, and resources through the culturally responsive, anti-bias, anti-racist (CRABAR) framework. This teacher-friendly text shows how to engage in self-inquiry and evaluate current classroom practices while embedding new ones that advance the learning and well-being of children, especially those from minoritized and poor communities. Readers will find tools and assessments to support the implementation of culturally grounded practices that will improve outcomes for diverse children in early childhood settings and systems. This book connects history to current events, supports self-inquiry, encourages a shift in mindset and, most importantly, offers guidance for creating affirming and joyful spaces for young children to learn.

Book Features:

• “Design an Activity for Children” section asks teachers to create a classroom activity incorporating the information they have learned.
• “Discussions About Real-World Dilemmas” presents a problem and asks readers to discuss how they would resolve it.
• “Exercises That Promote Critical Reflection” encourage teachers to think about how they are a product of the beliefs, values, and social-political history of their cultural group.
• “What Would You Do” reflective questions that help teachers to problem-solve how they might react during difficult situations.

Iheoma U. Iruka is a research professor in public policy and the founding director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tonia R. Durden is a clinical professor and birth through five program coordinator in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education at Georgia State University. Kerry-Ann Escayg is an associate professor of teacher education at the University of Nebraska–Omaha. Stephanie M. Curenton is an associate professor and director of the Center on the Ecology of Early Development program at Boston University.

“I dare anyone to read this book and argue that racism is not a significant, present harm to Black children. This much-needed book makes the case that we are all responsible for de-centering whiteness in our curriculum, teaching, and assessments, and then offers a set of tools to do so. The authors define racial equity terms and frameworks through the lens of early childhood education. They push us to recognize and fight against racism in our systems and in ourselves.”
—Jennifer Keys Adair, author, Segregation by Experience: Agency, Racism, and Learning in the Early Grades; professor and director of the Agency and Young Children Research Collaborative, The University of Texas at Austin

“This book is not only relevant but timely as there is a massive pushback to racial equity work within our society. Focusing on practical strategies such as CRAB and anti-racist pedagogies, this book equips teachers and other early childhood professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to create equitable learning spaces for our youngest children. It not only reminds us that we have the collective power to make a difference, but that it is our responsibility as early childhood practitioners, educators, and professionals.”
—Ebonyse Mead, president, Educational Equity Institute