Supporting Young Boys

10/15/2020

Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.
Maya Angelou

“Research from the Yale Child Study Center suggests that many preschool teachers look for disruptive behavior in much the same way: in just one place, waiting for it to appear,” wrote Cory Turner on the National Public Radio website. “The problem with this strategy (besides it being inefficient), is that, because of implicit bias, teachers are spending too much time watching black boys and expecting the worst.” Turner quotes lead researcher Walter Gilliam about implicit biases:

“‘We all have them,’ Gilliam says. ‘Implicit biases are a natural process by which we take information, and we judge people on the basis of generalizations regarding that information. We all do it.’ Even the most well-meaning teacher can harbor deep-seated biases, whether she knows it or not.”

Francis Wardle addresses this issue in his popular book, Oh Boy! Strategies for Teaching Boys in Early Childhood. Jerry Parr, President and CEO of Willow Tree Early Education Team wrote this about the book: “It's a story that sends a message to our industry that we need a paradigm shift—to our thinking, our training, and our hiring—to recognize the gender imbalance that is putting young boys at great risk of failure. It's a story that urges us as a field to better understand the specific complexities of caring for young boys so that we may fulfill our ultimate promise to provide the highest quality of care possible to all children."

Source: “Bias Isn’t Just a Police Problem, It’s a Preschool Problem,” by Cory Turner, npr.org September 28, 2016

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.