Well, this week, the secretary
of early childhood education in
Alabama was forced to resign.
And it's all over the use of a k
about working with young childr.
Joining our discussion is
our racial equity expert, Dr.
Rosemarie Allen. Good morning, .
Allen. Thank
you for being with us.
Thank you so much for having meo
Dr. Barbara Cooper was forced to resign.
Tell us about the book in question here.
Yes, the book is called
Developmentally Appropriate Practices.
And it was created by the
National Association for the
Education of Young Children.
This book is a culmination of
decades of research, science,
and scholarship on how best to h
children and to prepare them for the world.
And Jordan is actually the
foundational book for the entire
early childhood workforce. This
is not the only book that's come
under fire as of late, of cours.
These are battles that were seen playing
out happening across several sts
with this particular book, thou.
Why do you think it sparked
so much tension here and was
declared unfit for young childr?
You know, it's really amazing,
but it's part of this antiwoke movement.
And when we think about this movement,
we have to understand it's
really an attack on diversity,
inclusion and difference.
The book is designed to give teachers
the tools that they need to ensure that
children embrace and honor and value.
The ways in which we're all uni,
it's the tools to prepare childn
to live in a very diverse work
for a diverse environment.
Can I ask
your definition of anti woke?
Because you know, hearing this
across the board it sounds like.
It's really subjective depending
on people's perception of that.
When we say that here,
what does that mean?
Well, I believe it's like I sai,
it's an attack on diversity.
Anything that says we should honor the
ways in which all people are different,
that's woke, It's woke.
When you accept racial differen,
linguistic differences,
gender differences,
sexual orientation, the woke movement,
anti woke movement says that those things
cannot be front and center in our lives,
even though they're.
Front and center in the world.
So I want to flip the question
on you now, because that was
the argument against this book.
You have an argument for this b?
Absolutely. I do. First,
we have to understand that a child's brain,
90% of a child's brain is
developed by the time they're f.
By the time children are three years old,
they're already categorizing children
and each other based on differe.
They're matching children based on race.
What your family looks like,
your hair texture, how you spea.
By the time children are six,
they have the same level of impt
bias as the adults in their environment.
Imagine what would happen if we
were not intentional about teacg
children to accept differences.
We would place this heavy burden
on them to make sense of a world
that they don't understand,
they're not prepared for,
and then we'll leave them.
To their own three and four
year old understanding right?
To make sense of the world around them,
to
let them just be those three and
four year olds without adding ts
added pressure to them? Absolut.
So what can we do to help in this situation?
Well, the first thing we have
to do is trust the researchers,
trust the teachers and trust the
families in knowing and understanding
that children must be prepared o
live in this amazingly diverse world.
We have to support the National Association
for the Education of Young Chil.
We can support them by going to
their website, writing letters
and support of what's happening,
writing letters and support of l
of the work that they're doing o
prepare our workforce to ensure
that every child has access to
optimal learning environments.
Strata, strategies and techniqu.
And their teachers are prepared
to help them through this, givig
every kid their best chance and
that solid foundation to grow f.
Absolutely. All right. Dr.
Allen, thank you for the conversation.
We appreciate. Thank you so muc.
Thank you again for having and
thank you for being with us.