Start Seeing Diversity helps teachers recognize and reduce bias in young children by illustrating one community's effort to create a responsive child care program. Developed by teachers at Washington-Beech Community Preschool in Boston, this training handbook provides a framework for understanding bias among preschool children, reorganized for stand-alone use as a student text. Nine detailed chapters treat six areas of bias—gender, age, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, economic class, and physical abilities—as well as the goals and guiding assumptions of anti-bias curriculum. Accompanying discussion questions encourage readers to examine their own memories and experiences. Perfect for pre-service and in-service teacher training, this helpful guide includes information-rich appendices containing: Guidelines for challenging oppression and responding to incidents involving bias A checklist for creating and assessing anti-bias environments A guide to analyzing children's books Directions for making photograph games like the ones used at Washington-Beech The book also includes sample scenarios, details for classroom implementation, suggested resources, and guidelines for group leaders. Ellen Wolpert is the founding director of the Washington-Beech Community Preschool in Boston. Ms. Wolpert currently works for Education Development Center, Inc., in Newton, Massachusetts.

Covers the anti-bias curriculum used at the Washington-Beech Community Preschool. Part 1 gives a summary of the 4 goals of an anti-bias approach and 8 underlying assumptions. Part 2 contains individual sections that address 6 specific areas of bias: age, gender, sexual orientation, economic class, physical abilities, and physical characteristics. Each section provides several concrete examples of the ways that bias comes up in a classroom, as well as strategies to support children's development of strong self and group identities, their ability to recognize and think critically about bias, and their capacity to stand up for themselves and others.

This book offers easily implemented strategies for use with secondary and undergraduate students to promote greater engagement with the realities of diversity and commitment to social justice within their classrooms. Defining diversity broadly, the book provides effective pedagogical techniques to help students question their own assumptions, think critically, and discuss issues within race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and ability. The K-12 student population is increasingly diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, language, religion, socio-economic status, and family structure. However, the overwhelming majority of teachers continues to come from White, non-urban, middle class backgrounds (Fletcher, 2014; Hughes et al., 2011) These differences can have serious repercussions for student learning. Non-majority students who feel that their culture or background is not acknowledged or accepted at school are likely to disengage from expected academic and social activities (Hughes et al., 2011). Concurrently, the majority students remain unaware of privilege and ignorant of societal systemic discrimination. In order to teach for social justice, ideas regarding power structure, privilege, and oppression need to be discussed openly. Fear of upsetting students or not knowing how to handle the issue of social justice are commonly heard reasons for not discussing “difficult” subjects (Marks, Binkley, & Daly, 2014). However, when teachers choose not to discuss topics within diversity, students assume that the topics are taboo, dangerous, or unimportant. These assumptions impede students’ abilities to ask important questions, learn how to speak about issues effectively and comprehend the complex challenges woven into current national conversations.

Anti-bias education begins with you! Become a skilled anti-bias teacher with this practical guidance to confronting and eliminating barriers.

Provides ready-to-use, reproducible support materials for trainers, human resource professionals, and diversity managers. Covers assessing organizations' need for training and coaches trainers on typical questions and conflicts encountered in diversity training. Includes some 80 activities, worksheets, charts, surveys, checklists, sample agendas and overhead transparency masters in the text and on the accompanying disk. Lacks an index. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

“A subtle, deceptively simple book about inclusion, hospitality, and welcoming the ‘other.’” —Kirkus Reviews “A boundlessly inclusive spirit...This open-ended picture book creates a natural springboard for discussion.” —Booklist “This sweet extended metaphor uses an umbrella to demonstrate how kindness and inclusion work...A lovely addition to any library collection, for classroom use or for sharing at home.” —School Library Journal In the tradition of Alison McGhee’s Someday, beloved illustrator Amy June Bates makes her authorial debut alongside her eleven-year-old daughter with this timely and timeless picture book about acceptance. By the door there is an umbrella. It is big. It is so big that when it starts to rain there is room for everyone underneath. It doesn’t matter if you are tall. Or plaid. Or hairy. It doesn’t matter how many legs you have. Don’t worry that there won’t be enough room under the umbrella. Because there will always be room. Lush illustrations and simple, lyrical text subtly address themes of inclusion and tolerance in this sweet story that accomplished illustrator Amy June Bates cowrote with her daughter, Juniper, while walking to school together in the rain.