Disrupting Anti-Black Racism in Early Childhood Settings: A Pedagogy of Promise

This edited volume draws from a special issue published in the Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning, and Leadership in Education to explore children’s perceptions, experiences, and handling of anti-racism approaches in the contexts of teaching, learning, and parenting. Often marginalized and overlooked in the renewed vigor for racial justice is the lived experience of young Black children, with a critical focus on the unique ways anti-Black racism theorizing can shed light on innovative pedagogies and other practices aimed at improving their quality of life and early years experiences. By drawing on a diverse body of theoretical scholarship, including anti-racism and critical anti-Black racism, the authors not only bring much-needed perspectives on racism in relation to young children’s daily lives but also discuss teaching and parenting practices as sites in which young children can ultimately adopt anti-racist beliefs, recognize their agency, and develop as global citizens committed to justice and racial equity. This text, one which builds on and expands the special issue, anchors Black epistemologies, focuses on the unique experiences Black children encounter in their larger social contexts as well as early childhood education (ECE) settings, and provides institutional and pedagogical strategies that center and amplify Black humanity and agency. With a balance of conceptual and empirical chapters, the book provides a timely and interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological analysis of children and race. It will appeal to scholars and researchers working in fields across early childhood education and child development concerned with issues of diversity, equity, and social justice.