They Who Learn Teach: Self-Directed Activities for Early-Childhood Educators to Deepen Their Cultural Competence

Introduction

A sense of urgency is required in early-childhood learning contexts because the daily realities of Black, Brown, and other students with marginalized identities do not appear to reflect stated equity and cultural responsiveness goals in educator-preparation programs (Harris et al., 2020). Despite the introduction of federal and state policies and laws, such as the Improving America’s Schools Act and the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, inequities persist. According to Roybal-Lewis (2022), professional organizations such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (n.d.) and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (n.d.) have stated the necessity for early-childhood educators (ECEs) to learn to dismantle racism and eradicate inequalities. Our youngest learners deserve to have ECEs that are willing to disrupt the status quo to ensure that they are educated to their fullest potential.

We believe that it is essential for the reader to understand our positionality as we often reference our work and roles throughout this chapter. I, Kofi LeNiles, believe that it is crucial to acknowledge the influence of history, race, culture, and society on all perspectives and narratives. I am of African/African-American descent and have published several manuscripts focused on education. I have also served as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal of schools in the United States and Ghana, and I am currently a college professor. I passionately advocate for the eradication of White racism and the systemic racism that it engenders. I believe in the right to self-determination, regardless of race, culture, or other identity markers and work tirelessly towards creating a more just society for all.

I, Kathy Orlando, am a veteran educator and administrator of Birth-grade 12 schools. I am a White woman of European descent. I have witnessed the pedagogical and identity difference mismatch between educators and those they intend to serve. I have also experienced the benefits to students and families when differences are illuminated, celebrated, understood, and addressed explicitly. However, I have also experienced harm when the aforementioned are not celebrated and addressed. I am committed to empowering educators who want to eliminate systemic racism, dismantle the systems that promote it, and provide a meaningful education for all students.

In our work, we have found that birth to P20+ educators want to positively impact all students and be culturally competent, but often do not know how to begin. Ching (2018) credits the following reasons: (1) educators understand equity differently, (2) variance exists in how a commitment to equity is demonstrated, and (3) biases exist that presume student deficits, placing the blame on students for learning and social issues in the classroom. A review of educator-preparation programs by Aguilar (2017) revealed that although educators may complete teacher-education programs, they often have challenges with understanding and demonstrating cultural competence upon entering learning spaces. These difficulties present as one or more problematic views and inequitable practices such as (1) teaching a curriculum that does not center the student identities, (2) practicing color and other identity-difference blindness that doesn’t value students holistically, or (3) tokenizing a superficial appreciation of student-identity difference such as single cultural-celebration days and events (Lenski et al., 2005). Inequities for young Black and Brown learners specifically are further exacerbated by an educational system whose established institutions already enable or inscribe racial bias (Lomotey, 1990, 2022). Lomotey (2022) calls for educators to focus on the problem of systemic White racism and not the victims. According to Lomotey (2023), the solutions for developing cultural competence involve dynamic pedagogy and mastery of content to create a more inclusive and equitable learning environment that meets the needs of all students.