Early childhood teachers’ dispositions, knowledge, and skills related to diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice

Abstract

All children deserve quality early care and education (ECE) experiences that value them and lay a foundation for positive life trajectories. Unfortunately, many minoritized children in ECE experience inequities including a greater likelihood of exclusion and far fewer opportunities to see their identities affirmed or centered. These early experiences impact children's development, and the dispositions, knowledge, and skills (DKSs) of ECE teachers are key drivers of these experiences. Accordingly, our study sought to understand ECE teachers’ current DKSs related to diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice (DIEJ) through a critical culturally relevant pedagogy framework. To do so, we analyzed data from four focus groups with 15 center-based infant, toddler, and preschool teachers using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022). Key DKSs, including teachers’ attitudes about children and teaching, their perspectives about DIEJ, and their understanding of positionality and context as well as their perception of DIEJ as an age-appropriate topic, occurred across groups. Minoritized teachers and teachers working with diverse groups of children tended to demonstrate a deeper and more critical engagement with DIEJ than White teachers working primarily with White children. Furthermore, we also found evidence that this engagement may be influenced by teachers’ DKSs. Policy and practice implications are discussed with respect to ensuring that all children have the experiences they deserve to thrive.