Amplifying the Voices of Black Families and Educators: Challenging Anti-Black Racism in Early Childhood Environments
As a result of anti-Black racism, Black children, including African Nova Scotian children, are provided with fewer learning opportunities compared to White children.
There is an opportunity gap in the early childhood period (1-5 years) that can impact children’s mental and physical wellbeing, academic achievement, and access to learning, recreation, and play opportunities.
In collaboration with On These Shoulders Research Collaborative at Dalhousie University, we conducted a research project to understand the experiences of early childhood educators (ECEs) and parents in Nova Scotia who have and care for young Black children through three areas:
- How Black children in Nova Scotia access play, including risky and outdoor play;
- How racism and discrimination are experienced by Black children in Nova Scotia in the early childhood period;
- How families and ECEs view the early learning and child care environment for Black children in Nova Scotia.
The Results
Research publication:
Community Report:
Amplifying the Voices of Black Families and Educators: A Community Event
In partnership with On These Shoulders Research Collaborative at Dalhousie University, we hosted a community event at the East Preston Recreation Centre on July 27, 2022.
We shared findings from interviews with early childhood educators and parents of Black children in Nova Scotia about their experiences with early learning and child care.
The event included a community brainstorm of actions for disrupting anti-Black racism in early childhood (pictured above).
We want to give a big thank you to Rach and Vanessa, Graphic Recorders, for facilitating the brainstorm and drawing the incredible murals to illustrate the voices of participants and those who attended the event.
We want to give a big thank you to Trina Fraser, the Director of East Preston Day Care and Family Resource Centre for all her help and support with the event.
We also want to thank all those who attended the event and participated in the conversation, as well as those who helped share the details of the event. Thank you!
CSL Speaker Series- Outdoor & Risky Play for African Nova Scotian Children
In November, our team was a guest speaker for the Child Safety Link Webinar series, which was a part of their celebration of 20 years in injury prevention. The CSL celebrated this milestone by offering a speaker series featuring some of the most prominent children’s injury prevention topics and experts. Our team shared the findings of the impacts and barriers for outdoor play for young Black children titled, in a video presentation titled ‘Outdoor & Risky Play for African Nova Scotian Children.’
Resources
Department of Pediatrics and Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University. (2022). One Chance to Be a Child: A data profile to inform a better future for child and youth well-being in Nova Scotia.
Read To Me. (2022). These Books are for You! An Africentric Booklist for Babies, Toddlers & Preschoolers.
- These Books Are For You! is an Africentric booklist for parents of young children arranged by age and stage of development. The titles in the booklet were carefully selected by a committee of parents and experts in the fields of literacy and early childhood education from the African Nova Scotian community.
More to come… stay tuned!
Questions? Comments?
Email: Jessie-Lee.McIsaac@msvu.ca