Font Size: a A A

He's too young to learn about that stuff: An examination of critical, anti-racist pedagogy in an early childhood classroom

Posted on:2009-12-13Degree:Ph.DType:Dissertation
University:The Ohio State UniversityCandidate:Husband, Terry, JrFull Text:PDF
GTID:1447390005954314Subject:Education
Abstract/Summary:
Critical multicultural theorists (i.e., Banks, 1994 Derman-Sparks, 1993 Lee, Menkart, & Okazawa, 1998) call for early childhood teachers to utilize critical and anti-racist approaches in their classrooms as a means of identifying, resisting, and ultimately eliminating racist structures within schools. Giving pensive consideration to this call, the purpose of this critical action research study is to examine my teaching experiences while teaching critically about African American history through the use of critical, anti-racist pedagogy. The overarching research question that drives this research is: How does teaching critically about African American history influence the perspectives and understandings in my 1st grade classroom?This study is informed by both qualitative and teacher research paradigms and employs a critical action research methodology (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1998). More specifically, as the teacher/research in this study, I developed and implemented a 9-lesson unit on African American history in my classroom based in critical, anti-racist perspectives. Data was collected through self-observations, field notes, teacher researcher journal entries, and student documents.Data analyses yield two important broad findings. First, dialogue operated and was used in various ways to contribute to what I call 'critical racial consciousness' in and among the students in my classroom. Second, multiple tensions as I engaged with the curriculum, students, and parents throughout the duration of the study. Further, implications for early childhood practice and teacher education are discussed, along with recommendations for future research in this area.
Keywords/Search Tags:Early childhood, Critical, Anti-racist, Teacher, African american history, Classroom
Related items