There is a critical need to disrupt the systemic racism that underlies educational inequities and support greater social justice (Croom, Journal of Literacy Research 52:530-552, 2020). One powerful way to do so is to foster racial literacy (i.e., the skill and practice of critically examining race and racism in teaching and in students' learning…

In light of ongoing inequalities within society, the role of social justice leadership in educational spaces remains a central arena amongst research and practice. It is widely recognised that clear recognition and understanding of social justice among educators can offer the capacity for meaningful change against inequalities that continue to…

The contemporary moment has been marred with attacks on diverse children's literature and critical and antiracist pedagogy. The increasing numbers of banned books and curricular materials are aimed at diluting and silencing discussions of difference in classrooms. Moreover, race and racism continue to be "bad words" to some early…

Despite increased attention to racial disparities in health, wellbeing, and academic outcomes--especially for Black, Latine, and Native American children and children from low-income households--little progress has been made in identifying the root causes of those disparities and, more importantly, identifying equitable policies and strategies to…

Celebrated as the country with the best education system globally, Finland has also gained a reputation as one of the most racist countries in Europe for black people, especially people from Sub-Saharan Africa. The best education system in the world is built on the sweat and blood of racialised people whose experiences and roles they play as…

Addressing racial bias in early childhood is crucial for fostering inclusivity and reducing social inequalities. This study examined the effectiveness of individuation training in reducing racial bias among Canadian preschool-aged children and explored how interracial contact might influence changes in children's implicit anti-Black bias. A total…

This study investigated microaggressions Black children experienced in early childhood education during the pandemic. Using racial microaggressions as a framework, we sought to gain insights into these experiences through counter-narratives from parents of Black children. Parents provided unique insights into their children's experiences, giving…

In this article, we enact a partial cartographic storying of reconceptualist turns in our work. We do this by situating ourselves in relation to each other and our work across time as a mode of tracing the (situated) possibilities that these turns have enacted for children-in-relation with worlds. In enacting this dialogic and cartographic…

Black women have a legacy of pedagogical expertise. However, Black women teachers' mathematics pedagogy remains woefully under-theorized and under-researched. This is to the detriment of Black and Brown mathematics students. Mathematics education in the U.S. mirrors our broader society, which continues to reinscribe patterns of intellectual and…

This paper is a response to multiculturalism's reductionist and othering constructions of Black presence in Canadian early childhood research and practice. We engage in possibilities for creating movement away from multiculturalism as the primary way of responding to anti-Blackness in Canadian early childhood education. We put forward orientations…

This reflection on practice explores dehumanizing educator talk as an explicit topic within multicultural/diversity/anti-bias and anti-racist teacher education. Dehumanizing educator talk is defined as formal or informal conversation during which targeted individuals or groups are openly demeaned with offensive generalizations in the absence of…

The aim of this article is to contribute to the under-researched topic of racism in Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) by posing three questions: What kind of racism do ECEC teachers recognize in ECEC? How are teachers committed to opposing racism in their work? What kind of obstacles to committing to antiracism are recognized in…

Against the backdrop of endemic anti-Black racism in Early Childhood literacy, we frame these special issues using "Pro-Blackness" as an antidote in early childhood classrooms. "Pro-Black" does note connote "anti"-White or "anti" any other ethnic group and declares an unapologetic, positive perspective…

Collaborative writing is well established in the humanities, but with little focus on how the writing relationship comes into being, including the power and relational dynamics at play. This is especially pertinent both when Black and "white" (sic) authors collaborate in writing about race, and in the process of writing collaborative…

In this manuscript, we recognize that young children learn stories that propagate white supremacist narratives through selective traditions of early childhood curriculum. The role of early childhood teachers, therefore, is to critically examine curriculum for biases, omissions, and distortions, as well as to rewrite curriculum to tell accurate…