5.2 Equity
Ninderjit Kaur Gill
When biases and systemic oppression go unexamined or unchecked it leads to harmful and discriminatory experiences for children from marginalized groups (Gilliam, 2005; Perszyk et al., 2019). Oppression and privilege are an example of how bias can become systemic and harm groups of people. Equity goes beyond “fairness” and provides us with a framework to understand the impact of our biases and oppression on children and families and how we can address them. If diversity is actively reflecting on our own experiences and identities and how they influence and impact how we are teaching, equity involves transforming the education system itself.
The Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education statement defines equity as “the state that would be achieved if individuals fared the same way in society regardless of race, gender, class, language, disability, or any other social or cultural characteristic” (NAEYC, 2019, p. 17). If we have been socialized into unequal roles based on our social identity groups, then we are not truly equal. Attempting to treat everyone the same is essentially not fair. We cannot have equality and fairness until we have equity where children have similar access to resources to support their learning, growth, and development. Giving everyone the same thing when they are starting from different places would not be equitable.
Structural Inequities
The United States has always had diverse social and cultural groups. This rich growth in diversity continues today. According to the Children’s Defense Fund’s “The State of America’s Children” 2020 report, 73.4 million children lived in the United States in 2018. The report’s statistics show that 50 percent were children of color: 14 percent were Black; 26 percent were Hispanic; 5 percent were Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander; and less than 1 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native.
However, we have a lot of structural inequity in our country. Structural inequity is systematic and institutionalized disparities in opportunities, resources, and outcomes that are embedded in our institutions and systems. Structural inequity has become part of our education system and is rooted in the policies, practices, and norms of institutions, creating patterns of advantage or disadvantage for certain groups.
Poverty is one of the biggest threats to children’s healthy development. According to the U.S. Census, the child poverty rate more than doubled, from 5.2 percent in 2021 to 12.4 percent in 2022 (Shrider & Creamer, 2023). More children of color have been disproportionately poor, and if we look at income based on a family’s race we can see this disparity even further: $88,200 was the median income for white families with children compared with $40,100 for Black and $46,400 for Hispanic families in 2017 (Children’s Defense Fund, 2020). Equity would be ensuring that people doing similar jobs regardless of race or ethnicity would get paid the same amount.
Race and Racism in Early Childhood Education
To better understand equity and structural inequities, we will specifically examine race and what racism looks like in early childhood education. The Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education statement (NAEYC, 2019) defines race as a social-political construct that categorizes and ranks groups of human beings on the basis of skin color and other physical features. Race does not have a biological basis, and it has significantly influenced societal structures and experiences. As we learned earlier from the definition of diversity and from the cycle of socialization, race is a social identity that confers privilege to one racial group and discriminates against others that are not part of that racial group.
Racism is defined as a belief that some races are superior or inferior to others and it operates at a systemic level through deeply embedded structural and institutional policies that have favored whiteness at the expense of other groups (NAEYC, 2019). Ultimately, racism is a powerful collection of racist policies that lead to racial inequity and are substantiated by racist ideas (Kendi, 2019).
The concept of race was historically created through social, economic, and political factors. The term race emerged during periods of European colonial expansion, particularly during the 17th century (Braveman & Parker Dominguez, 2021) when colonizers encountered diverse populations and that led them to categorize people based on perceived physical and cultural differences.
Throughout the history of public and early childhood education, children have been discriminated against because of their race. Children of enslaved people were not allowed to attend schools and indigenous children were removed from their homes and sent to boarding schools. Not all children were starting with the same resources or supports and because of historical bias and oppression that exists in our institutions even today.
Earlier in this chapter we reflected on bias, privilege, and oppression. We can see bias and oppression when we look at the data on preschool expulsion and suspension rates. Researchers have confirmed that a teacher’s implicit biases about a child’s race contributes to systemic oppression. In his initial study, Gilliam (2005) found that expulsion and suspension rates are higher for Black children in preschool programs than in K-12 schools. This continues to be seen in current data as well. The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education (2014) confirmed that these rates were disproportionately high for Black children where Black children only make up 18% of preschool enrollment, but 48% of preschool children suspended more than once. According to Gilliam (2005) and Kunesh and Noltemeyer (2019), race and implicit bias seem to be contributing factors to the higher expulsion and suspension rates for Black and non-white children, specifically boys.
The idea of race is not based on biological or genetic differences but rather on socially constructed ideas about categorization (American Medical Association, 2020). Racial differences became embedded in political and legal systems, shaping policies on slavery, segregation, and discrimination. Laws were enacted to institutionalize racial hierarchies and maintain social control. Now and over time, the concept of race is ingrained in social norms and structures. It has been perpetuated through cultural beliefs, education, and social institutions. Inequity that exists because of race and racism are things that we can actively fight against.
We also should be thinking about how our identities intersect. Intersectionality is a concept developed by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a critical race theorist and scholar, to describe how social identities intersect and overlap, creating unique experiences of discrimination and privilege for individuals who hold multiple marginalized identities (Crenshaw, 1989).
By examining the influences of various social identities, such as race, gender, class, and sexuality, we gain insight into how complex and mutually reinforcing social inequalities can be.
Achievement and Opportunity
All children can achieve and have the capacity to learn and develop to their fullest potential when they have the opportunities. Due to individual and structural bias, not all children are given the same opportunities to succeed. Milner (2012) identified this as an opportunity gap. It is important to understand this distinction. Structural inequities adversely impact children who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC); it is not something inherently in them or related to their ability and capacity to learn. All children will achieve if the opportunity to do so exists or is given to them. As teachers we are responsible for creating those opportunities.
The fourth recommendation in the Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education statement reminds us that we as teachers need to look deeper at our own expectations, practices, and curriculums especially when outcomes vary significantly by social identities (NAEYC, 2019). Authentic observations and assessments can assist teachers in identifying how their work can be adjusted to create more equitable learning experiences and family support. For example, if a child’s first language is not English and is learning English, you may have an interpreter who fluently speaks the child’s language to help you assess the child’s learning. Teachers need to see each child as a capable learner and develop culturally responsive curriculum and individualized learning experiences to create opportunities for growth and development based on who the child is and not who we are. We have a responsibility to set the stage so that all children have opportunities to learn, grow and develop to their fullest potential.
We have learned and inherited our biases about race, socio-economic class, sexual orientation, gender expression and identity, ability and disability, language, national origin, Indigenous heritage, religion, and other identities. To achieve better outcomes for all children, it is necessary to engage in critical reflection on our biases and our social and cultural context and how we may be contributing to systemic inequities is necessary. This is particularly important for children who are from historically and systemically marginalized and oppressed groups.
5.2.4 Advancing Equity Recommendation for Everyone
Inequities, unfair advantages (privilege) and disadvantages (discrimination and oppression), are built into our systems; they are structural. The Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education statement’s fourth recommendation tasks us to acknowledge and seek to understand these structural inequities and their impact over time (NAEYC, 2019). As teachers we have to be sure that we do not place blame or fault on a child or their family’s character or abilities. Because of historical and current systemic structural inequities based on social identity groups, children from marginalized groups have been and are disproportionately impacted. Every single child has the potential to learn, to thrive, and to be successful in life.
Attributions
“the state that would be achieved if individuals fared the same way in society regardless of race, gender, class, language, disability, or any other social or cultural characteristic” (NAEYC, 2019, p.17).
