While there are many resources for early childhood teachers seeking to introduce anti-bias education in their classrooms, we realized there is little available on the complex work of leaders who set the stage for this approach. An anti-bias program puts diversity and equity goals at the center of all aspects of its organization and daily life. Systemic change requires a leader who takes an intentional and strategic approach.
In response, we have developed frameworks and strategies for addressing the big picture of working with staff, families and the community to create and sustain anti-bias programs. Our 2015 book, Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs – A Guide for Change, helps fill this gap. With a focus on the leader’s role in initiating and sustaining anti-bias education in programs for young children and their families, Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs is both a stand-alone text and a perfect companion for Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves.
It emphasizes that this work is not only about changing curriculum, but requires thoughtful, strategic, long-term planning that addresses all components of an early childhood program. With a powerful combination of conceptual frameworks, strategies, and practical tools, Louise Derman-Sparks, renowned expert on anti-bias education, together with experienced early childhood directors Debbie LeeKeenan and John Nimmo explain the structural and individual changes leaders must foster. Featuring the authors’ extensive experience in the field, supplemented with insights from other anti-bias educators, they build on and expand current thinking about best early childhood leadership practices.
“For those who are seeking to make a real difference and impact to the world we live in, Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs lays a road map and foundation for the work ahead. As the book underlines, begin with a guiding vision of equity that can inspire a new generation of leaders through effective leadership, family engagement, and community resources. The work of these passionate authors challenges us to be fearless in the pursuit and building of sustainable anti-bias early childhood programs.” —Luis A. Hernandez, early childhood education specialist
“It is never too early to prepare children to deal effectively with issues of race, class, gender, family, and ability and equity. This book is a tool box for building early childhood programs that foster sentiments of justice and fairness in leaders, teachers, and young children, and help them to act on these values.” —Herbert Kohl, educator and best-selling author
“Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs recognizes the essential role early childhood administrators play in initiating and sustaining culturally relevant care and education. Program leaders steeped in the principles of anti-bias education are able to see diversity as an organizational asset and work intentionally and strategically to make the abstract notion of social justice come alive throughout the program. This book provides the tools program leaders need to make that happen.” —Paula Jorde Bloom, Michael W. Louis Endowed Chair, McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership, National Louis University